Jesus: Novel and Vast

by Mary Beth Wood

In 2011, I had my first baby. Three months into motherhood, I cried in my husband’s arms and could find no other words to say than “I miss God.” I had been living with an abundance of time to study scripture, journal, pray, and bask in his presence. Solitude had been easy to find. Baby Jude was the first thing in my life that required every bit of me all of the time. Chris reminded me “He made you to be a mother. He knows exactly the time this requires from you.” I realized in that moment that the time I had invested in studying the things of God and having so much time for solitude with Him had been a luxury, but that time had filled a reservoir full for me to draw from in this new season.

As Jude grew, I found that while my abundant time alone with God in solitude and study had ended, discipling Jude caused me to see God in new and stunning ways. God was teaching me, in my teaching Jude. He was abiding with me, and his nearness never waned. The reservoir we had filled was overflowing with joy and love into the way I raised and discipled my children.  

We often think of the time we spend with God as being for our good and His glory, but rarely do we consider the immense benefits it brings to the community around us – to those we are discipling. I wasn’t pursuing God so as to better disciple my little ones, I was pursuing God because he had proved it to be true “o’er and o’er,” that “in His presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” He was joy to me. My motive had been Him and myself, but God knew that he would use that reservoir in the raising up of my children. 

And while my resorvior was spilling over in my teaching of Jude, bringing to light the things of God for Jude, set him ablaze to me.  I had always considered the gospel to be breathtaking, shocking, a scandal if you will, but for me to daily live the gospel for my little one, caused me to see anew how novel and vast this gospel -  this Jesus we believe in, truly is.

The New Testament church in Acts had had their reservoirs filled full.  Many of them had been with  Jesus for a season and this gospel they believed was spilling out onto those around them in exactly the way Jesus had planned. While this early church passage is incredibly familiar, one word jumped off the page to me recently: “Awe.” 

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.  And all who believed were together and had all things in common.  And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.  And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47)

These early followers of Jesus had just come from “doing what Jesus did.”  They had been abiding with Jesus and were now keeping in step with the spirit as it says in Galatians.  They had something called a Common Rule among them, or their own set of “Spiritual Disciplines.”  

• They were devoted to learning from what we now have in the form of a Bible

• They practiced communion – remembering and focusing on the truths of the gospel together.

• Fellowship

• Prayer

These things produced AWE.  I’ll read again, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  And awe came upon every soul…and all who believed were together and had all things in common.”  

Seeing and savoring Jesus, produces awe.  Neuroscience tells us that awe produces self-forgetfulness:

“People feeling awe focus more of their attention outward and value others more in social interactions.”

“Awe’ is the emotions we feel in response to something vast that defies our existing frame of reference in one area or another, and leads us to change our perception of that frame of reference.”  

It’s how we respond when we see something new or novel that doesn’t fit with our understanding of the world; and it changes us.”  

JESUS is novel and vast.  

When baby Jude came, my deep love of Jesus and fascination with the beauty of the gospel, caused me to overflow.  While my life looked different, and my ability to sneak away for times of silence and solitude had greatly diminished, my time of intentional devotion to the truths of the gospel had prepared me for this new mission.  

The early church of Acts had spent time with Jesus and now were spending time in community discipling, praying, learning, and remembering. Jesus is the One we were made to spend our life abiding with and in.  The gospel is novel and vast, and the awe that comes from the truths of the gospel will cause us to forget ourselves and overflow in love for him and others.  Whether this is in our homes or as we go about the world.  Truly seeing and savoring Jesus will produce awe, overflowing in discipleship and mission.

“[…]And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.  And all who believed were together and had all things in common.  And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.  And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”