Locating Jesus

Locating Jesus

In the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke we hear about Jesus and his parents making their way to and from the festival of the Passover. Along the way they discover that Jesus is not with them, nowhere to be found among their family and friends that are traveling with them. They expected Jesus to be among and with them, but he has stayed in Jerusalem. Jesus was not where his parents expected him to be. 

It is this in between space, between losing and finding Jesus, that we can ask ourselves, where do we expect Jesus to be? Where do we look for Jesus? These questions lead us to a deeper discussion of who is Jesus for us and does the Jesus of history have anything to teach us today?

Jim Wallis, in his book, (Un)Common Good, How the Gospel Brings Hope to a World Divided, shares a wonderful piece of wisdom that continues to guide my understanding of Jesus and God’s mission within humankind. 

“Who we think Jesus is will determine the kind of Christianity we live….If Jesus came to create a new community and not just save people, then that community’s collective life in the world will be of crucial importance. And, if we as individuals are so drawn to Jesus that we want to learn the ways he would have us live, he becomes the living teacher who walks among us”  

Have we learned all there is to know about Jesus Christ? 

If we look for Jesus within our own location, within our own church, within our own community, then we miss the fact that Jesus is among the places and people we don’t expect him to be. Jesus is leading us all to a deeper relationship with God, inviting us to know Him more so that we can know God. Jesus teaches us all, this is a lifelong journey to know our own selves more and discover the Divine Presence within all of creation, to honor the Divine in others as we honor it within ourselves. 

If we know all there is to know about Jesus Christ, then He loses His ability to challenge us as individuals as well as challenge the empire of greed and power. Jesus loses his power of transformation when we know exactly where Jesus Christ is and who Jesus Christ is. 

If we have nothing left to learn from God, life and Jesus then all this knowing may turn to ownership. You see WE know who Jesus Christ is and He resides with us, right here. WE have all the answers to all the questions about Jesus Christ, who He is and where He is. When we believe that we have all the answers we close our hearts down to that deeper relationship with God that Jesus invites into. 

If we believe that Jesus is with us in our location, within our tribe, within our house, within our church and, most destructive of all, within our OWN not with them, then Jesus becomes an idol instead of a conduit for transformation of all that is.

Luke, maybe unbeknownst to him, invites deeper into the Gospel by sharing this story of Mary and Joseph searching for Jesus where they expected Him to be.

If we turn to the Gospel story, we may be able to get a glimpse of where Jesus Christ is by realizing where he is not. This may help to find Jesus by realizing where he is not.

Jesus Christ is not in the exclusion of others. Jesus Christ is nowhere near the simplistic us vs. them or we vs. other. Jesus Christ has no place in nation building or continental location. Jesus is not American nor patriotic.

If we truly want to find Jesus it may be in the “other” more so than the “we”. 

Maybe wherever there is need, there we may find Jesus. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer further helps us understand: He comes in the form of the beggar, of the dissolute human child in ragged clothes, asking for help. He confronts you in every person that you meet. As long as there are people, Christ will walk the earth as your neighbor.

The difficult task of human kind, the rubber meeting the spiritual road is knowing that WE are all in need of God’s love and presence. In the opening of our hearts to realize our own need to be loved without condition, it is there that we may find Jesus in every heart. 

It is in the journey towards transformation that we find Jesus exactly where we need Him to be. 

Right here along side us on every road, through every valley, on top of every mountain, in the shadows of despair, in the joy of a smile, in the deep questions of our faith, in the fight for justice, in the beloved community building, in the searching and in the finding.

In the end we are all searching for Immanuel, God with us. 

Jesus tells us, I AM here, exactly where it is that you search for me.