Rhonda Haskins and I are leading a Confirmation Class this spring.  One of the questions the class discusses is, Who is Jesus?  How would you answer that question?
   
In my office are various depictions of Jesus.  One is a very famous painting by Matthias Grunewald.  It is a painting of the crucifixion with John the Baptist at the foot of the cross with a finger pointing to Jesus with the words, “He must increase while I must decrease” (John 3:30). 

The original painting – a triptych (a painting on three panels) – is known as the Isenheim altar piece and now hangs in a museum in Colmar, France.  Jo Ann and I were able to see it on a visit to Colmar several years ago.  It was painted between 1506 and 1515 and is a powerful depiction of the passion of Jesus Christ.

Another representation in my office is clearly a more modern depiction of Jesus.  It is a sketch of Jesus laughing, a sentiment many do not often associate with him.  I suspect that Jesus did laugh at times just as, we are told, he wept (John 11:35).  He was fully human just as he was fully divine, something we affirm as true, but also as a mystery.

But then there are other images of Jesus.  On one of my walls is a copy of an ancient drawing of a shepherd carrying a sheep on his shoulders.  It is reminiscent of the parable Jesus told of the shepherd that went to search after the one lost sheep.  And, of course, he referred to himself as “the good shepherd” (John 10:11).

There are other images of Jesus, of course.  There is that of Jesus being surrounded by children.  There is the image of Jesus as a rabbi, a teacher.  He refers to himself as the bread of life, the resurrection and the life, the vine of a tree. 

How do you think of Jesus?  No one image can capture his essence, especially since he is fully human and, at the same time, fully divine.  He is indeed a mystery.  And yet, as his followers we are called to bear witness to who he is and what he has done.  In the first chapter of the letter to the Colossians we find this description of Jesus:  “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers – all things have been created through him and for him.  He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:15-20).

It’s a life-long journey to become acquainted with this Jesus.  And even then, he remains a mystery.  But it’s also true that the more we get to know him, the greater the joy it is.  I look forward to getting to know him better as you and I travel this road together.