Have you ever noticed that the heroes we most admire—in the books we read and in the films we watch—always combine the paradoxical traits of grit and grace? They are tough and tender. They possess might and meekness. They have extraordinary strength and exceptional sensitivity.
The paradox of those traits is important. It’s easy to be strong, and grow hard and calloused. It’s easy to be sensitive, and grow soft and battered. In other words, choosing one side of the paradox is the usual course of things. But to put both sides of the paradox together, therein lies true heroism.
In chapter eight of the Gospel of Luke, we find Jesus embodying this kind of paradoxical heroism. He is mighty and strong, full of power and authority, able to vanquish the tempests of nature and the strongholds of the demons. Yet He is also tender and compassionate, full of mercy and care, as He tends to the cares and needs of others.
A father is scared of losing his daughter. A woman carries a secret wound that is draining her life away. A young girl, about to enter the fullness of life, is on the precipice of losing it all. And Jesus cares for them all.
This is our Jesus! Majesty and meekness at once. Tough and tender. Strong and sensitive. Full of grit and grace. He is the Hero we need.
For in Him, we are loved, more than we know!
Majesty and meekness, LOVE that! Praise Him.