which Jesus?

Recently I read a book about Jesus that has stirred my thinking. I realized how frequently we create a Jesus that fits our paradigm. There is the political activist Jesus who utilizes government to further his agenda. There is the nice Jesus who is always polite and kind. There is the superhuman Jesus who does miracles at will. There is the pacifist Jesus with a pale face holding a lamb.

The problem of creating our own Jesus is that it causes us to ignore scripture. While Jesus did come to announce the coming of a new kingdom, we never find him engaged in political discourse about the evils of the Roman empire. While Jesus certainly befriended sinners and embodied gentleness and meekness, He also made a whip and drove the vendors from the temple. While Jesus performed miracles, He did no more than what the Father wanted.

Of course then there are the troubling scriptures. I've already mentioned the cleansing of the temple. Imagine the turmoil and chaos He caused as He turned tables over, spilling money and wares. And then there is the little matter of turning water into wine at a wedding where the guest were already drunk. A needy woman is called a dog. A prostitute washes His feet. To make matters worse, He tells people that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood without ever qualifying His statements. He curses a fig tree and makes mud out of spit and dirt to heal a blind man. He vociferously rebukes the Pharisees and yet asks the Father to forgive them when the finally betray Him to the Romans. He points out their hypocrisy yet responds to their dinner invitations.

Jesus defies our efforts to remake Him into someone whom He is not. He cannot be neatly fit into a theological framework. Yet it is that untamed virtue that strangely draws us to follow Him. He makes no guarantees in His invitation to us. In fact at times He seems to make it difficult for people to follow - sell what you have, give it to the poor and come follow Me. He invites us to follow Him into the unknown with giving any kind of assurances that "everything will be okay".

My life has been transformed, not by the Jesus I heard about in Sunday School. My life has been transformed as I read (and continue to read) the gospels and allow His example and teachings to become my guide. He has challenged my theology at almost every turn. I no longer try to "figure Him out", I simply embrace Him for who He is. Rather than attempt to fit Him into my mold, I allow Him to mold me.