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The majority of us have been so wrong in our view of the character and personality of our Jesus, that we have done Him a terrible injustice by turning our worship, obedience and love for Him into a moral obligation, more than an intimate response to how wonderful He is. One of the most amazing and difficult things to see and accept about Jesus, is His desire for our intimacy with Him. To truly imagine God as wanting personal, private, intimate time with ME is a hard thing to fathom.
Jesus went far out of His way, even to the point of social ruin, to show intimacy to those who needed it most, and often received it least. 1) when He healed a leper (Mark 1:40-42) (people with leprosy lived in solitude, were forced to remain unkempt, weren’t allowed within 6feet of anyone, and no one else could touch them)—so by Jesus touching this man to heal him (when He could’ve just spoken it) He shows the emotional love and tenderness the man missed for so long. 2) when He spoke with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:3-42) (Samaritans were hated by Hebrews, women were seen as property in those days, she was particularly hated, because she’d been married and divorced 5 times, and retrieved her water at the hottest part of the day when no one else was around)—so He not only sat and talked cordially with her, He didn’t judge her lifestyle, He asked to share a drink of water with her. He reached out in love to show acceptance of her, and stayed for two days. 3) when He healed the man in the pool (John 5:1-14) 4) when the woman washed His feet with her hair (Mark 14:3-9)(it was considered indecent for a woman to let her hair down in this culture, and the perfume was worth a small fortune) her personal worship to Him was one of the most beautiful and touching things done for Him by another in His years on earth, and why He wanted it preached everywhere until the end of time. 5) when He sang a hymn right before He was sentenced to death (Matthew 26:26-30) (prophetic Psalms 116:119 is most likely what He sang). Jesus coveted intimate moments with God and men; even and especially with those that seemed and felt unworthy; He relished the moments in real interest and excitement.
Luke 4:5-8: Jesus was offered lordship over all the people of the earth, without the agonizing pain of the cross, but He would have forfeited His relationship with the Father, and we would have been left in our sins, unredeemed, and Jesus said no; showing that to have it all, without the love of God and His beloveds would not worth ruling. Jesus doesn’t want power, but perfect love, intimacy and oneness at any cost to Self.
It is Jesus’ love for His God and His beloveds that show us another side of Him often missed in our religious ‘Plastic Jesus’: His powerful and fury-filled side. John 2:13-16: deceptive people who trample the knowledge and love of God for their own purposes and profit. Matthew 23:27-33: those that act as though they serve and love God, but inside they serve only themselves. Luke 4:33-37; Luke 8:27-33: the power and authority Jesus has over demons that taunt, torture and overpower this world. Hence; Jesus’ caring demeanor has a dark side that we never want to face. Anyone or anything that threatens His God or His beloveds will receive no mercy from His hand. (The flip side to perfect love is perfect vengeance.) Jesus is not weak, but meek. We can’t appreciate His love and gentleness unless we realize these meek attributes come from One who has been given the authority and power over the Universe. Matthew 28:16-18; Philippians 2:9-11; Revelation 19:11-16. This is the Jesus that demons know exists under the kindness and gentleness shown to His beloveds. This is the wrath they feel when He speaks to them because they know that anyone who hurts His beloveds will be paid back.
And it is this man, this God who is the humble Jesus that wants our individual, private, intimate love; the One who is interested in you.
Revelation 5:11-13
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