This season, we’re blessed with a set of Lenten devotionals by contributing author Lee Hinkle.  Find out more about Lee at the bottom of this article, or at hinkledownunder.com.

Reading

John 7:47-52 (ESV)

Meditation

There is something different about Jesus.

I know that is an understatement: He is perfect, He is fully God and fully man, He is the only way to the Father. So, yes, he is different than anyone else in all of history and humanity.

[pullquote]He spoke like no other, so the people tried to categorize him: Prophet, Christ or criminal?[/pullquote]In the context of John’s gospel we continue to see this difference from the perspective of those trying to arrest Jesus. They say, “no one ever spoke like this man.” Jesus causes a division as His presence demands that each person make a judgement of who He is. He spoke like no other, so the people tried to categorize him: Prophet, Christ or criminal?

You have heard the question before, “if Jesus showed up today, would Christians recognize him?” This is usually asked with an implied “no” as the answer—and asked in order to shame. [pullquote class=”left”]When we would discover something that doesn’t fit our vision of Jesus we would write it off. “No messiah will come from Galilee.”[/pullquote]Usually it springs from a place of pride from the one posing the question: that they would, because they know the real Jesus. Pretty prideful.

The reality is that, left to our own, we would construct Jesus into whatever we needed Him to be at any given time and place. When we would discover something that doesn’t fit our vision of Jesus we would write it off. “No messiah will come from Galilee.”

God did not leave us on our own. He provided the Spirit to testify to us who Jesus is. He seals our heart with the Truth of Christ and His work and call on our lives. It is a call to trust and follow and rest.

Prayer

Father, thank you for your Spirit that opens our eyes to see the true Jesus. Not the one of our own making, but the one who has saved us.

Thank you Jesus for being Truth.

Thank you Spirit for teaching us and sealing our hearts so we know who Jesus is. Amen.

Lenten Action

Take time before Sunday to read John. Let it confront the things that are your “personal Jesus” (with thanks to Depeche Mode). Ask the Spirit to reveal where you have built a false image of Jesus and ask Him to remove it.

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Lee Hinkle is an American pastor who, with his family of 7, felt God’s call to pack up and plant a church in Fremantle, a town in Perth, Western Australia.  Last Summer, the Hinkles left Indianapolis and arrived in Oz to begin their work.  You can follow their adventures at hinkledownunder.com.