Camera-Shy Jesus

Here's Part 1

Yesterday as I was slowly "munching" on the savory goodness of Mark chapters 1 to 5 (leisurely meditating each verse over and over without time constraint) a revelation struck me. Jesus was "camera-shy," as it were. There were no cams then, but what I mean is that he didn't like the idea of announcing himself to the public, especially his good deeds. [Picture above by Priscilla Du Preez, Unsplash].

40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41 Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. 43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. [Mark 1]

He just completely healed a leper in an instant. Wow! Where is this is in church today? And right after the miracle, "Jesus sent him away at once," even warning the man to "see to it that you don't tell this to anyone," obviously to ward off public attention from him and direct that attention to the priests instead. See that?

"See to it that you don't tell this to anyone."

It can't get any clearer than that! I mean, if this isn't crystal clear to you, how can anything in Scripture be intelligible to you? Jesus would rather redirect the spotlight from him to the priests, giving them a lead role in all this, and also to serve "as a testimony to them." He'd rather remain anonymous and low profile. I remember Paul once told the Philippians to, "consider others better than yourselves," which is a way of getting out of the limelight and letting others get under it.

Jesus and his apostles were camera-shy. The church today is not. Instead, it blatantly parades its good deeds on camera and shows it to the world via social media. To get applauded.

But what did the guy do? He was so blessed that he went around to promote Jesus. In effect, he took a video and uploaded on Facebook. It wasn't Jesus or his disciples that did it. It was the guy who got blessed from Jesus' ministry. That's letting your light shine (not MAKING it shine). Without any effort on your part, you just let your light shine and people see your good deeds and glorify the Father. And they put your lamp on a lamp stand to give light to the whole house. That's what Jesus meant when he said you couldn't hide a city or a town on a hill.

This pretentious display of good deeds is among the sins the church should repent from. God allowed (or "decreed,: as one of my co-writers here once said) church buildings to be closed because of the gross errors and sins church people have been doing. The church is no longer a light that naturally shines but a fireworks or pyro display that aims to lure and entertain the world and earn its applause.