One of the things that in my pettiness tends to annoy me is mistaken identity. I think we have all had the experience at one time or another of someone coming up to us and saying “Oh, you are so and so.” Occasionally someone will ask me how things are going at the hospital. To which I kindly reply that I don’t work at a hospital – I work as a chaplain at the University of Alberta, which happens to have a teaching hospital. Other people work in the hospital – I work with students.
Most of us have run into people who think they “know” us. Our opinions, who we are, what we like or dislike, what things are important to us. And it can either be amusing or frustrating to hear other people’s thoughts about us. To be honest, we do that to others as well. I learn a few things (or I think I do) about a particular person, and then in my own mind I make up the rest as I go along. But after a bit of real conversation with the actual person, I begin to realize that the made up picture of a person doesn’t bear too much resemblance to the real person.
I sometimes wonder if Jesus is the victim of the same way of thinking. We know (or think we know) a little bit about him, and we just make up the rest as we go along. We stop engaging him in conversation, and so we do not get very far in knowing the real Jesus. I want to know the real Jesus – not the Jesus of my imagination, or the Jesus based on a few opinions of mine – but the real Jesus.
How does anyone know who I am? They can guess a few things (often accurately) from observation. I am so tall, I wear a wedding ring (he must be married), I sometimes have nasty bits of pablum on my collar (he must have small kids). But to truly know me, I must chose to reveal who I am. And you must be willing to believe me. Otherwise, you will cling to your notion of who Joe is, and never get to know the real Joe. It is the choice of believing what is revealed, leading to relationship with a real (rather than imagined) person.
Who the “real Jesus” is, must be revealed to me. By the real Jesus. And I must chose to believe what he reveals, whether it fits with my preconceived notions or not. Revelation is the first step in any honest and meaningful relationship. How does he reveal who he truly is?
"It is written"
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