Every year during Christmas time, I begin searching for inspiration that involves seeing Jesus in a new light—not just as the baby in the manger.
I spent the first 20 years of my life as a Catholic and the next 25+ years as a fundamental Christian. Although I frequented many different churches, my foundational beliefs, especially my beliefs about Jesus, remained basically the same.
Nearly a decade later, I discovered New Thought principles and writers like Marcus Borg (and others). Studying their books and articles changed my beliefs about what I thought I knew about Jesus.
Today, I would like to share an excerpt from a daily email column that I received from Father Richard Rohr.
Brian McLaren shows how Jesus as the image of God changes our understandings of who God is:
… the God imaged by Jesus exerts no dominating supremacy. In Christ, we see an image of a God who is not armed with lightning bolts but with basin and towel, who spewed not threats but good news for all, who rode not a warhorse but a donkey, weeping in compassion for people who do not know the way of peace. In Christ, God is supreme, but not in the old discredited paradigm of supremacy; God is the supreme healer, the supreme friend, the supreme lover, the supreme life-giver who self-empties in gracious love for all. The king of kings and lord of lords is the servant of all and the friend of sinners. The so-called weakness and foolishness of God are greater than the so-called power and wisdom of human regimes.
In the aftermath of Jesus and his cross, we should never again define God’s sovereignty or supremacy by analogy to the kings of this world who dominate, oppress, subordinate, exploit, scapegoat and marginalize. Instead, we have migrated to an entirely new universe, or, as Paul says, “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) in which old ideas of supremacy are subverted.
Seeing Jesus in this new light and perspective makes me realize the importance of humility, replacing anger and fear with love and compassion. My past teachings are greatly enriched when I remember that Jesus is not just who I initially thought he was. He is much more. He is and was a great example of how to live—free from reactions and emotions that make us less effective people in the world.
Join me this Christmas season in seeing Jesus in this new light.