Meditations from Zion

John 17:5
“I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” [Jesus prayed]

Think about this! He finished the task that was laid out for him. He didn’t need more time. He didn’t ask for more time. The teaching part was finished. The community work was done. The message was sent. He was successful.

How many of us would have thought Jesus had done everything he had set out to do? Surely, if he would have stuck around another ten or fifteen years, we would have known more, understood more, accepted more. Or would we?

Apparently, the message was simple enough and the right people heard it (not too many, not too few). He finished the job.

It made me think about the “six degrees of separation.” Jesus touched the lives that needed to be touched “in the big picture.” Jesus healed the ones who needed to be healed to accomplish his overall purpose. Jesus faced each moment, checked with the Father, and acted accordingly. The miracles, the lessons, the parables, the witnesses… it was all part of the economical use of his time.

Those on the receiving end of his message, they also had a purpose: to carry the message of salvation and everlasting life to others, to tell the story of Jesus, the Son of God. It all worked quite well until some of the folks decided to mess with the message. It’s like the old game, “whisper down the lane,” where the first person whispers into the next person’s ear and by the time it gets to the end of the line, the message has changed. We hear what we want to hear. We fix what we don’t understand. This phenomenon is discussed in some detail in a wonderful book I’m reading, “Why We Make Mistakes” by Joseph Hallinan.

The point for me today is that every person I meet, every circumstance, every day is part of my story and now, ultimately, Christ’s story. I’m not saying I’m supposed to stuff the name of Jesus down everyone’s throat. But being me, an authentic me, must reflect Christ within. Anything less and I’m “whispering down the lane.”