What did Jesus do?

We are now into our 3rd week of study in Mere Discipleship. All sorts of thoughts are rolling around in my head. That's why I love this book. It starts me thinking on all sorts of topics that I might not have thought of on my own. One such thought is about that wave of "What would Jesus do" mania that hit a while back. That little slogan was probably chanted in every youth group from sea to shining sea. And I don't think it's a bad thought, but to me, it seems more speculative than I'm comfortable with. Here's what I mean. It's all well and good to ask oneself what would Jesus do. However, that seems very open-ended. Depending on one's point of view, you could answer in lots of different ways. The "what-ifs?" run rampant with that WWJD question. For example, "What would Jesus do if someone was attacking his mother?" "What would Jesus do if someone attacked and robbed him?" What would Jesus do....and on and on we go.

I think the better question, the one that will lead us into less speculative answers is "What did Jesus do?" Let's look and see what he actually did do. How did he respond to living in an occupied nation? How did he respond to torture? How did he respond when he caught someone living contrary to how God would have them live? How did he respond to violence against someone else? These are questions that we can actually find answers to. Answers in scripture. Communications from God to us. Let's take these answers and see if maybe, just maybe, they give us a clue as to how we should live.

Scripture is full of descriptions about "What did Jesus do?". Too often, I just don't trust that God knows what he is doing. And that thought gives me pause.