When the Outsider Knew

Jun 16, 2005Kingdom Uncaged

The Lord gave me a thought today on my run. I was thinking about Jesus and what a humiliation it must’ve been for Him to hang there naked as an innocent God/man. Then I remembered these words:

“When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39)

The centurion, an outsider to the commonwealth of Israel, didn’t get it until he saw Christ’s humility, the way He died. Jesus performed amazing, miraculous signs, but these signs did not convince. It was in His ability to be ridiculed, to be misunderstood, to be the utter exemplification of turning the other cheek, that the man realized Jesus’ deity.

It’s upside down, isn’t it? We think that to be like Jesus we have to be strong, perfect, pulled together. We think it’s all about appearances, about looking righteous. To be like Jesus is to pattern our lives after His in humility.

The more we walk through others mocking us without returning the favor, the more we are like Jesus.

The more we are willing to admit our frailties, the more we allow for His nature to infuse us.

The more we elevate the needs of others above our agendas, the more we reveal Jesus to those on the outside.

I love Jesus. I love that He stayed on that cross, though we mocked and spit and wagged heads. He did it to show us that we can still love under horrific stress, that we can bless when cursed. He showed us the key to evangelism as His sacred head bled: that kind humility shows more Jesus than displays of power.

0 Comments