"For The Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance; BUT, The Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7
The Bible does not give us a description of the face of Jesus. Often we see Him portrayed with blue eyes, flowing blond hair, white as a sheet, skeletal ... how unlikely this is! Think for a moment, His Father is the Most High God, (whom no man has seen); but we know His mother was Middle-Eastern. He, no doubt, had brown eyes, brown hair, darker skin, and since He was a manual laborer, a carpenter, he was probably not wimpy or weak.
In our mind's eye though, we WANT to make him beautiful-looking, if not Brad Pitt, then certainly Omar Sheriff, or that guy with the long, dark, curly hair on the TV Show Lost.
700 years before Jesus came to Earth, the Prophet Isaiah was blessed with God-given visions about the coming Messiah. He saw King Jesus, high, exalted, glorious on His Heavenly Throne (read Isaiah Chapter 6.) Then, later in Isaiah 53:2-3, he describes, how Jesus would be when He condescended to come to Earth and live among us, as a man, a servant:
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him nothing in his appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not.
Vulnerable, ordinary-looking, familiar with suffering, lowly in status, rejected by society....
Obviously, Jesus could have chosen any kind of face He wanted. Perhaps He chose to tell us that its not about appearances at all. How we place stock in the flesh, the look of a person. How we esteem the beautiful, charismatic, the rich & famous, paper-thin women, buffed up men; but Jesus, O how different and wonderful He is! How opposite from the rock-star, drop-dead-handsome prince on a white stallion, that we wanted Him to be.
He showed us where true beauty lies, on the inside, in the soul of a person. He tells us Who He Is, and what He really looks like in Matthew 11:29 Jesus describes Himself: "I am GENTLE AND HUMBLE OF HEART." How altogether lovely is Our God!
Today, ask the Lord to help you to slow down and see beyond the exteriors. Instead ofseeking to be in with the in-crowd, stop for an out-cast. Offer a smile, a kind word, a loaf of bread, it could be the face of Jesus you are looking into.
HURRY bring every need UP to heaven; and, then Wait on The Lord to act. "Be still and know that He is God exalted among the nations, exalted in all the earth." Psalm 46:10
2 comments:
Mary! I am so proud of you. I love the name 'Hurry up and Wait.' And God certainly calls us to this. His ways are not our ways....but we are working on it!
Exodus 14:14 says, "The LORD will fight for you, you need only be still."
Teach us to wait on you Lord. I am looking forward to taking this journey with you, Mary.
xo
Mary,
I never before thought specifically about Jesus "choosing" His face, His personality, His traits. He chose what we would never willing chose, just as His life demonstrated. Our facing "what we would never choose" in our lives allows us to face the adversity that is the only way we can grow to become like Him. Gentle and humble in heart - not traits the world regards as strengths but is actually where strength originates. What a blessing!
B
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