Belief vs. Becoming: Reimagining Faith
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In Jesus’ day, people referred to him as “Rabbi” more than anything else. After years as a carpenter, Jesus began teaching about the kingdom of God. So the term is a safe assumption.
There’s just one problem.
Rabbis don’t get thrown out of the synagogue for claiming to be the very One all the Scriptures are pointing to.
Rabbis don’t teach in parables to hide the secret to the kingdom of God, much less announce the “kingdom of God is at hand” in his standing there (Mk 1:15).
Rabbis don’t intentionally break Sabbath commandments in front of the religious leaders, recruit dropouts, eat with crooks, or die like a common criminal.
But Savior’s do.
RETHINKING PERCEPTIONS OF JESUS
And there’s the vast difference between how people saw Jesus and who Jesus declared himself to be.
They thought the problem with humanity was distance from God caused by disobedience. So, they were looking for a miracle working Messiah who would make the world right through right living, not a lowly carpenter who willingly dies on a cross.
In their minds, the Law of God is something we should, can, and will keep with the right example to follow and practices to walk in. That’s why they thought they needed a Rabbi to be with and become like.
It’s also why they made the devastating assumption that they needed to become capable of doing what Jesus did.
EMBRACING THE RADICAL MESSAGE OF JESUS
But with any unfiltered look at what Jesus said, or undiluted reflection of human ability, another good example to follow from a Rabbi is the last thing on God’s agenda.
When Jesus shows up, he announces that he’s “the Son of Man” 81 times. He is the “way” versus a way to emulate. He is “life” itself versus a means to life. He is the embodiment of “truth” in flesh. He is the God who came to give his own “life as a ransom” to “set the captives free” from their delusion (Mark 2:10; John 14:6; Matt 20:28; Luke 4:18).
So when they saw Jesus, they didn’t see a Rabbi to imitate, but “the Father” himself —where no one was prepared to find him. They saw Jesus, the “image of the invisible God,” who single handedly “reconciled all things, in heaven and on earth, making peace by the blood of his cross” (John 14:8-9; Col 1:20).
Now, when you hear that, you may quietly rejoice as you think about your spiritual resume. Especially since it would include your every thought and unrevealed motive.
But due to the spirit of control that runs in your veins, you, like me, might find yourself pushing back on an indiscriminate grace that has no interest in your efforts. There the old Adam in us grasps for a sense of control, asking: “But didn’t Jesus tell a handful of ragamuffins to ‘follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men’”? (Matthew 4:19).
The answer is, yes.
But since these men all failed to understand Jesus’ mission, abandoned him when he carried it out on a cross, and were still clueless about the kingdom even after he spent 40 days with them post-resurrection, it’s safe to say being “fishers of men” is being what he called them: “witnesses” (Acts 1:8).
THE ESSENCE OF FAITH
You see, witnesses don’t make a case by doing something. Witnesses are not judges or jurors who need to qualify themselves. Witnesses are simply flawed people who tell the story of what they know to be true about Someone else.
That story is that Jesus is our very union with God, the one who died our death and now is our very resurrection and life (John 17, 11:25; 2 Cor. 5:21).
In Jesus’ words, the “will of the Father” is not that you become like him, but that you “believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29).
To trust him, despite what you see or struggle with, is the life of faith you’ve been given.
Thank God.
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