We need Jesus with his mask on.
Jesus wears a mask
Jesus put his mask on when he became human and humbly entered this world as one of us. Not to protect himself but to protect, deliver and save us from our sin disease. “He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:7).
Jesus wears a mask for you. He died as a sacrifice to pay the justice for your sins. His mask fully protects you and saves you.
Jesus does not wear a mask
We also need Jesus with his mask off. Jesus does not wear a mask when he reveals his full glory as the divine Son of God. He wants us to look past his humanity and trust that this man who died for us also rose from the dead and now rules all things as God.
When Jesus employs his divine nature fully his mask is off, and the bigger picture is in play. Jesus is the powerful, loving Lord of all, Lord of any sin, Lord of this country, Lord of your family, Lord of this virus. Not wearing his mask—that saves you.
The miracle is this: Jesus was, is, and will always be true God, and at the same time he is fully human. That’s what it takes for Jesus to save us.
The solution to COVID
In the same Bible section of Philippians 2 that teaches about Jesus wearing his mask and Jesus not wearing his mask, it says, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:7).
Above. Every. Name. Above wearing or not wearing a mask. Above a vaccine or returning to normal. Above the confusion, the violence, the sense of insecurity in our world is the name of Jesus. Over it all. Over us all.
When everything we do and decide is for his name, we will rise above those things, too.
We will make sacrifices so that others “enjoy good health and that all may go well” with them. We will be considerate of all others, especially those who disagree with us “even though they are strangers.” We will “show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.” And then, those who don’t yet believe in Jesus will see that we “do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God” (3 John 2,5,8,11).
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, your truth and love are what we need to work through COVID together. Thank you for giving them to us! Give us also the faith to trust that you will lead us your way, which is not always our way. Help us to live in harmony, understanding, and a togetherness united in your truth and your love. Amen.
FURTHER MEDITATION: Are you looking for more biblical wisdom about masks? Watch my sermon from this past Sunday here http://crosslifepf.org/messages/jesus-his-mask-and-us/.