Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" - Matthew 16:13, ESV
It's official. Men and women are different.
British scientists have discovered 78 genes that are different between men and women: 78 genes that explain at least some of the variations in the way we look at life. For example, women have a curtain gene . Men don't care what curtains look like or if there are any curtains at all. Women care.
One of the ladies at Lutheran Hour Ministries' headquarters said women have a calendar gene . Women remember birthdays, anniversaries, the date of a first date. Men sometimes know what year it is. Men and women are different.
Most men have a photograph gene . It is the gene that enables us to look through 100 photographs in under two minutes. You ladies reading this devo are probably saying, "You can't possibly look at 100 pictures in a minute." Well, I can and I do. I just follow these steps:
Step 1: I pick up the picture. Step 2: I look at the picture. Step 3: I put the picture in a new pile. I repeat those steps until I have seen all the photos. Truly, there are a great many differences between men and women -- and one similarity. (There may be others, but we are going to deal with just one.) That similarity is this: none of us like the way we look in a picture.
In some respects, I think Jesus felt the same way about Himself and the picture other people came away with when they looked at Him.
You see, it wasn't very often that people saw Jesus for who He really was: the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Shortly after He was born, King Herod looked at Him and saw a rival for his earthly throne. Herod had a bad picture. Then there were the people of His boyhood home, Nazareth. While they had at first been impressed by the wisdom of His Words, they thought He had gotten carried away and ended up trying to kill Him. They had a bad picture, too.
Of course, there was the picture carried around by the Jewish religious leaders. Their picture of the Savior was always blurry and out of focus. Depending on the day, they saw the Christ as being possessed by the devil, a liar, a charlatan, a conman, or a challenger to their authority over the people. The crowds pictured Jesus as a political leader or a provider of all their physical needs, wants and wishes. Jesus quickly pointed out those pictures weren't especially accurate either. Jesus' own family saw Him as a crazy person: a fellow who needed to be taken home and cared for (see Mark 3:21). Everyone had a bad picture of Jesus.
Now, I suppose I need not point out that some things haven't changed over the centuries. Right now in the world, there are a lot of snapshots of Jesus being circulated. Most are hazy, fuzzy and out of focus, which is why this devotion says if you would like a clear picture of the Savior, you must look not to people's opinions, but to the Holy Scriptures that show Him as the Lamb of God who gave Himself to take away the sins of the world.
THE PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, may I always see Jesus for who He was and is. May I praise Him for the sacrifice that cost Him His life and granted us eternal life. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
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