Moishe’s Musings on Being like Jesus

Editor’s note: Jews for Jesus Founder, Moishe Rosen, wrote the following for our December 2009 Newsletter. It was his last Christmas with us. Moishe was a friend and mentor to David Brickner for many years and had that sense of curiosity and wonder that David just wrote about. I know that Moishe (my father) would be filled with wonder over how the Lord, through your partnership, has given us opportunities to share the love of Jesus with Jewish people all over the world.

Did you ever think you knew something … but when you thought about it more, you had to wonder?

What Does It Mean to Be like Jesus?

What about being Christ-like? I’ve prayed that the Lord would help me to be like our Messiah. I’ve admonished others to be as well. Yet, I never asked myself, “What does that phrase Christ-like really mean?   If I wanted to be more like Jesus, what would I do?”

Well, I know that Jesus was gentle; He was kind; He did good for others. He also preached against those whose motives for doing good were only selfish. In fact, I remember Him denouncing evil more than praising the goodness that He saw in men and women. The prophets did the same. They saw a goodness in God that they didn’t seem to be able to describe to us. But they could describe how far short we fell of that goodness.

So many Scriptures admonish us to be like Jesus. And I want to be like Him, but how? Sometimes the whole thing seems a tangle. And then it came to me: what characterized the Savior? He was a lover.

Jesus did not love passively; He was always giving something. It wasn’t particularly coins in the Temple coin box; He did things for the poor that were impossible for others to do. The lame were healed and could walk, leap, and run. The blind could see. And those who were the dumb were able to articulate their feelings and communicate. Leprosy was virtually incurable, but Yeshua cured it.

How Can We Be like Jesus despite Our Limitations?

I don’t find that I have the ability to love people so much or to spiritually connect so perfectly that the lame walk and the blind see and the lepers are made clean. Yet just wanting people to be healed, hoping that the poor would be fed is not enough. To be like Yeshua, I must be a giver.

So, what can I give? Well, I can give gentleness, kindness, patience—the fruit of the Spirit. Yes, God has given them to me, and I can give them to others. But wait. I can give more: I can give the word about Jesus, the World’s Best Giver. I can tell of His love so that anyone, everyone could experience that love, that healing, as much as I have experienced it. I can reflect the Light that He shined on me and give that Light to those who are all around me. I can share the joy that I have in the Lord and show people how to enjoy Him. Because nothing I have to give them will make a lasting difference—at least not until they have the Jesus connection. And, hey! I’m one of His connectors. I’ll keep doing my best to connect people to Him. That’s how I can be Christ-like.

As I thought about Jesus, I penned some words that aren’t exactly prose or poetry. I wanted to share them with you. Maybe you will connect with them:

God is without body.
He has no form,
Except that of a babe born in Bethlehem,
A small refugee who became a man so far from home.
Yet, through His body, and through His blood, a world of people was nourished and came to life.
God extends communion to us,
He gives life,
And calls us into strength and holiness;
He calls us to goodness,
And to giving-ness.
Oh that we, like Him, should become nourishment to bring nations to life.
And through that refugee babe,
May we see the mighty Lord,
Who prevails over all.