Our Jesus is a people person. He loves a crowd.

Yes, there were times when our Lord went alone into the desert or climbed a mountain to pray. But it’s much more typical in the Gospels for Jesus to be interacting with people. The eyewitnesses paint a picture of Jesus constantly mixing it up with the multitudes, meeting strangers on the road, hanging out with family and friends. Mostly Jesus was known for eating and drinking with gusto in the homes of sinners and religious leaders, with the prostitutes and the Pharisees, men and women, Jews and Gentiles.

Praying with people. Worshiping with people. Walking with people. Fishing with people. Teaching and debating with people. Laughing and crying with people.

Jesus was a supremely social, communal person. Whatever it was that the Father called the Son to do, he had no interest in doing it by himself. Just a casual glance at Jesus is enough to tell us today that we are fully living as God-created humans, not in our solitude or isolation, but in our relationships and connections with others. If we’re going to be Jesus followers, then we must be people people.

We need God, yes. And we desperately need each other.

Peace,

Allan