If you read this blog regularly, you know that I am crazy about Jesus. Of course, you may have noticed lately that I am also crazy about Barak Obama, but I love Jesus WAY more. Seriously, with each passing year, I find that my love for my Savior deepens as I learn more about what it truly means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
Jesus has been a huge source of artistic inspiration through the centuries since He lived on earth. Michaelangelo is only one of the many artists that have tried to capture the essence of this Man who was more than a man. Because we have no photographs, any representation of Him is only a guess...an attempt to somehow create something tangible of the intangible. While Jesus is the subject of many masterpieces from centuries past, modern-day depictions of Jesus often seem to border on the....shall we say....tacky? Picture black light posters and dogs smoking cigars. Call me crazy, but the 10 foot statue pictured with me above would probably fit into the latter category, in my humble opinion.
Still, I couldn't resist it! We saw this in front of a store in Miami and I just knew I had to have a picture...I was thinking of you, my dear readers!!! Wouldn't it be nice to have a Jesus around that you could look in the eye? There is something very comforting about a 10 foot Jesus that I can touch and see. If you look closely, you can even see the nail holes in His hands...a stark reminder of how much He loves me. Of course, this Jesus has limits. He is kind of stuck in this one position and, while a 10 foot tall Jesus may be big enough for most of my problems, aren't there just some times that we need a 50 foot tall Jesus? Or bigger?
Of course, that's what happens when we try to create a Jesus in our own image. He has limits, just like us. A god that feels safe and familiar, a nice human-like god, is limited. He thinks like us, he acts like us. That makes him easy to understand and predict and categorize and that sort of god can even make us feel good (or at least holy) sometimes....think how holy you would feel with this Jesus in your front yard!! The problem is that it isn't really God...anymore than the bronze statue in the picture with me is really Jesus.
What I am coming to understand is that our God, our Jesus, is way more exciting and unpredictable and powerful than that. He's too amazing and beautiful and big and wonderful to capture with paint or bronze or plastic. We can't fully understand Him, because we can't think like Him...that realization is beginning to be more comforting than frustrating for me, at least most of the time, Praise God! I think it is God's absolute favorite thing to give us glimpses of Himself, moments of His presence, flashes of His glory so that we can begin to grasp just how little we really understand...how big He is, how little we are and how much more there is to learn. And, as we comprehend THAT, we begin to REALLY get it...just a little...but enough to know how much we need Him and how much He loves us...and how we could spend the rest of our lives just seeking Him. And THAT is never boring!
I know I am somewhat talking in circles this evening...waxing poetic because of the inspiration of my big, strong 10 foot tall Jesus. I wish I had thought to see how much he cost!! What would a 10 foot Jesus be worth to you?? :-)
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