Jesus Christ
Jesus, who
is the way, the truth and the life, must be the center, the criteria and the
model for our daily lives. This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.
Had Jesus of
Nazareth been a Roman or a Greek, certainly his contemporaries would have left
behind statues in his honor. However, because the Jews had a strict
understanding of idolatry, their interpretation of the Mosaic Law did not allow
them to make any images whatsoever of any human person. It would have been
interesting if we had been left something that would illustrate the physical
attributes of the Lord.
Throughout
the centuries, there has been much discussion on the subject. The Shroud of
Turin and Veronica's veil tell us a lot about his Middle Eastern features;
however, our faith is best served by depending on the one authenticated source,
the Gospels.
The accounts
written by the Evangelists depict Our Lord's great capacity for physical
activity. The long hours spent at hard work in the carpenter shop had prepared
him well for the grueling task of his public ministry.
He walked
many miles under the blazing Middle Eastern sun in order to preach the Kingdom
of God. He slept many nights under the stars, and he spent much of that time in
the bliss of silent prayer. He found little time to eat because of the
multitudes seeking his healing touch, and yet when he did find time to rest, he
slept so profoundly that not even a terrible storm could awaken him.
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