Being Jesus

Do people ever question what you do?

After healing the paralyzed man, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up, left everything, and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.” - Luke 5:27–32

There can be times when you have total faith in someone's judgment, yet one thing he or she does makes you wonder what they are thinking.

Jesus had that effect on people.

Luke doesn't tell us what his disciples thought.  And he doesn't say the disciples answered the question from the Pharisees.  Jesus did.

So, maybe the disciples shrugged and put their hands up, not knowing how to answer.

Ask him, they may have said.  We don't understand much of what he does.

That would make sense to me.  

The followers of Jesus then and now have it hard trying to explain Jesus' words and actions, not because he was inconsistent, but because he stood out as being different.

There was a time not too long ago when being different was celebrated by the young, but I wonder if it is still respected.

People tend to want to fit in, to join the crowd, to be counted among the many, even if the many are a minority.

To be Jesus, we would have to be totally and obviously different, so much so, that we stand out, alone.

He is unique, and while that attracts followers, it might not make us want to be him.

We can emulate the things we feel comfortable with, but when it comes to making ourselves a target for those in authority, we might not be so eager.

It wasn't so much what he did that upset them, but how he managed to make them look foolish when they challenged him or tried to trap him.

He chase cleverness as a defense.

And it worked.

So, as we followers of Jesus head out into the world, we need to be prepared to be challenged.  And if we have the confidence of our faith, we just might have a clever response.

More to come...