“After he said these things, Jesus was deeply disturbed and testified, ‘I assure you, one of you will betray me.’” (John 13:21, CEB)
My wife and I are a few weeks away from our 23rd wedding anniversary. While we have many wonderful memories of our wedding day, I think we reflect more fondly on our honeymoon in the Cayman Islands. There’s not a whole lot to do there, other than lie on the beach and snorkel (see above picture). It was perfect for our first week as a married couple.
I had never snorkeled before (growing up in a landlocked state tends to limit those opportunities), but I think it may be the closest I’ll ever get to the feeling of flying. As I swam on top of the clear Caribbean waters, I looked down onto a whole other world with countless varieties of sea creatures and we even once snorkeled over a sunken ship. The thing about snorkeling, though, as opposed to scuba diving, is that you’re only seeing things from a distance. As fascinating as it is, you never really get close enough to explore what you’re seeing.
John Wesley (one of the founders of the Methodist movement) is known to have opened small-group questions with a simple question: How is it with your soul? One of my colleagues at Urban Village has noted that this is a question that cuts to the quick. It’s really easy to stay above in our faith lives, looking from a distance, admiring certain things or briefly expressing remorse at sunken dreams or hopes. It’s then tempting to simply continue to swim forward, not wanting to dive deeper, lest we see or experience something more painful. Asking ourselves the question, “How is it with your soul?” stops us, though. It encourages a more thoughtful answer. It spurs us to look a little closer.
I don’t know if Jesus ever literally asked himself that question, but I do believe he felt things deeply. He allowed himself to dive in and wrestle with his emotions, as we see from the above verse and many other instances in the Gospels.
How is it with your soul today? Before you answer that question, consider this other question: Are you swimming along on the surface in your faith life or can you risk diving deep and honestly coming before Jesus to see what answer surfaces. However you respond, know that Jesus dove deep, too: “When the time came, (Jesus) set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having
become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process.
He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless,
obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst
kind of death at that—a crucifixion” (Philippians 2:7-8, The Message).