Author, Trainer, Educator Brene Brown answers the question of who Jesus is for her. “Jesus is what love looks like made flesh”

Ponder
What about Jesus makes sense to you?

“They were looking for a builder to construct the home they thought they wanted, but he was the architect, coming with a new plan that would give them everything they needed, but within quite a new framework. They were looking for a singer to sing the song they had been humming for a long time, but he was the composer, bringing them a new song to which the old songs they knew would form, at best, the background music. He was the king, all right, but he had come to redefine kingship itself around his own work, his own mission, his own fate.” 

? N.T. Wright, Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters

Ponder:
Who were/are you looking for, and how has Jesus surprised you?

Luke 4:1-13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.'”

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'”

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'”

When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Ponder:
When have you found yourself lead to the wilderness, and what did you learn about yourself, about God?

On Monday’s we’ll be introducing you to a song about Jesus to listen to during the day, over Lent we’ll build a small playlist of songs that speak of Jesus in different ways, that paint different pictures and tell different stories.

Today’s Jesus song is by the artist Jackson Browne and is titled “The Rebel Jesus,” it’s one of my favourite songs on my Christmas playlist, it’s both poetic and prophetic.

Jackson once said of the song:

“We had also been talking about Christianity and the impact of Christianity on the Mayan people and somehow the two things got combined into this Christmas song. I didn’t really mean to but it came out as an indictment of Christianity. I just want everyone to know you can indict whatever major religion you feel like indicting on this song here. I didn’t mean to lay it all at the feet of Christianity so I hope you take it in the spirit of which it is intended.“

Listen to the song and allow it to be a part of your journey through the day.