The Person of Christ
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
Why should God’s people, as followers of Christ, invest time pondering the kind of person Christ was during His earthly sojourn? One way of responding to such a question is to take to heart the promise of 2 Corinthians 3:18: “We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Those who kept company with Christ in the days of His flesh testified that they beheld glory, “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14). As we look upon the glorious person of Christ, we will transform into His likeness over time. So we continue this week to behold the person of Christ as One who was calm and composed.
Sea of Galilee
When thinking about Christ’s calmness amid a stressful time, our thoughts might well migrate to a storm on the Sea of Galilee. While the boat was tossed by wind and waves and while the disciples were rightfully fearful for their lives, Christ slept soundly onboard. His calmness in the midst of the storm was soon joined by the calmness of the sea and wind in response to His charge, “Peace, be still” (Mark 4:39).
Many other occasions demonstrate how Christ moved through His days on earth with remarkable calmness and composure. Upon revisiting His hometown of Nazareth in company with His disciples, Christ faced a wrathful synagogue crowd. His response was simply to pass through the crowd and proceed calmly on His way (Luke 4:28–30). Amid repeated controversies raised by religious leaders, Christ seemed never to have lost His cool.
His opponents assailed Him over Sabbath observance, eating with sinners, ceremonial washings, exercising authority in the Temple and numerous other confrontations. His responses were measured, never out of control. Throughout His earthy sojourn, Christ seems never to have been frantic or in a frenzied hurry. He doesn’t appear ever to have been at a loss for words.
Christ never caved in to the tide of public opinion or the pressure brought by His detractors. He appeared always in control of the pace of His life and the purpose for which He was in the world.
Because He knew from where He came and where He was going, He lived and ministered with calmness and self-control. When others ralied against him, He did not rail in return.
In uncanny calmness, Christ paid His last visit to Jerusalem, having repeatedly announced to the disciple that He would suffer and die in the Holy City. In utter self-composure, He looked into the bitter cup, saw what awaited Him at the hands of His enemies, and then calmly chose to drink the cup. He did with consistency what He taught others to do when He said, “By your patience possess your souls” (Luke 21:19).
By His self-possession, Christ never allowed Himself to be pushed to hasty, premature actions or thoughtless conclusions. Rather, He simply asserted in such would-be times, “My hour is not yet come” (John 2:4).
Though fully human and tempted in all points like as we are, Christ kept His focus on His Father in heaven, which enabled Him to live through opposition, insults, suffering and ultimately face death with calm assurance. The conviction that Isaiah had toward God served our Lord well and will serve us well: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isa. 26:3).
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