Sexy Jesus

17Feb

I know.

But I realized that lots of people, including me from time to time, do everything we can to make Jesus sexy. We dress him up pretty to take him out with us.

When I look at Luke 15, I start to think that must have been what was happening, why he was so interesting to tax collectors and “sinners”. I mean, why else would they have wanted to hear what he said? He had to be fun, edgy, sexy.

But then I look at Isaiah 53 and read that

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Sometimes we like to be around skin-deep people. It’s fun. We like the lack of probing. We like not having to work hard. We like people who can tell us what we want to hear. We like air-brushed.

But sometimes we look in the mirror and we realize that we are that shallow too. We understand that we’ve airbrushed sexy all over the mirror, all over the window we hold in front of us as we walk.

And we look in the mirror and out the window and feel skin deep safe and fear X-ray vision. Which is wise. X-ray vision can kill. Unless, of course, X-ray vision comes with a heart.

Man of Suffering, an odd superhero, with eyes that don’t look through you but into you, finding pain and offering peace, coming with stories of one in 100 sheep, 1 in 10 coins, 2 of 2 sons.

Sexy Jesus looks lovely. Man of Suffering looks awful.

But only one of the two will understand a conversation which starts with, “I’ve got nothing.”

One says, “pfft.” One says, “Take me.”

—

Here’s the Luke 15 story.

9 thoughts on “Sexy Jesus”

Diane Brogan
February 17, 2011 at 9:26 am

This is a most thought provoking post. I always think of Jesus as a rock star.

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1. Jon Swanson
  February 17, 2011 at 10:12 am
  
  In one sense, absolutely. But in another sense, exactly the opposite. Deserving but not demanding.
  
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Rich Dixon
February 17, 2011 at 9:49 am

So how did you know I was feeling broken this morning by a self-serving fit of self-righteousness?

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1. Jon Swanson
  February 17, 2011 at 10:13 am
  
  You mean when I wrote it three days ago? or do you mean when I looked in the mirror this morning?
  
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Stephanie Hartman
February 17, 2011 at 10:00 am

Wow! Thanks for this post. “Take me”. Love it!

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Frank Reed
February 17, 2011 at 11:24 pm

Wow, Jon. Sometimes you surprise me. I always think about what you write but this time you have made may hair hurt!

Thanks for this incredible picture. I always like the idea of a laughing Jesus when the fact is he was a man of suffering and because of that sacrifice, I don’t have to suffer (although I often submit myself to self inflicted, self indulgent ‘suffering’).

And honestly, the physical suffering was nothing. When I remember that He suffered taking on ALL the sins of the world and was, for a time, separated from God (experiencing the real hell) so I wouldn’t have to ever be if I would just believe, I want to just cry. I really don’t deserve that but I have it. Wow.

Thanks. Keep thinking and writing and following His lead. It matters.

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bZirk
February 22, 2011 at 4:35 pm

Excellent. Excellent. Did I mention how excellent?

Need to hear more of this.

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Barry Davis
February 22, 2011 at 4:42 pm

Thanks for reminding us that He was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” – for us!

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