Reading Jesus: Part V LABELS.

Do you see people, or do you see labels?

Jesus, saw people.

He didn't see a leper; he saw the heart and soul of the one who was labeled leper. Jesus saw beneath the wound of the exterior and into the wounds of the interior.

He didn't see an adulteress; he saw the heart and the soul of the one who committed adultery; the brokeness, longing, and emptiness that would drive one to seek to fill the void in her soul through the approval and need of another man; the spiritual bankruptcy.

He didn't see religious bigots; he saw the heart and soul of those who wanted so deeply to win God's approval and define others by labels.

Jesus didn't see the label of the emperor; Jesus saw the need for power and control; the deeper fear that would drive one to "wash his hands and seal the fate of another".

Jesus didn't see the color of skin; he saw the color of one's dreams, hopes, fear, pain, struggles, hurt, failures-- Jesus saw into the humanity of a person. Jesus didn't see the label on the box; Jesus saw the content within.

Jesus saw humans "being" or "attempting to be". And he came to remind folks of their true identity-- God's beloved creation. Perhaps Jesus didn't see "sinners" (as defined by the keepers of the law), perhaps Jesus saw into the brokeness and fear that led to folks missing the mark of God's desire for them and the world.

He didn't see the rich, young ruler's label; Jesus saw the heart and soul of a person.

We use labels to define, exclude, include, accept, reject, separate and divide:
Conservative.
Liberal.
Black.
Leper.
White.
Republican.
Democrat.
Gay.
Straight.
Sinner.

The only stamp, seal or label recognized by Jesus was the stamp of God's fingerprint on the heart and soul of all humans.

Jesus saw into the soul of the ones created in the image of Divine Love; and maybe that is what inspired him to love and act with compassion in a way that led to his death. He saw the worth of a human, not the label that said, "Unworthy".

Jesus didn't "see in labels", Jesus "saw in love."

So if we want to 'read the word", then we must read Jesus.

All too often, I see in labels. And when I recoginize that I am seeing in labels: myself, others, and God, then I realize that I don't see as Jesus saw. If I am going to read the Word Made Flesh-- Jesus, then I must see as Jesus saw.