In my last newsletter, we explored the five qualities of a Hero. A theme in my novel, Kingdom in the Redwoods, that was released on July 1: Discover the Hero Inside You.
Heroes live in Community, have Compassion for those around them, exhibit Character in their everyday lives, show Courage in adversity, and willingly sacrifice to stand firm in their Convictions.
That’s a tall order, even for the best of us. In this message I want to examine these qualities as applied to the person who I believe is the greatest hero in the history of the world: Jesus.
Of course, Jesus is much more than a hero, he’s our Savior, Lord, and King. But he also modeled perfect heroism. I could spend hundreds of pages chronicling the divinely heroic qualities of Jesus, but here are just a few:
Community
Jesus was the master of entering into Community with everyone he came across. Jesus stepped into Community wherever he went and caused Community to flourish through his words and actions.
- His first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding, so the celebration could continue without embarrassment to the bridal party. John 2:1-11
- Every town he enters; people gather around him. The desire to be close to Jesus is so extreme that he has to stand on a boat offshore so the people can hear him. Luke 5:1-11One group lowers their disabled friend through the roof tiles so he can be close to Jesus. Luke 5:17-25
- He’s in a throng of people but stops in his tracks because a woman has touched his robe. He’s on his way to bring a little girl who has died back to life but pauses to heal this woman who has suffered for many years. Mathew 9:18-23.
- Consider the meals he celebrates. Not only with his disciples but with tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners of all kinds. Matthew 9:9-13 & Luke 7:36-50
- Even on the cross in his last moments of life, he assures a thief next to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43
Compassion
Jesus had a Compassion for people deeper than anything we can feel – and He still does. The gospel accounts portray Compassion as a central animating emotion to many of his miracles. He didn’t just sympathize with the plight of others. He took action to relieve their suffering.
- Jesus brings the dead son of a widow back to life so she will not be alone. He feels her pain of loss and acts to relieve it. Luke 7:11-15
- Jesus travels about cities and villages preaching the gospel and healing every kind of sickness and disease. He feels Compassion for the lost who he sees as sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:35-38; 14:14
- Jesus has Compassion on a group of over 4,000 who follow him with a hunger for his teaching. They are in the wilderness far from food and growing faint. Jesus provides a meal of bread and fish to feed them, all out of his Compassion for their wellbeing. Matthew 15:32-39
- Jesus demonstrates his Compassion by healing two blind men. Matthew 20:34
- Jesus weeps and groans when he hears that Lazarus is dead. Then he brings him back to life, giving Mary and Martha a most wonderfully miraculous gift. John 11:30-40
Character
Jesus was the embodiment of heroic character qualities. The fruit of the Spirit flows from Jesus as naturally as water from an artesian spring: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
- Consider the scene of Jesus’ arrest. A detachment of troops comes to the garden and Judas gives him up. Peter rashly slashes the ear off one of the soldiers. Despite his own personal jeopardy, Jesus chastises Peter for his violence and heals the soldier’s severed ear. He demonstrates a divine self-control to remain singularly focused on the mission his Father had sent him on – to die on the cross for the sins of the world. John 18: 1-11
- Jesus’ restoration of Peter provides a picture of his patience and gentleness. Peter denies Jesus three times, just as Jesus had predicted, despite Peter’s bravado claims to the contrary. Peter weeps bitterly as he realizes the measure of his weakness at a time Jesus most needed his support. After his resurrection, Jesus meets up with several of the disciples, including Peter, for breakfast by the sea. Rather than dressing Peter down for his weakness, Jesus gently restores him by asking Peter to express the measure of his love for Jesus. Jesus asks Peter, ‘do you love me?’ three times along with a command to feed and tend his lambs. John 21:15-19
Courage
Jesus shows Courage throughout his earthly ministry.
- Jesus demonstrates Courage from the very beginning of his ministry. He goes to a synagogue and reads from Isaiah 61 which essentially foretells the coming of the Massiah. When he finishes the reading, he tops it off with, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled at your hearing.” He’s telling the religious leaders, ‘I’m that guy and I’ve come to set things right.’ Their response? Let’s throw him off a cliff. Luke 4:16-29
- Jesusfaces his fatal destiny with Courage. He endures a rigged trial before the Jewish religious leaders, then meets the Roman leader, Pilate, and stoically accepts an unjust legal process. In the end, his life is traded for a criminal, Barabbas, who is freed in exchange for Jesus, an innocent man. Matthew 26 and 27
Conviction
- Jesus’ prayer to the Father reveals his conviction to accomplish the mission he had been sent to do. He secludes himself in the garden of Gethsemane to pray to his Father. The pain of what was to come is pulsing through his body and mind, so much so, he is sweating drops of blood. He prays that the cup of the suffering would pass him by, but in the end, his says to his Father, “If his cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it, your will be done.” Jesus fully commits himself to his Father’s will, even though it requires great sacrifice by him. The physical pain and torture, the mocking, and the separation from His Father as He lays on the cross carrying the sins of the world. That’s Conviction. Matthew 26:36-46
Jesus our Hero
- These are the qualities of a hero; Jesus models them with perfect fidelity:
- Jesus lived in Community
- Jesus had Compassion for those around him
- Jesus exhibited Character in his everyday life
- Jesus showed Courage in adversity
- Jesus willingly sacrificed to stand firm in his Convictions
Let us follow His example.
I’d love to hear from you about heroes in your life or anything else. Please drop me a line at: [email protected].
May your day be blessed with God’s goodness, beauty, and truth.
Keven
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