A Final Message About “Fully” Accepting Jesus

From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

Matthew 16:21

Pope Francis has a three step process to fully accepting Jesus, the first two are easy. First, we must find about Jesus. Doing things like reading the Bible, going to church or attending a Bible study. In this step we are both compelled and desirous of finding Jesus. The second step is our outward proclamation; which includes, wearing crosses, leaving Bibles on our desk, singing in church or speak openly about Jesus. In this step we are not embarrassed or afraid to say what we know about Jesus. 

The third in final step is where the word, fully comes into play. Pope Francis says we must fully believe in the resurrection of Jesus, to fully accept Jesus. While the first two steps are easy to absorb, this third step is the biggest hurdle in our journey to fully knowing Jesus. It involves believing Jesus’ sacrificial act on the cross gives all humankind redemption.  We must both understand the importance of the cross and the sacredness of the gift Jesus has given us. When we do, it moves us from seeing our lives as permanently residing in this world to seeing our lives as an eternal pursuit of the divine. In this moment of belief, we no longer intellectualize the cross, but fully have faith in Jesus’ act on the cross. With this faith we become both freed and redeemed. The movements of this world  take on far less meaning and our worries  subside. Both our inner and outer expressions transform to loving God and our neighbor.