Greatness

Luke 9:43 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, 

Have you ever noticed that there are some people who just love the spotlight. If there is a place a prominence, they want to occupy that space. They want every eye on them, and they want the adoration of those who gaze their direction.

But many of us don’t really like the spotlight. We would rather  e in the  background, hidden from view. We really don’t care who gets the credit, as long as the job gets done.

Jesus is just such an individual. He deserves the spotlight, but so often in His earthly ministry He gave direct instructions about this. He would say, “Don’t tell anyone about….” For someone who changed the world, our natural mind would view this as a mistake.

“All publicity is good publicity.” We live in a world of public relations firms and “influencers”, what ever that means. I don’t think they have influenced me. I’m pretty sure the only thing this influence is themselves and those even more shallow than they are. But I digress!

I love the way that Luke records what happens after Jesus has done some marvelous miracles. He has met people with great needs and has become the solution for them. And then the crowd reacts.

Notice carefully what their response is. They focus on the greatness of God. They see in Jesus God working. They aren’t trying to promote Jesus, they are promoting the greatness of God. When God works, people see it and if their heart is open, then they react in amazement.

Now many of us would say, “Hey, wait a minute. I did those things.” But not Jesus. Perhaps that is because He is God and therefore is sharing in the greatness of the God who does these miracles. But I think it follows along with the narrative of Luke.

That narrative is that Jesus’ is heading to Jerusalem to be killed and rise again. He is on mission, and too much exposure slows Him down. If too many people know who He was that would further hinder His progress toward accomplishing the one task He has come to accomplish. So He foregoes, even silences the telling of His identity.

We could sure use this kind of leadership today, someone who would just do the task of leadership and leave the fanfare for another time. So, why don’t we start with ourselves. Are there areas in life were we do it “to be seen” by others? Maybe that would be a good place for us to start living the Gospel.