What if God was one of us? What if he was just a stranger on the bus trying to make his way home? Would you want to see his face or know his name? The idea that God would tabernacle with his creation is profound, provocative and leads us to ponder these questions from Eric Brazilian’s song “One of us” made famous by Joan Osborn in 1995.
The fact is God was one of us. Jeshua Bar Joseph was here on earth and dwelt among us. It is hard to imagine our Creator walking down dusty, manure filled streets in Nazareth or stepping into a wooden fishing boat anchored in the Sea of Galilee but that is exactly what he did! He was born of a woman, grew up in the same way you and I did, living a very normal and simple existence only to meet with a very tragic demise.
The song goes on to ask if he could have been a slob like one of us. I don’t think so. From my reading of the New Testament scriptures I believe Jeshua loved life, people and demonstrated that love every chance he got. One of his first miracles was to heal a man with the social taboo of leprosy. While the law stated that lepers were to be separated from the population, be covered when they traveled and were to strictly avoid human contact, our Lord went out of his way to embrace them, to touch them and ultimately to heal them.
God came to earth to demonstrate his unending love for us. It was all he could do to avoid conflict with the religious leaders of his day as he played cat and mouse with them until his time had come. The Pharisees vehemently spouted out the law while turning their backs, ignoring people who were in true need. Their hypocrisy and greed had reached the threshold of divine intervention as Jeshua began turning over the money changer’s tables, letting corralled lambs and caged doves free.
The Temple in Jerusalem was to be a place where the priests would intercede for the common man through the sacrificial system but the whole affair had morphed into a business built upon the ordinances that God had commanded Moses to carry out. What was to be the way of forgiveness was now a stream of revenue that filled Jerusalem’s cobblestone streets and the sheep gate with blood.
The final act for Jeshua, the curtain call, would come to a crescendo as the religious leaders schemed in private just how they would get rid of the Son of God. While Jeshua taught openly in the temple courts and synagogues of Israel the conspiracy to take him out of the picture would end under the cover of night in a quiet garden filled with olive trees.
The fact is the “Emmanuel” prophecy came true and God had come to earth to tabernacle with his creation. So getting back to the original question “What if God was one of us?” would we want to see his face or know his name? Chances are that we wouldn’t want our sins exposed and would steer clear of a meeting with him.
The religious leaders of Jeshua’s day not only wanted to keep their sin private they tried to cover it by executing the King of Glory! His great love and mercy couldn’t be held by death, the grave couldn’t hold Jeshua as his spirit returned to his body. He has risen and all who believe in this resurrection will be saved.
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11.
So was God one of us? Has he crossed your path and you failed to see him? There is only one true church and Jeshua is the head of it. While we wait patiently for his return each day gives us the opportunity to allow his love and glory to shine through our lives, reflecting into the lives of people we meet.