Second, I have been reflecting on Isaiah 53 for our Good Friday service, especially verses 1-2.
I have seen hundreds of pictures of
Jesus…. long flowing hair….beautiful brown eyes that are filled with kindness
and gentleness. If he were born today he
would probably be the captain of every sport he played. He would be the lead in
all the plays at the theatre. He would
be the cool guy that everyone wants to be like and liked by everyone. He would
be mister popular, mister sophisticated.
Since he is God he would never have
acne or have to deal with oily skin. His teeth would always be as
white as Mount Hood snow. His robe would
never be dirty and always have a slight glow to it. All the mothers would be asking Mary what
laundry detergent she used.
Whatever he put his hand to was
perfect. When he worked for his father
he never cut a board too short or mis-measured.
When he was called to cut a slab of stone his first swing split it
perfectly and he was the envy of all the neighborhood masons.
Of course this is not an entirely accurate view of
Jesus. It certainly isn’t a biblical
view of him. The truth of the matter is
that he was insignificant. He was a
nobody from a nothing town. Up until he
started his ministry it would have been “Jesus who?” Son of Joseph and Mary. Joseph and Mary who? He was a nobody and the son of a nobody. He was a plain boy who grew up into a plain
and ordinary man.
His was simply described as
sensitive toward the things of God; someone who never really fit in to this
world, someone who belonged somewhere else.
As I was writing this I thought, "I guess I am being made into His image."
