It seemed that almost everyone had expectations, or a false self, to impose on Jesus’ life. In living faithfully to his true self, he disappointed a lot of people. Jesus was secure in his Father’s love, in himself, and thus was able to withstand enormous pressure. He left his family of origin and their expectations of a carpenter’s son and became an innerdirected, separate adult. As a result, he disappointed his family. At on point, his mother and siblings wondered if he was out of his mind (Mark 3).
He disappointed the people he grew up with in Nazareth. When Jesus declared who he really was as the Messiah, they tried to push him off a cliff (Luke 4). He remained self assured in his beliefs, regardless of the outrage of the crowds in his hometown.
He disappointed his closest friends, the twelve disciples. They projected onto Jesus their own picture of the kind of Messiah Jesus was to be. This did not include a shameful end to his life. They quit on him. Judas, one of his closest friends, “stabbed him in the back” for being true to himself. But even though they misunderstood him, Jesus never held it against them.
Jesus listened without reacting. He communicated without antagonizing. Yet he deeply disappointed the crowds. They wanted an earthly Messiah who would feed them, fix all their problems, overthrow the Roman oppressors, work miracles, and give inspiring sermons. Somehow Christ was able to serve and love them, again, without holding it against them.
He disappointed the religious leaders. They did not appreciate the disruption his presence brought to their day to day lives or to their theology. They finally attributed his power to demons. Nonetheless, Jesus was able to maintain an non-anxious presence in the midst of great stress.
Jesus was not selfless. He did not live as if only other people counted. He knew his value and worth. He had friends. He asked people to help him. At the same time Jesus was not selfish. He did not live as if nobody else counted. He gave his life out of love for others. From a place of loving union with his Father, Jesus had a mature, healthy “true self.” This love from God the Father, I believe, was the power that allowed Christ to suffer and die to show the wealth of God’s love and grave for sinners.
The measure of God’s love for us is shown by two things. One is the degree of his sacrifice in saving us from the penalty of our sin. The other is the degree of unworthy that we had when he saved us.
We can hear the measure of his sacrifice in the words, “He gave his only son” (John 3:16). We also hear it in the word Christ. This is a name based on the Greek title Christos, or “Anointed One,” or “Messiah.” It is a term of great dignity. The Messiah was to be the King of Israel. He would conquer the Romans and bring peace and security to Israel. Thus the person whom God sent to save sinners was his own divine Son, his only Son, and the Anointed King of Israel – indeed the king of the world. A person of amazing worth.
When we add to this consideration the horrific death by crucifixion that Christ endured, it becomes clear that the sacrifice the Father and the Son made was indescribably great – even infinite, when you consider the distance between the divine and the human. But God chose to make this sacrifice to save us.
The measure of his love for us increases still more when we consider our unworthiness. “Perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” Romans 5. We deserved divine punishment, not divine sacrifice.
I though about it at our last retreat of solitude. God didn’t die for ducks. He responded to our value as humans. This turns grace on its head. We are worse off than ducks. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not have to die for ducks. They aren’t bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it.
There is only one explanation for God’s sacrifice for us. It is not us. It is “the riches of his grace”. It is all free. It is not a response to our performance and worth. It is the overflow of his infinite worth. In fact, that is what divine love is in the end: a passion to enthrall undeserving sinners, at great cost, with what will make us supremely happy forever, namely, his infinite beauty.
So this is my message: to your face, you are not what you do, you are not what you own, you are not what others think. You are loved by God. That is your identity.