Jesus Our All in All (#5)

I'm going to continue to quote from "Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola (and Leonard Sweet) because of more wonderful material there about this Person who really is too good to be true: Jesus!

"According to Scripture, Jesus Christ (and not a doctrine about Him) is the truth. In addition, Jesus Christ (and not an ethic derived from His teaching) is the way. In other words, both God's truth and God's way are embodied in a living, breathing person - Christ...

When Christ is understood in terms of a cohesive theological system, Jesus becomes subordinated to a human description. The 'idea' of Jesus is treated as the equivalent of the reality of Christ. We are then hindered from growing in His life, being tied down to a frozen construction of Him...

When Christ is understood in terms of an ethical standard, He becomes simply a means. There is one thing that all ethical teachers have in common. In every case, they are only a means to an end. They are merely the vehicles of something far more important - their ethical teaching. Once a person has leaned the teaching, he or she could lose the memory and identity of the teacher and still possess his teaching...this is not the case with Christianity. Jesus Christ is the main event. He...is the end and goal...

Aristotle said to his disciples, 'Follow my teachings.' Socrates...Buddha... Confucius...and Muhammad said to his disciples, 'Follow my teachings/sayings/meditations/noble pillars.'

But Jesus says to His disciples, 'Follow Me.'

While Jesus is flawless, our religious sensibilities - whether our doctrinal or ethical systems - are always subject to error. Thus they are only redeemable as they are made subject to Christ's constant transformation.

The end of existence is not understanding faith. It is living faith - a walk of utter dependence upon and loving attentiveness to Jesus Christ.

G.K. Chesterton: 'Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.'"

Jesus, You are our Life and Portion and Goal! How wonderful that being in You is about getting to know and love a Person who is magnificent and beautiful in every way. Oh, send forth Your gracious and powerful Spirit to open the eyes of our hearts and minds to see You more clearly. Strip away all that dims our view of You, most of all that which religion has constructed to obscure Your beauty. Thank You for Your fiery zeal towards us, dear Lord! You will do this for us...thank YOu, thank You!

Jesus our All in All (#4)

Once more, here is more from "Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola:

"Watch Him as He sits before a woman caught in the act of adultery. See her with bleeding cuts on her body, dragged like a rag doll before a hungry mob of judgmental men, waiting for the first stone to crush her head and bring her to a death that she justly deserves. Behold your glorious Lord. He asks one question, a question that pierces the heart of every man who is ready to send this woman to her grave. Mesmerized by the Lord's words, each man drops his stone and walks away. Christ's parting words to the guilty woman? 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.'

What a Christ!

Watch Him as he is taken before Rome's delegates in the city of Jerusalem. See Him standing before Pilate - rejected, dejected, bludgeoned, beaten, spat upon. Behold Him who created the heavens, the Lord of the universe, suffering the most horrific gruesome form of torture that was ever invented by the human imagination.

Observe Him hanging on a wooden stake, dying a slow, hideous death, covered with blood - naked, mocked, and shamed. The Messiah has become a public spectacle that elicits the spine-chilling, gleeful laughter of satan himself...

The powers of Rome may have defeated the suffering artisan 2,000 years ago, but in the end, He shall triumph...for upon that bloody hill, Jesus of Nazareth defeated the powers of darkness and won for Himself the keys of death, hell, and the grave...There is no circumstance too hard for Him...He now lives by the power of an endless life, and He never fails.

And one day, every kingdom, every ruler, every principality and power shall bow their mortal knees to the rejected Nazarene...Indeed, it will be His time, and He will have the last word."

Beautiful Jesus...thank You, thank You! Come to us by Your Spirit and help us love You as our eyes are opened to see how You love us. Amen.

Jesus Our All in All (#3)

More about Jesus from "Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola:

"Watch Him as he encounters a battered, abused, shamed, and forgotten woman. She's a Samaritan of ill repute - a five-time divorcee. Your Lord breaks all social conventions by talking to her in public. But that's not all. He shares with her one of the greatest truths that a human being can know. In addition, He breaks Jewish custom by using her utensils and eating with her friends in a Samaritan village (something Jews were forbidden to do). Here is a Lord who embraces a dejected woman and woos her and her friends to Himself.

What a Christ.

Watch Him as He allows a prostitute to love Him in the house of a Pharisee. She pours expensive perfume on His feet, unbinds her hair and uses it as a towel to anoint His feet. Such an act is scandalous (for a woman to unbind her hair in that day was akin to publicly removing her bra in our day). The Pharisees move into high-octane-judgment mode toward Jesus and the woman. And what does the Lord do? He accepts this woman's extravagant act of love and adoration and rebukes the finger-pointing Pharisee for his self-righteousness, saying, 'Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.' To the woman He said, 'Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.'

What a Christ."

Lord Jesus, You are beautiful in every way! Would You help us see as You see by Your Spirit? Come to us and renew our minds related to what You value and to what Your heart counts as precious. Thank You for Your undying love and affection for weak humans!

Jesus Our All in All

Continuing with quotes from Frank Viola's book, "Jesus Manifesto", about the wonder and beauty of Jesus:

"Let's go back to the first century and take another look at our Lord. 'Come and behold Him.' We bless and are blessed as we simply 'behold Him', not as we boast of talents or do great things, but as 'we look full in His wonderful face.' Everyday 'beholding' releases Jesus, especially when that beholding is done by a community.

"Watch Him at a wedding in Cana. According to the custom of that day, the bridegroom was responsible for supplying the food and wine...The wine ran out. This represented a social disgrace - a grave oversight on the part of the bridegroom.

"Behold your Lord's first miracle. He turns water into wine - but no ordinary wine. He creates a wine that is finer than the wine that had run out. In one brilliant stroke of compassion, Jesus Christ removes the bridegroom's shame. He supplies the lack. He covers the mistake. He removes the disgrace. He reverses the failure. And He makes the bridegroom look like a champion.

"What a Christ."

Dear Spirit of Jesus, reveal to us the extent to which you go to cover us in our weakness and lack. Thank You for such a heart that delights to cover us in failure...may we be transformed into Your image as we behold this truth about You. We love You, dearest Lord!