Jesus is Not Fun-Sized

Jesus is a real man. He is not a giant man, He's not a mini man, He is not fun-sized, but a normal sized man. He was born a baby and left hanging on a tree. The King of kings, Lord of lords walked among the earth with weak and broken people (and He meant it that way). He stormed darkness with light. Its crazy to think that the man we worship everyday, the one I came to this internship for, the man we’re supposed to sacrifice it all for actually lived on the same land that we live on. He is the ultimate celebrity who proved to be a servant. He did not come “to call the righteous, but sinners.” Imagine just knowing Jesus is alive on the earth and knowing the truth of His identity. Imagine the feeling you would have if you could actually be near him, face to face, in full body form. The reality that you could travel to see Jesus as simple as we travel to see our favorite band play.  He was on the earth, and yet died with everyone denying Him. This picture is only a small foreshadow to the life promised in His second coming. One day the Man sitting on the throne will return and split the sky with His fierce beauty. In that time all will bow to the holiness and His judgment will fall over the earth. We will get to one day walk with Him. We will see Him face to face and be awestruck by His beauty. No longer will there be pain or mourning for His presence—He will be here. He will cast the reprobate into the lake of fire and His elect will meet Him in the sky to live together forever.

In my Sunday night usher group we are doing gospel meditations. At first the idea of meditating on one verse for 2 hours (maybe even longer) made me cringe. Everyone in my group was so excited about it and I sat in the corner on the dark gray chairs wishing I could be listening to the beginning of Abby Bennett’s set. The leaders kept proclaiming the power of meditating and how they would probably be one of our favorite parts of the internship. There was even a pep talk about how it was okay to cry and share our emotions to the group during debriefing. Cry over a sentence? I was so confused. That was until last week when I was that girl who walked in the room crying like a baby. In Luke 1 Elizabeth and Zechariah get filled with the Holy Spirit in order to conceive John. Six months later the angel Gabriel appears to Mary to tell her she will carry Jesus, the Son of God in her womb through the Holy Spirit. When Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth and enters the room the sound of her voice causes the baby in Elizabeth’s stomach to leap. "Pre-born" John didn’t jump over Mary’s voice, but at the sweet sounding presence of God that was resting inside of her. Before He was even born the Holy Spirit moved John’s tiny peanut-sized heart; he was captivated by love. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for the two women throughout their pregnancy. The Holy Spirit had not yet come to the Earth, yet they were filled and it was the very thing that gave them both their children. From the beginning the power of Jesus was touching the hearts of men. Jesus, as God and fully man, came to redeem every sinner.  He left the sweet dwelling place of the Trinity to become a man and sent Himself to the lowest place He could go. He was the only baby that new He was going to be one. He became a bundle of cells in a young Jewish girls stomach so that He may relate to man in order to save us. Jesus came down as the new Adam sacrificing everything to redeem a people that were brought into corruption by one man’s deception.

Read on further to Luke chapter 2:1-7 and the tears in my eyes can now fill a small lake. While on their way to register themselves in Joseph’s hometown, Mary gives birth to Jesus. They are in Bethlehem, around 200-300 miles away from home, and there is no room in the inn so what do they do? They lay the newborn in a manger outside. Meditate on that verse for even 10 minutes and it will sting your heart with love. The Son of God was put in a manger and, once again, God purposefully intended it that way.  Not only is He fully God brought to earth and made man, but He spent His very first night in a place meant for animals. From the very beginning of His life on earth Jesus walked a servant lifestyle. He did not come as a pharaoh’s heir, but a carpenter’s son. He was poor and greatly unaccepted. Mary and Joseph were presumed by there family to be walking in sexual immorality, yet they were fully doing the will of God. He grew up a normal kid. He obeyed His parents, learned proper manners, and needed to be comforted if He hurt himself. He peed and He pooped, yet was completely 100% God. This may sound offensive, but so is the reality of how much we deny Him while fully aware of His torture on the cross. Every time I ponder that thought the Trinity crisis in my head grows. And to think He spent His days learning the trade of carpentry until His ministry started at age 30. We don’t even wait that long to start our own ministry work. So what was the point of the first 30 years of his life? It was to spend time in sacrifice and intimacy with the Father. For 30 YEARS He dwelt in secret with the Father. Every nail hammered, every yes to His parents, every secret prayer done was to grow in a relationship until He was called to His ministry that then only lasted around 3 1/2 years. He has forever been living the Sermon on the Mount lifestyle; humbling Himself in order to get close with us and teach us His ways. We were created for companionship with Jesus. The one Most High became a sack of cells, was born in a manger to a carpenter’s son, and died a sinner’s death all to have me as His inheritance.

How can I not give you everything Jesus.