Jesus Smiles: Jimmy (and Abi) Davis
May we each be aware that we need to receive the Kingdom of God like a child…
Smiling Jesus
My daughter Abi drew a masterpiece when she was 5 ½ years old. Her work in red and brown Crayola marker was the product of a Vacation Bible School “home challenge”: Draw a picture about something you learned today. The picture is simple: a stick-figure Jesus with no arms or body (only a head and two legs) hangs on a fat cross with what looks like a tarantula on top of His head. It’s one of those from-the-mind-of-a-five-year-old drawings that warms your heart and makes you chuckle at the same time.
But there is one stroke of the red marker that stunned me, and still does. Abi plastered a great big grin on the face of the crucified Jesus. She titled her illustration “Jesus Suffered On The Cross” –but she put a smile on Jesus’ face. I was tempted at first to dismiss the contrast of suffering and smiling as the innocent ignorance of a child’s imagination. But as it turns out, deep truth can be drawn from Abi’s simple sketch. Just before I was about to correct the budding artist with “Oops, Jesus is smiling. Shouldn’t He have tears on His face,” the words for the joy set before Him came to mind. Yes, this is right. Abi gets it.
The author of Hebrews reminds us that in the midst of keeping pace in our painful pursuit of our kingdom calling we can look to Jesus “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.” We’re encouraged to “consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that [we] may not grow weary or fainthearted” Hebrews 12:2-3
There is a sense in which a smiling Jesus suffering on the cross is exactly right. In the midst of His excruciating passion for His Father and compassion for us, Jesus had joy. He knew both the inexplicable hurt and the infinite happiness of the cross shaped life of loving God and loving others Matthew 22:36-40 This cruciform life is what He created us to pursue, a suffering-but-smiling life of pouring oneself out for the glory of God and the good of others John 17 , Philippians 2:5-11 .
Father, may it please you to make my life a Spirit-scrawled sketch that in some way resembles the suffering-but-smiling life of Jesus; by Your grace, for Your glory, and for the good of my neighbors, the nations, and the next generation. Amen.
Jimmy Davis loves being married to Christine, with whom he shares the adventure of raising Abi, Micah, Anna, and Luther, their mini-dachshund. Jimmy has served as a youth pastor, high school and college Bible teacher, and church planter. He is the Associate Editor and a writer for BreakPoint’s Worldview Church eReport and maintains The Cruciform Life Blog