Esthetics In The Gospels
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
Isaiah 53:2
But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings' palaces!
But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet.
Matthew 11:8-9
When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
Matthew 6:5
As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!"
And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down."
Mark 13:1-2
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Matthew 23:27-28
But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.
They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues,
and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.
But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.
Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.
Matthew 23:5-10
You have heard that it was said, `YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY';
but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.
Matthew 5:27-28
And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
Matthew 6:28-29
The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Matthew 6:22-23
Labels: Esthetics
5 Comments:
While writing about the tree of life, I wondered how the fruit would appear to the eyes and to the taste. These are some of the verses I considered.
Isn't it amazing that everything Jesus is does not appeal to our carnal nature and yet, after we are drawn to Him and He is revealed to us, He becomes all that we desire.
It is also sadly, amazing that even though we have Truth revealed to us our carnal nature can still pull us backwards and we will again seek to harness the Truth for our own glory and build religion around Him thus hiding Him within a mantle of carnality. We do this so easily.
Thanks be to God that the same Spirit Who drew us to Christ Jesus for Salvation will continue to correct us and change our desires until nothing in us desires to recreate Jesus according to our carnal nature but create in us such strong desire for only Jesus that our eyes will never leave Him.
It is an awesome thing to know the Truth and even more awesome to be known by Him.:0)
Pam
First off, someone would literally have to be 'off their rocker' to follow Jesus - he calls us to 'carry our crosses' (signs of death and humiliation).
Secondly, it's a message of narrowing the vision - and in a world of crazy appetites and lots of choices - that makes no sense.
Thirdly, there is the off chance we might lose our family and close friends in this endeavor - and that's quite a large sacrifice.
But you know what - I wouldn't trade a single day of following Jesus for all the money and power around me - it just can't ground me the way this faith has.
Pam,
As you said, there are a lot of ways a clever person can hide their sophisticated carnality (good word choice by the way, very similar to the Greek, sarx). There are is a lot of good-looking evil out there! The life of the believer involves constant self-examination. Thank God for sending us His Spirit.
SocietyVS,
Excellent response, I couldn't agree more. God does not appeal His kingdom to us in wordly terms. To the world it is too narrow, too sacrificial, too bad-looking to accept, but for those of us who have been redeemed it is the power of God.
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