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In so many of our past podcasts in our Jesus in HD study, we have examined many of the things that Jesus did.
In this PODCAST, we will take a good long look at something Jesus NEVER did.
WWJND? What Would Jesus NEVER Do? Certainly not this!!! Jesus NEVER did this. When you discover what He never did, you’ll be so eternally grateful that He never did. And never will. Not to you. Not to anyone.
And because He never did this, we love Him, and admire Him, and aspire to be like Him all the more.
You will find this to be so endearing a study that I cannot wait for you to get into it.
Let’s start by looking at what Jesus did right after preaching His Sermon on the Mount:
Luke 7:1-10
Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. 2 And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. 3 So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, 5 “for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.”
6 Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof.7 Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
9 When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” 10 And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick.
Now, let’s start off with the premise that true Christ-followers should never stereotype. Christ didn’t do it (as we see in this passage), so therefore we shouldn’t do it. Jesus loved – and continues to love – every individual without any discrimination whatsoever.
You see, Capernaum was somewhat of a metropolitan town in Jesus’ day. It featured a sea wall and promenade with piers and a protective harbor. It was populated mostly by Jews, but included Romans (in particular centurions) and other nearby cultures.
And, speaking of centurions, this one that Jesus encountered – like all the “blood-thirsty Roman occupiers” (sense the Jews’ stereotyping?) – was not a popular man among the Jews.
Likewise, slaves were looked down upon as less than human – merely a tool. In fact, it was written by ancient Romans that the only difference between an ox, a slave and a cart is that a slave had the ability to speak.
Therefore, to see Jesus come into contact with a centurion and his slave, to abandon all cultural norms and typical stereotyping and still love them – this sets an example for all of us today that we should deeply consider.
With Jesus, there are no stereotypes, no profiling of any type, no biases whatsoever. So should it be for us.
Whenever Jesus saw people who were thought to be “less than” by His culture (lepers, Samaritans, adulteresses, etc.), He did not see individuals who should be avoided, but people who were created in God’s image – fully deserving of His love.
Likewise, whenever we – as Christ followers – come into contact with those considered “less than” (you fill in the blanks)… carefully consider how you interact with them. Do you truly follow Christ’s example, or our culture’s?