Perspective

This kind of reminds me of what could have been a scene from some old sci-fi movie of the terrain of some planet far beyond us. It, of course, is far from that. In fact, it is what the paint stripping gel did on one of our cabinets as we are working on stripping, sanding, and repainting all of our kitchen cabinets. But this picture speaks to me of perspective - how we can see something and imagine it being far different from what it actually is. This morning in my prayers, I read Matthew 27:24-31 which tells the story of Pontius Pilate turning Jesus over to be crucified. The reading ends with soldiers mocking Jesus as they beat him, saying, “Hail King of the Jews!” They, and so many others, had a mixed-up perspective on who Jesus was because Jesus came looking, teaching, and acting far different than anyone expected the Messiah to do so. So, they looked at Jesus and saw one thing while Jesus was far different.

Not so much different from today. Listen to people within the church speak about Jesus and we get a lot of different pictures of who Jesus was and what was most important. As I wrote this today I thought of the song that goes, “open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus.” So, my prayer for today is simply that. I want to see Jesus. Lord show me you today and every day.