Welcoming Jesus In
On the other side of the lake the crowds welcomed Jesus, because they had been waiting for him. - Luke 8:40
When my son was preschool age, and up to those mischievous shenanigans he’d rather I not notice, he would say, “Don’t see me!” As in, don’t see me coloring on the walls. Don’t see me climb up on the counter. Don’t see me throw my unwanted dinner to the dog. Of course, when he needed a snack or a milk refill, he was happy to get my attention. Depending on the activity or the need, Mom was either welcomed into his little world or… not so much.
I don’t think the people in Jesus’s day were much different regarding his presence in their lives. If we zoom out, we see Jesus being welcomed into some areas and towns, but rejected in others. We see some welcome his miracles but push him away when he claims to be the Son of God. We see some welcome the fresh lunch (fish and loaves), but reject the call to carry their cross. The people of Nazareth, Jesus’s hometown, were initially amazed by Jesus, but then they scoffed and refused to believe in him.
Unfortunately for those who refused to welcome Jesus, Jesus gracefully exited the scene. The text tells us, “And because of their unbelief [in Nazareth], he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief” (Mark 6:5-6). Jesus also empowered his disciples to do miracles, but also instructed them to leave the towns that did not welcome them (see Mark 6:11).
It seems that while Jesus walked the earth, he worked where he was welcomed. His active power worked in proportion to the level which he was invited and believed in. For those with true faith and eager anticipation of his arrival, he performed miracles. When Jesus arrives at this new town on the other side of the lake, we see that the “crowds welcomed Jesus, because they had been waiting for him.” In this town, Jesus heals a woman who’d been bleeding for 12 years, and raise a dead child back to life. Wow. What a difference. And how sad for those who pushed him away.
The same is certainly true today on the grand scale. We see some people welcome Jesus and others reject him. Some welcome bits of Jesus’s moral teaching but reject the idea that salvation only comes through him.
But I want to focus on the smaller scale – each of us as individuals. Because even as believers, as those who have welcomed Jesus in, I don’t think we’re personally much different from the broader region Jesus ministered to.
If I examine my life, I see some areas where I welcome Jesus’s transformational power, and others where I close the door and say, “Don’t see me.” Perhaps like me, you have. compartmentalized your life at times, asking for Jesus’s wisdom and active power through life’s difficulties while excluding him from other areas, like your social life, relationship choices, the shows you watch, or the way you spend your money, for example. Perhaps like me you hold Jesus at arms-length in those areas where you want all the control, then wonder why you don’t experience his total peace. Perhaps you love Jesus’s teaching on how we’re forgiven through his sacrifice, but when it comes to forgiving others? Don’t see me.
The thing is, Jesus wants to be Lord over our whole life so he can work in our whole life. He wants to give us total restoration, total peace, total renewal. But if we don’t welcome him into every area, he’ll allow us to have what we think we want. Unfortunately for us, when we withhold areas of our lives from Jesus, we miss out on all he wants to do for us, and what we truly need. Total peace and abundant life come through total surrender to Jesus.
Jesus doesn’t want access to our social lives, financial choices, recreational activities, etc. so he can withhold good things from us. He wants access so he can give us more of himself. He is the Good Shepherd who laid down his very life for us. We can absolutely trust him with every piece of our lives.
PS
Quickly, I want to express that I understand many of you are enduring difficult situations where you’ve not only been welcoming Jesus in, but pleading with him to work. You’ve eagerly invited him in again and again, and have faith that he can break down walls and move mountains, only to feel like nothing is happening. Neither this passage, nor the Bible as a whole, ever teaches that if you have even stronger faith, give more money, or do X, Y, or Z that you will get what you want from God. That is a false gospel that treats God like a vending machine. To clarify, the aim of this devotion is to help us pinpoint the areas in which we close ourselves off from Jesus and the work he wants to do in us.
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