domingo, 9 de março de 2008

Jesus’ way

As Christians, we are called to follow Jesus’ example in this world. The prophet Isaiah talked about Jesus’ way (Isaiah 53). When I read and meditate on these words, I understand Jesus “had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected” and also humiliated. This description is from a man who revolutionized history, but it does not sound pleasant to ours 21st-century-ears. Our values and desires are very different from those.

Jesus’ attitude goes against our selfishness. He gave himself to the others in obedience to the Lord. He declared the truths of God’s Kingdom and lived its consequences. Jesus served everybody at every time. He rewarded each person: the leper, the prostitute, the lame, the tax collector, the rich and the poor. The “despised and rejected” looked at each heart searching for human’s pure character, discerning what was worldly made.

The apostle Paul also describes Jesus’ way in Philippians 2:5-11, recommending it as an example for us. Pauline’s description stresses that Jesus “made himself nothing, taking a very nurture of servant” and “he humbled himself”. We are called to renounce our selfish dreams and projects in obedience to the Lord.

If I think logically, this attitude does not make any sense in the world nowadays. But, through faith, I understand that this was the way Jesus decided to walk and completed His mission on Earth. He had achieved His work so well that, still today, He calls us to follow Him and live as He lived.

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