For Scoundrels, Scallywags, and Rascals—Christ Came | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

For Scoundrels, Scallywags, and Rascals—Christ Came

Jesus came for everyone, offering us joyful life in its abundance.

And he descended from many nations, tribes, peoples and

languages. From Abraham, from Ur in Iraq who, impatient at

God’s unfulfilled promises, raped his slave, Hagar. From tricky

Jacob, who scammed his brother, Esau, out of his inheritance.

From Judah, who impregnated his daughter-in-law, Tamar. From

Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute, ancestress of King David. He, who

spotted the very beautiful Hittite woman, Bathsheba, bathing, raped

her, then had her husband, Uriah, killed. From their son, Solomon,

whose 300 concubines and 700 wives included the Ammonite princess,

Naamah, ancestress of wicked King Ahaz, who sacrificed his

children to Moloch. Ahaz, ancestor of Joseph, husband of Mary,

mother of Jesus, the Messiah. From all of them, Christ came.

And he came for everyone. All can dive into the cascades

of his love. He is Jesus for everyone. For the brilliant and

the shallow, the selfish and the kind. For those who’ve memorised

their Bibles and those who rarely open them; those whose

prayers move mountains, and those who worry instead; for the

theologically erudite, and those with childlike faith. Liars,

embezzlers, the avaricious, psychopaths, sociopaths, the sad,

and those who sadden others: to all, his redemption is offered.

He came for people from every nation and language. For

those we respect and find interesting and those we secretly

dislike, judge, and are threatened by. For the pushy and the

gentle, for strivers and the lazy, for the ethical and the dishonest

he comes, bearing gifts: the ability to give and receive love,

answered prayer, his guidance, his presence, his wisdom, his peace.

Nothing separates the thirsty heart from his love, not our

stinginess, vengefulness, malice, untruthfulness, selfishness or

manipulations, things he understands, for he lived among us, and

loved us and left us the inheritance of his Spirit to change us.

And we come to him through the narrow gates of repentance,

of surrender of all that we have and are to him, of soaking in

sections of his ancient sacred book. We come humbly, breathing

and praying: Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. There is room

in my heart for you. And he will come again, with grace, with

transformation, as he did all those years ago, when he came for

everyone, and he came for you. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus.