Jesus the Person

When I read Tavio’s posting (below), his description of our church as a place where “people believe in you” opened up today’s reading in a new way.

How do we answer the question, “do you believe in Jesus”? Often the answers are about whether Jesus really lived, or whether Jesus was God, or whether Jesus rose from the dead. But what if we ask the question, “do you believe in Jesus in the same way that you believe in a person that you know and interact with daily”?

To believe in a person is to have trust in, have confidence in, have faith in that person. When I believe in a person, I take risks—I give my time and attention, and follow their advice.

I question now my own belief in Jesus. Do I believe in Jesus or do have beliefs about Jesus? What risks do I take out of my confidence in him?

Henri Nouwen writes that we tend to emphasize the distance between Jesus and ourselves (41). I think he wants us to see Jesus as a person.

If we think of Jesus as too big, all-knowing and all-powerful, we don’t expect that all Jesus does, we too may do. We don’t expect to enter his intimate relationship with the Father.

If we think of Jesus as too small, an object, a lamb that is nothing more than a sacrifice, then we won’t recognize him as a person, someone who was obedient. We won’t recognize that following Jesus is also, for us, a life of obedience. We would miss out on so much—to view Jesus in such a small way would fail to recognize the beauty of all that was given to Jesus in this life of obedience.

In thinking of Jesus as too big or too small, we would lose. We would fail to stretch out our arms to God, fail to open our lives, not knowing that all that Jesus does, all that was given to Jesus, is also available for us to receive.