by Rich DuBose
“Very early in the morning the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law—the entire high council—met to discuss their next step” (Mark 15:1, NLT).
The night Jesus was betrayed by Judas and taken against his will to the house of the high priest for questioning was a turning point for Jesus, Judas, and the Jewish nation. For the religious leaders, Jesus was a “thorn in the flesh” as he promoted a kingdom that was vastly different from the one they believed God had made them stewards of.
If they had viewed Jesus as an innocuous lunatic with very little influence, they could have ignored him and let him fade into oblivion. But they couldn’t do that because Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, and the fame of that miracle threatened to draw everyone’s attention away from the religious establishment.
“When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus” (John 12:9-10, NLT).
The religious leaders wanted to destroy the evidence—which in their view could only be done by eliminating Jesus and Lazarus.
That didn’t turn out so well. Lazarus’ popularity kept him from being killed, and killing Jesus only made his fame and message all the more potent. His blood watered the seeds he had planted all over the region until an explosive proclamation of his message occurred on a day called Pentecost, when 5,000 people joined the new “Christian” movement in one day. There was no turning back.
Today’s estimate is that there are 2.18 billion Christians in the world. Of course not everyone who claims to be Christian is, because Jesus laid out a very distinct description of what his true followers are like.
They are known by their love for one another and by their willingness to sacrifice themselves for the good of others, including strangers and enemies. They aren’t into divisive politics because they are unifiers, not dividers. They are like Jesus—peacemakers, reconcilers, and extremely forgiving. They are generous with their time and material assets, and are faithful stewards of God’s creation.
The question the religious leaders in Jesus’ day struggled with still begs to be answered—what do we do with Jesus? Do we believe him? Honor him? Do we hide his words in our hearts? Or, should we ignore him.
Jesus is Disruptive
One thing is certain, having Jesus in our lives is disruptive. He doesn’t leave us the way he finds us, and he challenges us to see ourselves and the world through a different set of lens.
In one way or another I’ve been involved in ministry for over 50 years. When Linda and I were newly married and still in our twenties, we spent a summer with a group of high school students living in an inner-city neighborhood in Jacksonville, Florida. Our role was to help supervise a summer tutoring and recreation program for urban children who were on the margins.
One thing we quickly learned was that these kids weren’t used to the kind of one-on-one attention we gave them. Each high school student had two kids they gave math, reading, and vocabulary support to. We may never know the long-term effects of that experience upon the kids we helped, but we felt compelled by the message of Jesus to not leave Jacksonville the way we found it; to do something to improve people’s lives
Before I met Linda I was involved with similar summer projects in Atlanta and Orlando. Each time, I came away feeling I was probably more blessed than the people I was trying to help.
What we do with Jesus is ultimately determined by what we do with our neighbors and the people around us. If we have a general dislike for people who are different—strangers, people of color, or foreigners, we aren’t going to like Jesus. If we feel uncomfortable around needy people who are hungry, homeless, and sick; people who are in prison, who sleep in public spaces, and who have mental health issues, we’ll probably feel uncomfortable with Jesus.
In the parable of the Sheep and the Goats Jesus made it clear that showing kindness to needy people is the equivalent of showing kindness to him.
The Sheep embody the principles of God’s kingdom by showing empathy and kindness to those in need, while the Goats manifest a sense of care-less-ness.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’” (Matthew 25:34-36, NLT).
What Do We Do With Fred?
Years ago we lived in a small community along the coast of northeast Florida where I pastored a small church of 130 members. Life was filled with what typically happens in a small church. There were births, marriages, funerals, and board meetings. Sermon preparation and Bible study classes occupied a good chunk of my time each week, and there were hospital visits to make, as well as one-on one appointments with members and people in the community. Things were pretty routine, until we met Fred, a single young man in his 30’s. Fred came to us through a series of meetings we offered to the community, and he liked what he heard.
It didn’t take long for us to realize that Fred was struggling. He lived alone in a nice house. It was practically new and well furnished. He seemed to have access to money even though he didn’t have a job. So during one of my visits with Fred I asked to hear his story.
At the time of my visit I learned that Fred was an only child and that his parents were deceased. His parents had been well-off, in fact his dad had been a successful dentist (which was interesting because Fred’s teeth looked terrible). He really needed to see a dentist and take a good bath. He smelled awful.
After his parents died he inherited their wealth and suddenly found himself alone in the world with a fair amount of uncertainty about what he should do. He was from the northeast and didn’t know a soul in the Florida community he landed in. When I asked how he came to our city, he said, “I closed my eyes and randomly landed my finger on the map, and that was how I decided to move here.”
What I haven’t told you is that Fred had schizophrenia, and as best as we could tell he was not taking any medication. So he had a nice house, money in the bank, but no transportation, probably because he couldn’t pass the required DMV tests. So we started giving him rides to church, the grocery store, and a few other places he needed to go.
We often saw Fred walking along the highway or down a neighborhood road with a garbage bag full of aluminum cans over his shoulder. He collected cans to generate some extra income. As time went by he was slowly running out of the money, and it wasn’t long before his water and electricity were turned off. So our church did what it could to help, but there was no long term solution.
We put Fred in touch with a Social Service counselor who met with him several times to access his needs. One day he called our house in hysteria, upset that he had inadvertently seen a note on the Social counselor’s desk when she stepped away for a minutes to get something. What Fred saw stated that he had Paranoia Schizophrenia, which greatly offended him. In his view there was no way he had that dreaded disease. He believed they were just trying to frame him.
One day the police stopped Fred as he walked along the road with his bag of cans, and before the police could even begin to talk with him, Fred blurted out, “I didn’t do it. You got the wrong guy. I’m not guilty.” At that point the police was undoubtedly thinking, “Didn’t do what?” And “What are you not guilty of?”
It was a sad story that was still unfolding when we moved from that community to another church an hour and a half away.
What do we do with the “Freds” of the world, and there are many? Hopefully we treat them with respect and do what we can to leave them better than we found them.
Jesus said, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12, NLT).
The message of the Bible is greatly simplified if the essence of everything taught in it can be summed up in the Golden Rule.
“So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it" (Colossians 3:12-14, MSG).
When we treat others as Jesus treats us we are “putting” Jesus exactly where he needs to be, in the very center of our hearts.
Rich DuBose writes from Northern California |
On the web at: richdubose.com. All Rights Reserved © 2025. Join me on Blue Sky @spiritrenew.bsky.social.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.