For those of us who are human, life can get pretty messy.
What if God became human too? What if Jesus isn't just a stained glass picture but a person, a human being, the Word became Flesh, the Man for whom and through whom everything was created? If this is really true--and I believe it is--then his life must have gotten pretty messy, too.
I wonder if homelessness ever felt like a burden to him--like he had "nowhere to lay his head" (Matthew 8:20).
I wonder if he got tired of being the sort of person that people "falsely say all kind of evil" about (see Matthew 5:11), until he felt like the whole world hated him (John 15:18).
I wonder if he cried when he lost a friend (John 11:35).
Actually, I know Jesus experienced all of these things (see Matthew 8:20, Matthew 5:11, John 15:18, and John 11:35). I know he was sometimes hungry or thirsty (John 4:6-7).
And reading between the lines, it seems that he also got frustrated, lonely, tired, and overwhelmed.
God became fully human so that God could show us what Love looks like in the midst of a messy, fully human life. How to keep quiet in love, and how to speak out in love. How to walk away in love, and how to stay to the bitter end, in love.
God became fully human so that God could show us what Love looks like in the midst of a messy, fully human life.
The Bible never promises that our life will be simple or easy. But the Bible calls us to look to Jesus, the Human God, and learn to live our messy human lives while still showing God's love.
I pray God gives each of us the power to live this calling--today.
--Jonathan
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