Never Underestimate Jesus
… he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.
Isaiah 53:2-3
Life is full of stories of people being underestimated by others. People underestimate others for lots of reasons, most of which say little about a person’s actual importance or capability. These reasons often include a person’s personality, outward appearance, or background. They typically reflect the bias of one group towards another. We know their stories, frankly, because they remind us that a person’s value does not depend on the assessments of others.
Jesus’ critics constantly underestimated him. For some, the questionable marital status of Jesus’ parents made him illegitimate. Others felt his apparent lack of concern for religious tradition disqualified him. Jesus associated with the wrong kinds of people in the eyes of many. Even his miracle-working power became a source of suspicion. Worst of all, perhaps, Jesus died a criminal’s death on a Roman cross. None of this matched what people expected of someone sent by God, so they dismissed him. Surely, he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 54:3)
Jesus’ resurrection reminds us that Jesus’ critics were WRONG. This weak, pathetic, nuisance of a man whom his critics thought they could silence by murdering him now sits at the right hand of God as an intercessor for those who trust him and judge for those who do not. He is the king; the Lord.
… when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:13–15)
We should never, never, ever underestimate Jesus. Yet, perhaps we DO underestimate him at times. We underestimate Jesus when we think that our problems are too big for him to solve. We underestimate Jesus when we think that others are beyond redemption. We underestimate him when we equate his grace with indifference towards our own sin. We underestimate him when we trust the guidance of others over the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Today, take some time to consider these descriptions. Do they apply to you? When we underestimate Jesus we are choosing to live by sight and not by faith. We do this at our own peril. Choose today to live by faith, trusting Jesus’ saving power in every circumstance and relationship. Jesus is able to accomplish far more in us than we can imagine when we humbly trust in him. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
Let’s Pray: Lord, show me where I am underestimating your power in my life. I repent of those attitudes and choose to humbly trust you to work in and through me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scott