Would You Recognize Jesus If He Knocked on Your Door?

Mark 13-14

In college, we used to pat each other on the back by rhetorically asking if someone would recognize Jesus if he returned today. More often than not, this would be a rationalization for doing something that Baylor society deemed sinful, but we (in our enlightened state) knew was exactly the kind of thing that Jesus would be doing if he were here then. From time to time, I still hear these kinds of fantasies, but the issues have changed. Back then, Jesus was most surely a partier (please re-read the gospels if you don't buy into this), whereas today I often hear it in the form of what kind of car Jesus would drive... the environmentalists claim he'd drive a hybrid because he cares about the earth and their opposites claim he'd drive an SUV because he'd want to be able to go to the ends of the earth and fit everyone into the vehicle. Blasphemy? Probably. But the real focus of these lines of questions is not about Jesus at all, but rather about us and our petty notions that we so jealously guard.

I like the understated manner in which Mark deals with this topic... "everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory." We're not going to have to guess whether that [insert stereotype here] is really Jesus, because when he comes for the second time around, it will not be as a babe in a manger, but rather with great power and glory. When I ponder the amazing, awesomeness of an infinite God, there is little doubt that when his son who has united with him comes in power and glory, that anyone will have trouble recognizing that it is Jesus who has returned. Believers and non-believers alike will instantly know that Jesus has knocked on their door. The only question remaining will be whether we answered.