Do you know what Jesus looks like? Would you recognize him if you saw him pushing a cart at the Food Lion or walking down Division Street? Do you know Jesus?
I think I would recognize him – you know, from the pictures. If he hasn’t changed his hair, that is, his beautiful long wavy hair. And if he still wears those long flowing robes, definitely I would recognize him. If he hasn’t changed his style too much, I would know him. But even if he has I would know his blue eyes, his beautiful smooth skin. You all have seen the pictures, too, right? You know. Our Jesus is beautiful.
The Warner Sallman painting, The Head of Christ, is the one. When Americans imagine the face of Jesus we are most likely to envision this face. A serene looking man gazing off into the distance, serious but not stern. More than 500 million copies of this painting have been sold since its creation in 1940. It hangs in countless homes and Sunday school rooms; the wallet size version has done well, too. It seems to have a pretty good balance of darkness and light, feminine and masculine. It’s been working for us for a long time. This is the face we see when we think of Christ.
So much so, in fact, that it has become hard for us to envision the possibility that Jesus looked any different than this. But we can be pretty sure he didn’t actually look much like this European Jesus. Jesus was a Middle Eastern man.
Realistically, we know that Jesus must have looked like most of the other people around him. So using a technique called forensic anthropology, we have an image of Jesus that is a best estimate of what he actually looked like. No long wavy hair, high cheekbones, or blue eyes.
Jesus has been reimagined by every culture and era. There are Native American Jesuses, Japanese Jesuses, African Jesuses, and Latin American Jesuses. There is the Medieval Jesus, the Renaissance Jesus, and contemporary Jesus. Do you know Jesus? Which one?
In this reading from Mark’s gospel today Jesus is wondering the same thing. He asks his disciples. Who are people saying that I am? What are you hearing about me?
People were definitely talking about him. Even though he was continually saying to his followers, “Don’t tell anyone about this!” they are talking. As soon as he says, “Don’t tell anybody,” they turn around and tell everyone within earshot. It’s a puzzling thing, this open secret about Jesus’ actions and his identity. Perhaps the secrecy was meant to say that his actions do not define him. Jesus is more than the sum of his miracles. Who is this Jesus?
His disciples report what they have heard. Some are saying he is Elijah returned, some say he is John the Baptist; some are saying he is another of the prophets. There are many theories about who Jesus is; all of them connected to the past. Then Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?”
Peter says it first. You are the Messiah. You are the one we have been waiting for. You are the Christ.
For the first time, we hear something new. Jesus is not like anyone or anything ever seen before. He is not a reincarnation or reimagining of any other person. He is not to be put into a previously established category of man. Jesus is the one they have dreamed about, the one that has never before been seen; he is the Messiah.
And Jesus say, “Don’t tell anyone.”
Because we don’t know Jesus that way. We don’t know Jesus because someone told us who he is. We know Jesus differently than we know most things or people. Do you know Jesus?
Our teachers and mentors in the faith are charged with helping us – young and old alike – to know Jesus. And it’s not just a matter of telling us; it’s a matter of walking alongside us. It’s a matter of sharing and discovering and learning alongside us. Because getting to know Jesus is a lifelong journey.
Do you know Jesus? Do you recognize him – not just the Sallman version of him, but all the different iterations of Jesus, the Messiah?
We know him from his miracles, but he is not just the miracles. He is more than that. We know him from his parables, but he is not just the parables. He is more than that. We know him from his acts of healing, but he is more than a healer.
We know him from his death and resurrection, but he is even more than that. Do you know Jesus?
Because he lives in our midst now. He is found in the woman who waits for a sandwich outside our kitchen door when HOPE is serving lunch. He is found in the homeless man who walks the streets during the day and comes to the door of our building for shelter on a winter night. He is found in the refugees seeking a safe place to live, the ones who keep knocking on the doors at the borders, no matter how many times we say no. We know him in the young child who tests our patience and our love. Jesus pushes the boundaries wherever he goes.
Do you know Jesus? It won’t do just to talk about him because talk is cheap. That’s what Peter found. Jesus is found in the taking up of our own cross and following him with our lives. Do you know Jesus?
We know him when he moves us to respond to the need in our midst. That might be anything from the battered and disheartened woman who someone to show her that there is love enough for her to live, that there is hope – to the child who has been bullied so relentlessly that he is at risk of losing himself, and needs to see that we recognize him as a beloved child of God. When we do this we know Jesus, we know him in our hearts.
Jesus doesn’t just warm our hearts – he stirs our hearts to reach out and give hope to others. When we act with kindness and humility we know Jesus, we know him in our hearts.
We know Jesus by following Jesus, to the cross and through death and back to life. And we teach others to do the same by our example. Teach them love by loving them – whether or not they are lovable. Teach them to give as you give – whether or not you feel like giving. Teach them faith by your faith – something we recommit ourselves to every single day. This is how we come to know Jesus.
Knowing Jesus is the hardest thing and the best thing we can do. Beautiful Jesus – not because he has perfect skin and blue eyes. Beautiful Jesus – because there is nothing more beautiful than the power of his love.
Do you know Jesus?
