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Famous oneMonday, January 3, 2011
Matthew 4:23
His fame spread.
On Chris, of course. On Jesus too. He invited it, though, and his preparation included a visitation of the Holy Spirit at baptism plus a 40-day fast in the desert. His words were powerful and his miracles all-encompassing. They extended from deliverance to physical and mental healing all the way to raising people from the dead. CNN would have called it "Breaking News!" Without TV, the stories still spread quickly. His fame grew and grew. Crowds became more ungainly and out of control. Demands, especially from the skeptics, grew outrageous. Still, in the face of this, Jesus' compassion grew and grew. Three of the enduring images of Jesus' life are described in Matthew 4, 5 and 6. First he preaches his Sermon on the Mount. Then at Jesus' direction, the disciples feed thousands with a few morsels of bread and fish. And finally that night Jesus walks over the stormy waves of the Sea of Galilee to meet them in their boat. All this began only after John was arrested. Why weren't Jesus and John together? What a team they would have made. Would they both have been arrested? Perhaps. But "what ifs" can never be carried very far. What happened instead was that Jesus walked the shores of Galilee and found Peter and Andrew and James and John, and very soon all of his disciples. And thus he began to change the world. Just the 10th day of Christmas, Jesus, and already you are moving mountains. We worship you and praise you, in your strength and in your joy and in your love. |
It's not easy being 30 years old. Just ask our son Chris, who turned 30 on December 17. He's mentor and minister to a medley of middle school kids vastly younger than himself. Well ... maybe not exactly Vastly. But they look to him for direction and friendship and humor and ... teaching, proclaiming the Good News and, especially, healing. That can be a lot of pressure.