Do We See Who Jesus Really Is?

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Theo enjoying Christmas as a reindeer. 
But -- we do see him for who he really is!


Scripture:


Luke 20:41    Then he said to them, “How can they say that the Messiah is David’s son? 42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

43 until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’ 44 David thus calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?”


Observation:


Jesus knew that the religious officials were unconvinced about him. They would not embrace him as their Messiah, for they were convinced that he did not tick all the right boxes. There was a bit of a riddle regarding the way in which the Messiah could also be David’s son, for if David was king, how could his son be greater than him? That wasn’t the way that it worked within society. 


Jesus silenced them by using a Psalm: The Messiah, as God, was David’s Lord; but the Messiah, as man, was David’s son. They couldn’t see who Jesus really was because they couldn’t fathom this truth, that the man who stood before them was both God and man. He was revealing a divine mystery, but it was beyond what their minds wanted to comprehend. 


Application:


Jesus was opening up a great truth to the religious leaders. God had come in human flesh and was offering a pathway to salvation for them all. The problem was that he wasn’t what they wanted. This glorious gift, more than they could have imagined in their own minds, was a disappointment to them. They rejected him because they wanted a political leader and someone who would overthrow the government, only he was so much more.


I remember as a girl that I wanted a spray bottle of hair detangler. I was often disappointed because my mother was always pinching pennies and wouldn’t spend money on the products that other people used or had. I wanted to be like the other girls and there was this spray detangler for your long hair that was advertised on television. It was in a cute bottle and I knew my friends had some — so I mentioned it to my mom. She didn’t buy me what I wanted, but found me this big bottle of hair conditioner that was on sale and put it in my shower for me. It was a very well known brand and was a much better product at detangling my hair than the cute spray bottle. In reality, I’m not so sure that I wanted my hair detangled, as I wanted to have the particular product. I was willing to have something less effective because, in my mind, I had decided that it was the best thing for me. I remember being really irritated at my mom and not even wanting to use the conditioner that she had gotten me. To this day, I feel guilty for my bad attitude, for I rejected what was even better, because it was not what I wanted. 


Our Messiah offers us new life that is transformational. When we are united with our Lord, we turn from our past and move in newness of life. We are new creation and a life of discipleship begins. No longer are we shaped by the world, but we are transformed by the continual and on-going renewal of the presence of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. The things of this world grow strangely dim when we are blessed by the presence of the Messiah. 


We need to let go of what we have imagined Christ to be and allow him to become our all in all. Ask God to open your eyes to see the Messiah for who he really is and embrace all that he has to offer you today. 


Prayer:


Lord, open my eyes to see you for who you really are and to embrace your gifts of love and grace. Amen.  

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