There is a moment in the Gospel of John that stops me every time I read it. Jesus, knowing that His hour had come, knowing that betrayal and crucifixion were hours away, did not gather His disciples to give them a theological lecture. He knelt on the floor and washed their feet.
This is who Jesus is. Not a distant teacher dispensing wisdom from a safe height, but a God who gets low, who serves, who touches the dusty, calloused, ordinary parts of our lives and calls it worship.
"Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist."
John 13:3‑4The one with all power chose a towel. Let that sink in.
The Jesus We Sometimes Miss
We can become so familiar with the idea of Jesus that we stop being astonished by Him. We know the stories. We have heard the sermons. And somewhere in the familiarity, we lose the wonder of who He actually is: a God so secure in His identity that He had nothing to prove, and so full of love that He had everything to give.
The Jesus of the Gospels is endlessly surprising. He touches lepers when no one else will. He speaks to women in a culture that dismissed them. He eats with sinners and calls them friends. He weeps at a graveside even though He knows resurrection is minutes away. He is not the sanitized, distant figure of religious imagination. He is achingly, beautifully human, and fully, powerfully divine.
Getting to Know Him Again
Read the Gospels Slowly
Choose one Gospel, start with Mark for pace, or John for depth, and read it slowly, one passage at a time. Ask: "What does this moment reveal about who Jesus is?" Let yourself be surprised by what you find.
Notice How He Treats People
Pay attention to how Jesus interacts with the people around Him. The overlooked, the broken, the religious, the skeptical. Notice the patience, the directness, the tenderness. Then ask: "Is this how I imagine Him treating me?"
Ask Him to Reveal Himself
Before you open the Gospels, pray simply: "Jesus, show me who You really are." This is a prayer He loves to answer. Expect to be surprised.
What Astonishes You About Jesus?
Think of one moment in the Gospels that genuinely moves you: that shows you a side of Jesus that takes your breath away. Sit with that moment today. Let it remind you that the One you are in relationship with is not ordinary. He never has been.
The more clearly we see Jesus, really see Him, not the version we have constructed from familiarity, the more we fall in love with Him. And falling in love with Jesus is the beginning of everything good in the Christian life.
Look at Him again today, as if for the first time. He will not disappoint you.
Jesus, thank You for washing feet, for getting low, for serving instead of being served. Help me to see You clearly again, not the familiar version but the surprising, tender, powerful You. Show me who You really are today. In Jesus Name, Amen.
With honesty and hope,
Claire