We all have been created in the
image and likeness of God and His image will be as numerous as His creation. Wherever
we go and whatever time and space we may belong, God will continue to reveal
His image to us. The most powerful of all these is the incarnation of God, to
become one of us so He can once and for all reveal the true image of God. In
Jesus, we see God and through Him we can see God in each and every one of us.
In whatever circumstances,
time and situation, we can see an image of Jesus. This is how much God loves us
and how much He is willing to accompany us in this journey where He has invited
us to come. In Philippians 4:12, Paul exhorts us “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty…”
That in both abundance and need, we will see Christ in our situation. That
He has invited us to recognize Him in times that everything seems to be working
out well and on the other extreme, continue to recognize Him when we have
nobody to turn to.
We are also be
influenced to change the image of Jesus as our time and needs change. In our
modern day faith, many will try to mold an image of Jesus to the perception and
needs of the time and therefore the same Jesus can be interpreted and adopted to
as many as the changes in time and needs in accordance to the demands of the
ever changing winds of culture.
When we turn to the Gospels, we
can also see the remarkable range of depictions of the image of Jesus. Mark
emphasizes the humanity of Jesus, calling him at times a carpenter and
referring frequently to his emotional responses. John on the other hand, depicts
Jesus first a divine figure who was then made flesh. Taken as a whole, the Gospels
themselves present an image of Jesus who is remarkably complicated, at times
serenely above human wisdom, at other times impatient, even angry.
The advent of new technologies
and the rise of the popularity of social media where information and images can
be available at a click of a finger, have only made the image of Jesus more
difficult to capture. In our Christian culture today - we will find Jesus in just
about any character we want. He can be a God who blesses you abundantly because
you practice tithing, He can be a God whose most and foremost agenda in your
life is for you be rich and comfortable, He can also be an entertainer who
doesn’t bore you with His litany of do’s and don’ts. Of course there is the
traditional image of Jesus as teacher, healer and shepherd.
In baptism, we share in the three
fold ministries of Christ – Priest, Prophet and King. I think that the image
and ministry of Christ we have neglected is the image of Jesus as a Prophet. The
Jesus that is most visible in Matthew and Luke is the “countercultural” Jesus,
one who challenges his followers to see the world in a truly different way and
live in accordance to the moral truth of our faith.
Some of us may even have difficulty
recognizing or relating to the true image of Christ. For me, the one question I
ask is – Is Jesus relevant in my life today? If I can sincerely say yes, I am
sure I will have no problem seeing the image of Jesus yesterday, today and
tomorrow and in whatever circumstance my journey may lead me.
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