Roll Up: Jesus’ Joy, Humility, Compassion, Clean Anger, Approachability & Protection
At the end of the month I combine (or “roll up”) all the character elements of Jesus that we have looked at through the last month. Here is this month’s “Roll Up”.
This month we covered 8 different character aspects of Jesus and therefore tried to see God’s character more clearly. Initially we saw how compassionate Jesus was. Before He feeds the crowd of 4,000, by multiplying the food, we learn that He did this because compassion moved Him. He didn’t do it out of legalistic reasoning or some kind of mental assessment of the people’s needs – He cared about the people and it was compassion that motivated Him. Then He even expresses His concern for the people in other words: “I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” (Matt 15:32) I never get tired of realizing that Jesus (God) knows exactly how we feel. He is not separated from our experiences or existence. We also looked at the time Jesus delighted in the Father, with great joy! The way the Father revealed His power and understanding to “little children” rather the “wise and learned” (Pharisees) caused Jesus delight! We discovered that Jesus has a “glad tongue” and was anointed with joy more than any other person. Then we tried to contrast that with His clean anger against the synagogue ruler who resisted the healing of the woman that was bent over for 18 years. Jesus turns on the leader with fury and calls Him out as a “Hypocrite!” Jesus attacks His hypocrisy “in a way” that protects the woman and the congregation from getting the wrong idea about God from the leader. His clean anger provides protection for the people and an opportunity for the leader to repent and “re-align” with God’s goodness. In this same passage Jesus notes the woman’s suffering with deep compassion… to Him it was eighteen “long” years that she suffered. (Luke 13:16). So in this one passage you see 1) Jesus clean anger, 2) His protection of the woman and the people and 3) His compassion for the woman’s suffering. Again – Jesus/God is not isolated from our pain and human existence… He feels it and knows what we experience. We also looked at Jesus “clean anger” when He was “indignant” with the disciples for trying to keep the little children and babies away from Him. It is critical to realize that He did not reject the disciples but definitely disciplined them (correction) and made His concern for the children evident. The disciples were trying to shoo away the children and parents bringing babies and Jesus put an absolute stop to that! Then we looked at how “approachable” Jesus was. The people most susceptible to accusation and rejection, the prostitutes and IRS/Tax Collectors, felt accepted enough by Jesus that they would spend time with Him and eat with Him. Jesus never compromised on truth but He revealed it in a way that drew people to Him. In fact, Jesus is so approachable that Peter feels free enough to rebuke the Master! (re: His statements about His imminent death) Jesus wasn’t a controlling, harsh leader. He was radically powerful on every level. But He was very approachable. We looked at how He protected Mary, when she anointed His feet and head with oil, from Judas’ accusation that she was wasting money. Jesus steps right in and shields her! Then Jesus goes so far as to guard the memory of what Mary did all through human history! He protects her in the moment and in the future! Lastly we looked at the humility and meekness of Jesus. Wrapping all these other characteristics together we find Jesus, the God-man, stooping down, grabbing the dry, dusty, cracked feet of the disciples and washing them with water and drying them with a towel! Peter is floored! It is too much for him. He basically says, “Master, what are you doing?” Jesus, hinting of the cross, says, “If you are part of my family, I have to wash you.” He reveals His deep humility and core identity as a servant!
From compassion to clean anger, from joy to being indignant, from approachability to protection and ultimately to humility and servant-hood… this is the God-man, Jesus Christ – who perfectly reveals the Father from all eternity! He reveals who God is and how He relates to us!
Comparing and contrasting all the character elements of Jesus develops a more “real” picture of Jesus! This protects us from polarizing Him into one category or another. Rather we see Him as a combination of ALL His character attributes. He truly is the Lion and the Lamb (Revelation 5:5 & 6). His character also reveals what John the Baptist said – “…grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (vs “law” coming thru Moses – John 1:17) Jesus always spoke the truth and would defend it furiously when it was attacked. But He also married it with Grace. He IS the single clear revelation of God Almighty in human History. His character also gives insight to His commandment to His disciples to be “Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matt 10:16). He embodied this very principle.
Foundation Verse: “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” Jesus is the perfect, exact revelation of God, who is invisible, but seen through the Son!
Strange fact: One of the Key ways to get closer to Jesus is to “pray His character back to Him.” People say, “What, do you mean by that.” Simply that you walk in the 1st Commandment and tell Him what parts of His character you are amazed by, fascinated by or captivated by…. In short… what you love about Jesus!
Prayer: “Jesus, it is wonderful to see your compassion and concern for the people and their hunger! It is awesome to see you act and meet their physical need. I love the fact that you are so approachable. That gives me confidence to come near you! Anger scares me and gets my defenses up. But I am beginning to see how clean your anger is and how often it results in someone being protected. I love your protection! I can see how you are protecting Mary. I can see how you are protecting the children by disciplining your followers! I am amazed that you wrap up all your power and goodness with humility – that you actually serve us, cleans us and bring us to yourself! You truly are amazing and worthy of my fascination and obedience! May your will be done in my life!”
