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Key noteWednesday, March 12, 2014
Luke 11:31 But Jesus says there is more here than meets our wholly human eyes. Something "greater." Can we see Jesus as divine? Fully divine? And if "divine," is Jesus God or the devil? Jesus asked the people to let God clear their eyes before they looked at him. "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it ... When your eye is sound, then your whole body is filled with light, but when it is bad, then your body is in darkness" (Luke 11:28, 34). How do we let God clear our eyes? Jesus' message is consistent and penetrating. "Hear the word of God and observe it." Love God and others. Serve before being served. Know that God is God and you are not, and live that worship every day. The old Greek word "kenosis" means to be emptied. Be emptied to be made full. Fully die to fully live. Without this constant draining out, our eyes and lives become bloodshot and self-serving, narrowed and suspicious, full of confusion. And God forbid I decide I've finally reached the end of emptying, that now I'm saved from emptying and can relax. That's when my eyes cloud up worst of all. Psalm 51 fills the readings in these first days of Lent, and again today. "My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn." We can really only see Jesus in this light as we ask God to turn that light on ourselves as well. Is Jesus who he says he is? Is Jesus really God and not the devil? Jesus leads the way and empties himself, and he knows that our lives depend on how we follow. Search me, O Lord, and know my anxious thoughts. Look me in the eyes and see if there is any offensive way in me. Show me what you see. Lead me in your way everlasting. |
Was Jesus the "smartest man who ever lived," as Dallas Willard has called him? Christian doctrine states that Jesus is fully human and fully divine. Calling the fully human Jesus "smart" puts Jesus and me on the same continuum. He is smarter than I am. And because Jesus is the most "fully human" of us all, he is the smartest of all.