(part of) MY JESUS by Todd Agnew
...Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we'd recognize Him
Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?
Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He'd prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud
I want to be like my Jesus!
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we'd recognize Him
Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?
Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He'd prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud
I want to be like my Jesus!
I have begun to notice something disturbing. When I say "disturbing" I mean it gives me chills to think about. It started with a showing of a clip from the crucifixion scene in The Passion of the Christ where many people left after being told what they were about to see. Later I heard the song My Jesus for the first time. Today I saw a comment on Facebook that said a picture of a beaten, bleeding Jesus hanging on a cross was "inappropriate" and it should be replaced with a peaceful, praying Jesus.
Why do we want to clean Jesus up? Are we more concerned with Him being PC than His sacrifice? Do we understand what He did for us? Do we really GET the fact that it should have been each and every one of us on that cross?
Yes, the images are gruesome. I agree, it is hard to watch. But I also believe it is something we need to be reminded of! Daily. DESPERATELY!
In a society where we are too busy justifying our sin instead of turning away from it we need to realize the intensity of the love that Jesus has for us. We need to come face to face with His blood and know that is MY salvation that soaked the ground and stained it red. He paid the price I was meant to pay! We need to see it as it was: harsh, brutal, bloody, cruel and humiliating.
If we wipe away the blood, we take away the purpose. If we clean up the cross, we take away the redemption. Do we not realize that the cross was His destination all along? He loves us enough to pay the price, no matter the cost. All so we could go free. All because He wants us to spend eternity with Him. 1 John 4:19 tells me, "We love because He first loved us." And yet, we don't want to think or be confronted with images of the expression of His love.
I'm not even sure it is the graphic nature that bothers us. For some, I am sure it is just the graphic nature of these images. But for most of us, I think it makes us feel guilty. I know it does me. It makes me feel guilty about the way I live. It makes me feel guilty about the things I put before my Savior. "When I survey the wondrous cross" I come nose to nose with my ingratitude and lack of devotion.
Bottom line: It is much easier to go on with life as usual if "my Jesus" is a brown haired, blue eyed man with His arms outstretched in loving acceptance. I can apologize to that Jesus. But the Jesus that is bleeding and rasping for breath as He dies in my place will take no apology. He demands my life; He deserves my devotion. And that is just what I intend to give Him.
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