Jesus is full of surprises
When you read the stories about Jesus, you read that he was full of surprises. Sometimes they were happy surprises, sometimes they angered people.
A favourite story is the wedding he went to where the hosts ran out of wine. No problem. Jesus turned water into wine.
A little while later he showed up at a kind of hospital and a lame man he healed just got up and walked out.
One of the wildest things he did was turn up at funerals and bring the dead back to life. Pretty surprising stuff.
But not all of his surprises were appreciated. Early on in his work, he showed up at the temple (the ‘church’ of his day). Surprise! He found the worship there corrupt and materialistic and made quite a stir. He chased out the animals being sold, overturned the tables of people exchanging money, and blasted the merchants who were there.
Jesus also surprised people by whom he hung out with. They expected him to hang out with the clergy and other religious types.
But for the most part he didn’t. He didn’t like the way they performed their religious duties to put on a show. How they made long prayers to impress others, wore fancy robes, and looked for respect and honour. But mostly he found them too proud and full of themselves to be open to his free gift of grace (see Luke 18:9-14).
Even when it came to regular folk, he still surprised everyone. He didn’t usually spend his time with or even respect ‘good’ people.
Instead he kept company with those looked down on in his day: prostitutes, tax collectors, and the non-religious. The way he put it was that it wasn’t the healthy who needed a doctor, but the sick (see Matthew 9:9-13). He really was full of surprises.
If Jesus was on earth today, I think he’d still be full of similar surprises. He might still have some serious issues with us ‘religious types.’ Ouch.
I think he’d still be looking to hang out with those who would least expect him to. People who are rough around the edges, people who never darken the doorway of a church. People who seem to have it all together, but inside are looking for more in life. People who are hungry for something real.
Back in Jesus’ day it was those the world thought least likely to be of interest to him, that he reached out to. I’m sure it would be the same today.
The chances are good that Jesus is not about to physically show up at our work, home or school, but he is still very much alive and well and among us in spirit. He’s still looking for people to love, to forgive, to befriend. Are you one of those people? Am I?
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