This week I was talking to a friend about Nicodemus and our new series looking at people who encountered Jesus. He asked how this applies to us today, which is an excellent question. For someone like my friend, who considers Jesus to be merely an historical figure who existed 2000 years ago in the pages of the Bible, these encounters don’t seem especially relevant to contemporary life in NZ.
However, the extraordinary thing about Jesus is that because he is the risen Christ, we are still able to encounter him today. Whatsmore, it is in encountering Jesus that we must confront the question of how we will respond to Him. In meeting Jesus our faith becomes more than holding to a set of beliefs. Belief is like the sheet of musical notes on a page. It exists but isn’t music until it is played. Faith is when the music is heard and played, created and listened to.
This is the mystery of the gospel. That we can meet Jesus today and be included in that co creative mystery of his continuing work in our lives and in the world. This is where our faith becomes a living and active way of life that directs every decision and action.
In meeting Jesus we are invited to surrender ourselves to the cross and welcome the transformation that Jesus brings. We can “drop the exhausting act of defining ourselves and instead receive our true identity by actively participating in the death, resurrection, and self-giving love of Jesus Christ. This participation is the deepest freedom a human being can know. The exhausting labour of self-authorship is over.”(1)
May we continue to encounter Jesus in our lives and be transformed by his overwhelming love for us.