.
Walk a Mile
in His Shoes
and Your
Life Might Change Forever
The Jesus
Challenge for You
I once heard you
will never truly understand someone until you walked in their shoes or saw
through their eyes.
Makes sense to me.
So why don’t you
try distracting yourself from your own existence, blocking out all memories,
just wiping the slate clean. Then you
must pay attention to your environment, finding a safe haven of solitude in a
world you do not control.
No technology, no
electromagnetic waves, no smart phones or televisions, no distractions of any kind. Of course, proper lighting, colors, and sound
are crucial to your managed environment as well. You cannot meditate in blackness, the Void,
but must embrace the brilliance of light, the dramatic color spectrum, the
infinite octaves of sound, all yours for the taking thanks to Mother Earth and Father
Creator.
Now you are
prepared to meditate, and can tackle the task of walking in the shoes and
seeing through the eyes of Jesus. What
do you see?
Now you best pay
close attention from now on because there can be serious consequences to some
fairly simple and seemingly harmless decisions you make. For example, at what point in the
thirty-three years of his life do you want to walk in his shoes?
If you pick the
last two days of his life for example, you will experience the horrific torture
and crucifixion he suffered beyond all human experience. Not a good choice for a balanced view of his
life nor for your attempt to understand the man.
I think Jesus has
long been frustrated with the human perception of him that is dominated by his
trial and tribulations, ending with his death hanging from a cross. Our image of Jesus is almost always hanging
on a cross in agony when in truth it showed the climatic event in his life, but
has little to do with the image and emotions he expressed the rest of his life.
By all
descriptions, Jesus was quite handsome, even described as beautiful by some. Throughout his youth and into his ministry
adjectives were always positive, impressions were deep, and his countenance was
that of a gentle man, one filled with compassion, empathy, hope, and grace.
His wit, humor, knowledge,
and wisdom were powerful forces but only used when necessary to support his mission. Other times his kindness, concern, and love
were dominant. Yet even that did not reflect
the composite Jesus for there were also the miracles, those astounding acts of
magic and mystery defying human logic, understanding, and natural law.
Are you in for a
treat if you capture but a tiny fragment of the scope of the life of Jesus when
walking in his shoes and seeing through his eyes. You might find yourself in a state of grace
and awe as Jesus moves from the innocence of youth to miracle worker, to powerful
rabbi, to devoted friend and family member, to dynamic preacher, and to a
beloved Son.
His love radiated
not just to his Father and Mother, but to each and every one whose path he
crossed. Then there was the immortal
love between Jesus and The Magdalene who was born to love him, be his
confidant, knew him from childhood, shared every aspect of his life even long
after his Baptism by John, the Great Moment.
Perfect love
between couples was demonstrated between the two for when Jesus began his
ministry and his state of grace intensified making him unable to express
intimate contact with people, Magdalene still remained by his side to his death
and beyond. No one but her was at his
baptism, trial, torture, crucifixion, burial, discovered his resurrection, then
was present for his ascension.
As his confidant
Jesus trusted her above all apostles to know and understand the meaning of his
words and for thirty years after his death she worked to keep the apostles from
misinterpreting the word. Then she was
summoned by Jesus to be at his side in the Kingdom of Heaven. There is a reason she was considered the
apostle to the apostles for the Son of God.
This is the season
of Lent, the final days before Jesus returned to a heroes’ welcome in Jerusalem
on Palm Sunday before being condemned to death by the same crowds Holy
Thursday, crucified on Good Friday, and Resurrected on Easter Sunday.
That is why he
came to Earth for you, for everyone, but not just to forgive sin and show the
path of redemption and salvation, but also to demonstrate by his actions what
humans must do to earn our place in the Kingdom of God.
We must follow in
his footsteps, with the help of the Holy Spirit, and experience the five steps
of eternal salvation, birth, transfiguration, death, resurrection, and ascension.
Jesus preached, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith, have
faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here
to there’ and it will move. Nothing will
be impossible for you.”
(Matthew 17:20)
You owe it to your
own salvation, and owe it to Jesus, to study what he did for you, learn the
lessons he preached, and take your rightful place in the Kingdom with the
Father and his Son.
Once I wrote a
song to honor the work of Jesus on Earth in hopes that we can learn today what
people failed to understand in his lifetime.
This is how it went.
I Knew a Man
©Jim Putnam
I knew a man a
long time ago
he was the kind
everybody should know
I don’t know why
he chose me
to be his friend
The stories that
this man had to share
a heart full of
love – one that did care
I didn’t deserve
to be
with one that’s so
kind
I watched the people
listen to him
saw the love he
shared
So many people –
so many questions
still he was
always there
Preaching to his
people words that he wanted to share
'cause they’re
words that they just could not hear
Words that they
just could not hear
Over the years we
traveled around
he kept preaching
from town to town
I tried to warn
him
for my friend I
feared
Miracles my friend
started to give
healing the sick –
raising the dead
Could not believe
my eyes
as I watched him
go on
The crowds got
bigger as we went
still he would not
rest
Some believed and
some deceived
it didn’t matter
to my friend
The gifts that he
gave he gave to all man
an act of love I
just could not understand
an act of love I
just could not understand
One day he brought
me to his side
said if we don’t
eat the fruit, it must die
And like the fruit
of the tree
his day soon would
come
Slowly his words
came clear to me
he wasn’t talking
about that tree
He was the fruit
and his life
was nearly done
The multitudes
came to him now
to hear of Kingdom
Come
Little did they
know his work was done
nothing was left
to hide
Nothing more could
be accomplished if he tried
I could not tell
them my friend soon would die
I could not tell
them my friend soon would die
I knew a man a long
time ago
He was the kind
everybody should know
I don’t know why
he
chose me to be his
friend
I’ll always
remember his love inside
even the night he
was crucified
Forgive them he
called out
right up till the
end
All the people
turned on him
I never felt such shame
They didn’t
listen, they didn’t care
his love they did
not share
So they took my
friend
and my friend they
crucified
Up on a cross that’s
where my friend died
I stood there and
watched
and then I cried
.
