i wonder: would i recognize jesus if he walked past me in target? assuming he were not dressed like a 1st century jewish man. i wonder if would recognize jesus if i overheard him speaking to a group of twenty-somethings at a local coffee shop.

would you? would i? are our expectations of him accurate?

john the baptizer’s disciples sent word to yeshua (jesus) asking if he were the ‘expected one’. i like the fact that this question is included in these ancient writings: it makes it current and cuts to the heart.

it was clear that they were, at the very least, unsure about his messiahship. my research suggests they had good cause: his disciples did not fast or participate in some of the more austere habits as other disciples; he and his disciples surrounded themselves with people no one in their right mind should surround themselves with; he did not always speak highly of those in places of religious authority; and he was not ‘learnt in the letters’, that is, he was not the best educated by their standards.

and yet. he was committed to love. lived a life of simplicity. taught as one with authority. performed countless miracles. became a voice for the voiceless. he embodied grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

it leads to so many other questions, in my opinion.

if he were actually walking this earth, where would he be found? moreover, would i dare go there? would he be outside of a strip club? or sitting at a bar? might he be standing at a well-established church, criticizing those who have never ‘lifted a finger for the gasping weaker’? maybe in washington d.c. befriending the crooked politicians and ‘tax-collectors’? perhaps, breaking bread with a group of addicts down in tent city? or even enjoying a day in the park with a family and their newborn daughter?

yeshua said that when he ascended, those left here would do even greater things than he did. it’s obvious, of course, that this is possible not because we will become greater than him (for a servant is never greater than his master) – but that we would, by the spirit of GOD in us, be able to literally cover more ground than he did: we are able to eat with those addicts while also befriending the tax-collectors while also enjoying a day with our families while also conversating with church leaders while also serving the homeless while also writing a poem while also watching the sun rise – really watching the sun rise.

so i am left wondering, do i even recognize who i am in messiah: in christ: in him. to be honest, some moments i do recognize, i do catch a glimpse. and some moments i look like an ‘empty shell of a man’.

when people meet us, i believe the question should be, “are you like the one, or should we expect someone else?”

our response, a very heavy and humbling response, should be, “tell me what you see.”

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despite my unbelief, i believe that who i am is a son of the only living god & king, YHVH [blessed be his name]. a son of the resurrection. a son of the wind which bends all things.