Once a missionary came to a tribe somewhere in Africa. He gathered all the people together and told them about the life of the Lord Jesus. All the wonderful qualities of the Lord were described, how He was with His people, and how He always helped them. One of the natives said to the missionary: “We know him. You are talking about the doctor who used to come to our village to help us. The Lord was described in His qualities – and the listeners thought it was about this doctor. What a letter of Christ (2 Cor 3:3)!
As believers, we sometimes forget that God has a great plan for us: As His children, we are to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus (Rom 8:29; Phil 3:21; 1 Jn 3:2). God wants to populate heaven with people who remind Him of His Son in their characteristics. This will become a reality at the rapture – in a glorious body and without sin. But even now the Holy Spirit’s goal is to make us more like the Lord Jesus in our practical lives. The apostle Paul also sought this goal with the Galatians: Christ was to be formed in them (Gal 4:19).
How can we become more like the Lord Jesus daily and thus please God? By seeing and imitating Him! We read the secret of this transformation process in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord“.
In what follows, we want to accompany the Lord down here, reflecting on His gaze, His words, His deeds, and His ways. We do this to become more like Him.
1. His Gaze
Matthew 9:36: The Lord saw the crowd – that they were exhausted and without direction. He did not pass them by with indifference. – How do you feel every day as you deal with neighbors, classmates, fellow students, and workmates who are not yet on their way to heaven? Are you a doctor who knows the medicine but doesn’t tell the terminally ill about it?
Luke 19:5: Despite the crowds around Him, the Lord stopped and looked up into the tree – at Zacchaeus, the little, probably despised tax collector. The Jews wanted nothing to do with such people because they were in the service of the ruling Romans. – Do you have an eye for outsiders? Of course, this refers to unbelievers, but in the broadest sense, it can also apply to your fellow believers. Do you see those who stand alone?
Mark 5:38.39: The Lord Jesus saw the people around Him weeping. He had an eye for their tears and the reason for their weeping. Do you also notice when your brothers and sisters are in need or need of encouragement? The Lord Jesus saw such needy people even in circumstances where He would have had enough to do with Himself: When He was hanging on the cross, He took care of His mother and entrusted her to His disciple John (Jn 19:26)!
2. His Words
Luke 4:22: Everyone in the synagogue was amazed at the words of grace that Jesus spoke. Words of grace, that were characterized by loving affection. Contentiousness (Phil 2:3), blasphemy and shameful speech (Col 3:8), unseemly jokes (Eph 5:4), sharp remarks (Eph 4:29), and anger (Gal 5:20) were alien to the Lord Jesus. He was someone who took children willingly and joyfully into his arms – He must have spoken wonderfully to them.
John 8:25: With the Lord Jesus there was never any difference between His words and the truth. He can call Himself the truth (John 14:6), there was no lie in Him. – How do you handle the truth? White lies, half-truths, cover-ups (e.g.: “I don’t have time today” may be true, but “I don’t feel like it” is the main reason), and spreading rumors were never found in the Lord Jesus.
Matthew 4:4, 7, 10: When the Lord was tempted by the devil, He was never embarrassed. He always had the right Scripture at hand. – Does the word of Christ dwell in you richly (Col 3:16), so that you have it at hand even in difficult situations – for example, when unbelievers ask difficult questions?
3. His Deeds
Mark 1:40-42; 8:6: The Lord used His hands to do good. This is about touching a sick man and distributing food to at least 5,000 people. – Are your hands sitting idle in your lap or are you using them for the glory of the Lord? Ephesians 4:28 says that former thieves should now work with their hands what is good. There are countless tasks in the kingdom of God that you can do with your hands.
Mark 11:15: The Lord overturned the tables of the merchants and moneychangers and drove them out of the temple. Despite the meekness that always characterized Him, He had to exercise discipline here because the glory of God was at stake. The Lord Jesus did not compromise the holiness of God and His house (Ps 93:5). – Have you ever been uncompromising in your tidiness – in your room, in your heart, in your life? I remember a day in my youth when I packed up all the films and music that were polluting me and threw them in the bin. Many revivals in the Bible began with a great purge (e.g. Gideon in Judges 6 and Josiah in 2 Ki 23)!
4. His Ways
Luke 2:42.49: The Child Jesus followed His parents on foot to the temple and stayed there. His way always led Him to where He could have fellowship with God. The desire to be in His Father’s house was more important to Him than His family relationships. – Do you go where God leads you? Do you desire to be where the Lord has promised to be (cf. Mt 18:20)? Even when negative peer pressure from fellow students, colleagues, or schoolmates is put on you.
Mark 1:35: “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place, and there He prayed.” With the Lord Jesus, there was no sleeping in until noon, no idleness on holidays, no useless loitering, and no “chilling out”. When He “refueled” – which was every morning – He sought a quiet place. And then His day’s work began: He was on the road until evening. No distance was too far for Him to be “beneficial and healing”. – Are there days when you lie down in the evening and wonder what of your day remains for eternity? Of course, it’s not about doing things just to be active – but the Lord Jesus is the greatest example of being willing to serve God 24/7!
5. His Listening
Luke 24:17: The Lord Jesus asks a question and listens to the two disappointed disciples on the road to Emmaus. Listening is often difficult for us. The Lord was a good listener. He often took the time to listen to the needs and concerns of the people who came to Him. It is inconceivable that He would become impatient or interrupt someone. He was interested in people and what was on their minds. A wonderful quality.
6. His Thoughts
Luke 2:49: The Lord Jesus was sought by His parents for a long time – and finally found in the temple. He longed for this: “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Of course, He lived as a human being on this earth and had earthly relationships and duties – but in His thoughts, He was always with His Heavenly Father and that made Him happy. – Are you aware that you are a citizen of heaven (Phil 3:20) and are you thinking about things above (Col 3:1)? Do you live here as an ambassador from heaven (2 Cor 5:20) whose home is not here? Or are you mainly interested in earthly things: looks, sports, hobbies, films, books, shopping? What does the thought of the rapture do to you? Would you like to put it off for a few more years? The more time I spend with the Bible, the more I will detach myself from the visible and enjoy the heavenly things.
The life of the Lord Jesus is indeed a high standard. But that doesn’t change the fact that He is saying to you and me: “Learn from me” (Mt 11:29). We want to look at the Lord and imitate Him. God is pleased to see “Christ-like” people already down here!
Finally, an example
There is a wonderful testimony about the former Olympic sprinter Eric Liddell (1902-1945) who, despite all the hostility, refrained from competing as a Christian on a Sunday and died many years later as a missionary in a Japanese concentration camp:
“What these people kept coming back to was the way he lived his Christianity. Eric is described here as a man modeled on Christ. He cares for prostitutes and despised businessmen; he hauls coal for the weak and teaches the young; he is willing to sell his gold watch and tear up his bedsheets for field hockey sticks. And yet it’s the same Eric… who looks so ordinary and not special at all.”
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