Weekly Devotional- Week 17, 2006 --All One

Scripture: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, NIV).

Application:

What did Jesus look like?

We don’t really know the answer to that question, but most Americans and Europeans picture Jesus of Nazareth with brown hair, brown eyes, handsome--and white. Caucasian. Suntanned, maybe, but definitely white. The kind of “white” you might meet in Minneapolis. Cincinnati. Or Peoria, Illinois. But that’s a myth. In all probability, Jesus was much darker in complexion than the average American or European. He was born a Jew, He lived as a Jew, and He remained a Jew throughout His life. His swarthy Middle Eastern heritage was probably accentuated when He stood beside Pilate, a fair-skinned Roman, at His trial. But though Jesus entered the stage of humanity at a specific place and time, and possessed specific racial characteristics (much less like “white” Americans than Hollywood has ever conveyed), in a larger sense Jesus transcends barriers of race and color.

He was a Jew, yet He spoke freely and respectfully to a Samaritan woman.

Custom prohibited Jesus, a Jew, from entering the home of a Gentile, yet when a Roman centurion pleaded on behalf of his servant who lay sick at home, Jesus replied, “I will go and heal him.” When He was hounded by a Canaanite woman (Canaanites were historic enemies of the Jewish people), Jesus commended her faith and healed her daughter. Jesus was a victim of racial prejudice, too. On one trip through Samaria, He was rejected because the Samaritans guessed that He was a Jew bound for Jerusalem.

The society that Jesus entered when He became a man drew three primary distinctions among people; they were divided by their race (Jew or Gentile), class (slave or free), and sex (male or female). The good news that Jesus brought presented a radical departure from those prejudices, however. Paul encapsulized it eloquently when he wrote, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. . . .There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28, NIV). The followers of Jesus must be like Him, not in their color or racial characteristics, but in accepting and loving and living in harmony with all people--regardless of sex, class, or race distinctions.

How do you usually treat people who are different from you? Are you living in harmony with all people--regardless of sex, class, or race distinctions?

Prayer: Dear God, please instill in me the attitude of inclusion and acceptance. Give me the ability and the desire to show unconditional love for all of your creation just as your Son, Jesus Christ, did for us. Amen