The carnality of Christ

Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. Matthew 9:10

When we think of being carnal, it usually conjures up the worst of our fallen nature. But to be carnal also means to be physical and/ or human. Jesus was certainly both of these. In fact it was His connection to the physical that threw people for a loop when it came to His ministry. Jesus was down to earth. He was full of compassion, which is a word that literally means “bowels”. To truly feel for someone means that you feel for him or her in your gut. Jesus was carnal in this sense.

This down to earth, passionate and compassionate Jesus was different than what the religious community was used to. To them holiness was about avoiding not only sin, but also sinners. Their religious practice was about separating themselves from anything irreligious. So when Jesus made wine, hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes, and touched lepers, they didn’t know what to do with Him. He was very controversial. He appeared very carnal. A type of religious practice that didn’t fit with their attempts to appear righteous before men.

Of course Jesus knew this and therefore He headquartered His ministry from the north in Galilee and not the City of Jerusalem. Since Jesus did not fit into their ideologies of religious practice, He went outside of their establishments and began a revolution that would dwarf them in every way.

Funny how we have seemed to take Christianity in a direction that would make it more religious. Jesus didn’t come to start a new religion but to fulfill and old one. He fulfilled it by keeping it in letter and in spirit. He showed us a better way. A way of relating to God and each other out of love and not law. To be more concerned about what God thinks than what man thinks. To care more about the hurting and the lost, than of our reputations. To risk anything and everything to be a true reflection of God’s kingdom. To bring heaven to earth.

Today’s prayer: “Lord may You grace me with ability to live more like You no matter what that may mean.”

Keep looking up,
Pastor Gary