Fully Human

Matthew 21:18-19 - In the morning, while returning to the city, Jesus became hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the side of the road, he went over to it and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to it, "May no one ever find fruit on you again" and the tree withered at once.

This is one of those WTF stories in the Bible, of which there are many. Why was Jesus so angry? Hangry? It seems out of character for "meek and mild" Jesus. Yet, Jesus was just seen at the temple overturning tables and causing a commotion. Maybe he wasn't so meek and mild as we like to think. Even so, it just seems petty to curse a tree because it has no fruit on it.

It also seems very human. At our worst, we are likely to do much worse than curse a fig tree. I know I don't have to think very hard to come up with my own entries in that category. Yet, we like to think of ourselves as rational when the evidence proves the truth that we are often irrational. We often act out of our emotions without stopping to think. Seeing Jesus do this is jarring. Isn't he supposed to be sinless? Is cursing a tree a sin? Is being angry?

Personally, I like the idea of imperfect Jesus. It makes him much more relatable to me, but more importantly, I feel more understood by imperfect Jesus than perfect Jesus. Imperfect Jesus knows what it's like to feel guilty; perfect Jesus cannot. Imperfect Jesus knows from experience that there's a gigantic learning curve for us to get from where he finds us to where he wants us to be; perfect Jesus cannot. Imperfect Jesus knows how uncomfortable shame, horror, fear, and embarrassment feel; perfect Jesus cannot. Imperfect Jesus knows what it is to be flawed; perfect Jesus cannot. Imperfect Jesus is fully human because he has experienced not only temptation, but also what it feels like to succumb to temptation.

Imperfect Jesus reminds us that as human beings we have emotions and we're not perfect at controlling them; nor should we be. We're not meant to be conformist robots; we're meant to be human beings with all the flaws that entails. We're meant to be ourselves. Jesus was human and had a bad day. We all do. That's what the words "I'm sorry" are for. That's what forgiveness is for. No, Jesus doesn't want robots. When we die, according to Dr. Braxton (and I agree), God is not going to ask how well we followed some arbitrary religious norms (designed only to control the congregation) or about whether we did enough to merit entry into heaven. God is going to ask, "Were you you?" Did you try to be someone else or did you embrace yourself as God's gift to the world? Dr. Braxton ends that sermon with a challenge: I dare you to be you.

I would add "flaws and all."