How Do We Know What Jesus Looked Like?

A Messianic Jewish friend of mine and I were talking about icons. He has a big problem with them. I told him that the Jews were forbidden to make an image of God because no one knew what He looked like. Since God became flesh in Jesus Christ, we know exactly what He looks like, as Jesus is the image of God and the exact representation of His being. I asked him, "Do you think that of the thousands of people that saw Him, not one person drew or painted His picture?" His response was surprising since I consider him an intelligent and articulate individual. He said, "Don't be so sure of it."

But, for the sake of argument, let's say he is right. Supposing no one ever painted a picture of the actual Jesus, does this mean that His image is still not captured in the icon? People who knew Jesus well didn't recognize him after His resurrection until the Lord decided to "reveal" Himself by breaking bread. People who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty and visit the sick also don't recognize Jesus either. Does this mean His image is not in the world? Does the mean we have no point of reference to the God-man, the one made flesh for all to behold?

I think the truth of the matter lies in the icon image itself. It shows this man to be the Word of God, the Great I Am, the Almighty, the one who was humiliated, crucified, risen and ascended. The one who blesses and teaches us. He is our healer, our portion and our cup, the One Who Is and Who Was and Who is to come. My friend would certainly never deny these truths about Christ, and yet, despite any particular artistic detail regarding the accuracy of His physical features, the icons proclaim all of these realities and more - the Spirit of Truth rests upon them.

The same can be said for all of the other icons - they represent the truth of the Faith and the reality of the Kingdom of God, of a life that never ends, and of the living stones that make up the heavenly temple. It has been said so well before by many others, but Paul says it best when he says in the book of Hebrews that we have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect. Our icons help us keep this focus - on things above and not on the things of the earth.

Orthodox Lent

Fasting is hard. No matter how you look at it, fasting is hard. It requires a good deal of sacrifice to do the fast right. You not only have to look at your internal motivations and attitudes, but you also have to maintain the Church prescribed diet in obedience to God.

But, with that said, I want to offer a up a public thanks to God and to all who peruse here - it would be much more difficult for me to keep the fast if it weren't for my wife making me special meals. I have heard of other converts whose spouses did not convert with them (as is my case) who were on their own when it came to the fasts. My wife is first to admit she dislikes cooking, and she thinks God has a grand sense of humor to place her in a situation where meal-making is yet more challenging. She not only does this during Great Lent, but also during the week on Wednesdays and Fridays. So, as I have told her and now broadcast to the world, thank you! Thank you for your service to God in my spiritual journey and for understanding this is where I need to be.

Like all good, God-fearing Protestants, she has issues with some of the Orthodox ways, yet she still supports me in the fasts, the feasts, the extra services during Lent, and in going to separate churches. Certainly not an ideal situation while raising two pre-teen daughters, but the peace is kept in the household, and my prayers go up for her and for them.

If you feel so inclined, I would love more than ever to have them join me on the Orthodox path, so please keep them in your prayers.

May God's profound peace and enriching grace be yours during this most holy of all seasons.

(For all of those who are Orthodox seekers, there is no better time to check out Orthodox services than during this period when many extra services are done throughout the week - I especially like the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy on Wednesday nights.)

"It's Fine For You, But It's Not For Everybody"

"Well..." they begin to say as they become more and more put off by your convert enthusiasm, "...it's good for you but it's not for me." I often heard this when I became 'born again' back in the early 1980's. They would say Jesus isn't for everybody, or they might even say Jesus can't be the only one true Savior. What about those who have never heard?

Now, my new convert enthusiasm is from discovering Orthodoxy. I began telling all of my Christian friends - friends who used to pass out tracts with me as we witnessed to the lost out on the street corners and who heard all of the same excuses - about my great find in discovering the Orthodox Church. And now, they are saying, "Well, it's good for you but it's not for me." and "There can't be only one true church. What about all of the other Christians?"

Ironic, isn't it? I guess it goes to show people are pretty much the same when they don't want to have their minds changed about something. We all make excuses for why we don't want to change. The non-believer says, "As long as we all believe something, and are sincere about it, that's all that God cares about." And the Christian, when confronted with the big, scary, historical, beautiful, Orthodox Church, says "As long as we all believe in Jesus, that's all God cares about."

I am certainly over-simplifying here and mean no offense to anyone, but it has been almost comical to me to get pretty much the same reactions and hear the same lines from my Christian friends when I present to them the very thing that would complete their Christian faith. I know I have said this before, and others have said it too, but it truly was like finding a treasure hidden in a field - a treasure with no end to its riches.

Why Pray To Mary and the Saints?

There has been a recent discussion about Mary on The Path blog. I really enjoy his honest inquiry. This discussion about Mary generated quite a few responses, two of which were from me because, like many former Protestants, this whole idea of Mary and the Saints is a huge deal. From the outset of my journey, it was one of the most distasteful things for me. I thought, "Why can't they just leave that part out - it is just so unbiblical!"

It wasn't until I read a response from Perry Robinson that it hit me. Here is a snippet of Perry Robinson's comment followed by what I posted:

"The saints are deified and enjoy participation in the divine life to a fuller measure. Consequently they not only enjoy holiness and immortality but other divine powers also." Of course, this is exactly it! If they were great prayer warriors here, how much more so there? If they were great miracle workers here, how much more so there? And if Mary was the God-bearing, God-honoring, God-fulfilling worker of His divine will here, how much more so there? I can picture it. We don't become less and dissipate into the fog when our life ends here, we become greater; we see Him face-to-face and become just like Him, for we see Him as He is: An interceding high priest before our Father in heaven, working miracles for the glory of His Name.

I then remembered Jesus stating that wherever He is, His servant is there also - how much more so in the heavenly realm! As Christians, it only gets better for us. Knowing concretely we have this great cloud of witnesses, of intercessors, of miracle workers and protectors, how much more dynamic and rich does that make our walk with God? This is a great relief for me. This is the kind of answer I was hoping for, one that would make me say, "Aha!" I thank God now more than ever for bringing me into Orthodoxy. This is such a milestone moment for me in my journey. I no longer have to internally wince when I hear a saint answered a prayer or Mary performed a miracle - they are His Body, His city and His heritage, living stones in His spiritual household and pillars in the temple of God unto the ages of ages, Amen.

To Blog or Not To Blog...

I recently felt convicted about being out here blogging my heart out. This conviction came when I was reading this post and its comments on The Path. Even before I read it, I had thought about closing down shop. I started the blog last year, and it is really just a hobby. As far as feeling 'compelled to share my story', I have had plenty of outlets for that. For instance, I have been in many email conversations with my Protestant friends; the local major newspaper in our area has allowed me to write about my Orthodox journey in their Faith section; I recently completed my college degree which required a final project and a paper explaining the vision of my life - both highly engaging and involved writing projects that more than met this need for sharing. My former pastor also wanted me to write to him explaining my journey as completely as possible so he could understand why I made the jump.

So, did I need this self-indulgent, vainglorious blog? Did I really need to spill my private thoughts to the world. Did I really need another way to be accountable for all of my idle words on Judgement Day?

I am beginning to think Marshall McLuhan was right when he said that in the electronic age, we lose our privacy. It seems as if the internet with YouTube, MySpace, FaceBook, Blogger and all of the other outlets available to become a self-made superstar, are making his statement true - and we are doing it willingly!

But, on a positive note, perhaps this blog and others like it provide a word of encouragement, a new and refreshing way of looking at the world or understanding the Faith, or just enough of a nudge to cause you to write something worthwhile and helpful on your own blog.

My personal feeling is that if you write a blog, that it isn't necessarily a self-indulgent thing (although it certainly can be), but that, like the servants who were given talents to put to good use until the Master's return, bloggers believe they are contributing something to the world that the Master has given them. We may not be able to necessarily double our efforts as they did in the parable, but we aren't burying them either. We are sharing our unique perspective endowed by our All-Holy God who brings Life to the world.

I am no Hemmingway or Shakespeare, but by God's life-giving Grace, I pray I do what I can with what He has given me.

Steal, Kill and Destroy

One of the things I found to be a huge contrast between the non-denominational Protestant church I used to attend and the Orthodox Church is how much is simply 'not there' in the Protestant church. If you look at the Orthodox Church, you have the Eucharist, the Mysteries, the icons, the vestments, theosis, the Liturgy, the spiritual displines, the major feasts, the minor feasts, the Bible with the Apocrypha, the teachings of the Church Fathers, holy water, and so much more I have have not included on this list. Basically, the historic fullness of all that is truly Christian.

In comparison, the modern non-denominational Protestant church looks like a drastically scaled back version of the Church. It has the 'abbreviated' Bible, only symbolic sacraments in baptism and communion, no art to speak of (but that is changing somewhat), no altar - basically not much to anchor you to the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets. I only say this as a comparison of the outward look and feel of this version of Protestantism, because there is no doubt sincere believers in Christ there - I just think they are getting short changed.

The reason? Because the enemy has done exactly what Jesus said he would do - steal, kill and destroy. He has honed down, watered down and extracted from the Faith its glorious fullness, and the result is sincere believers are not getting the powerful presence and reality of the Lord they love. So much has been done in the way of setting up road blocks through Western history that it seems like an insurmountable task to clear the way for my dear friends to see the fullness of the faith and how much has been stolen.

Be that as it may, I pray for them. I am still in close relationships with many sincere, true Protestant believers, and I love them dearly for their zeal and commitment to the cause of Jesus Christ and the salvation of souls, and I desire so much for them to see the greatness of our God in the historic and life-giving fountain of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Orthodox Church, the visible and tangible Body of the Living Christ on earth.

Sense of Faith

When I read "What Is a Miracle" on the Two Natures blog, I was reminded of something I had thought about before: What if faith was a faculty, similar to the other senses, which gives us a different impression or understanding of the world we live in? For instance, the sense of touch gives us one understanding of something, whereas, the sense of hearing, a totally different impression altogether. The sense of sight expands our understanding of physical reality even further.

As an analogy, imagine a world where everyone is blind; where no one has ever known sight - they have no idea what light or color is . They wouldn't know that when your foot hit a stone, it was an object set in a certain place, or if you suddenly felt warmth on your face, it was the sun which had broken through clouds unknowingly hanging miles above them in the sky. If someone came along and could see, it would seem like much of his behavior was miraculous. He would never bump into things, and he would consider the technologies of this blind world as needless weights - he wouldn't need them to maneuver through this world.

In a physical sense, hearing is much lower on the frequency spectrum than vision. And the amazing freedom of movement that comes with the ability to "pick up" or "sense" the higher frequencies is exponentially greater. Our understanding and depth of insight is phenomenally enlarged by the capacity to "see".

So, with sight comes an enlarged view of reality. With being able to perceive the higher frequencies comes a higher understanding of the physical nature of things.

What then would happen if our capacities were enlarged even further? If we had a sense to perceive higher frequencies? The same result would ensue. Our interpretation of the world would completely change based on this new way of perceiving the world around us.

Maybe this is the faculty of faith. Instead of seeing reality as static and immovable, reality suddenly becomes the playground of faith where all things are possible. Perhaps that may be why Christ could walk on the water. To us it was a miracle; to him it was perfectly natural. That may be why the many amazing and miraculous things Christ did were too numerous to count - He was acting on his natural understanding of the world through the sense of faith.

He knows we are weak, so he says, "Ask anything in my name and it shall be done for you". When we exercise our faith in Christ, we are revealed to be children of God, and creation is liberated from its bondage. When we are blind, we bump into the rock. When we are sighted, we walk around the rock, and as children of God, we say to the rock, "Be thrown into the sea", and it obeys us. We rule over the earth and subdue it.

As you look at all of our marvelous technologies, you suddenly realize they are like white canes for the blind - we need them to navigate through our world of unbelief. Think about this in contrast to a world perceived with the sense of faith where all things are possible to him who believes.

As I said in my comment to the blog mentioned above, this is just a crude analogy and part of what makes blogging fun.