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God's Translator
by Max Lucado
There were a few occasions in Brazil when I served as a translator for
an English speaker. He stood before the audience, complete with the message.
I stood at his side, equipped with the language. My job was to convey
his story to the listeners. I did my best to allow his words to come
through me. I was not at liberty to embellish or subtract. When the speaker
gestured, I gestured. As his volume increased, so did mine. When he got
quiet, I did, too.
When he walked this earth, Jesus was “translating” God all
the time. When God got louder, Jesus got louder. When God gestured, Jesus
gestured. He was so in sync with the Father that he could declare, “I
am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:11 NRSV). It
was as if he heard a voice others were missing.
I witnessed something similar to this on an airplane once. I kept hearing
outbursts of laughter. The flight was turbulent and bumpy, hardly a reason
for humor. But some fellow behind me was cracking up. No one else, just
him. Finally I turned to see what was so funny. He was wearing headphones
and apparently listening to a comedian. Because he could hear what I
couldn’t, he acted differently than I did.
 The same was true with Jesus. Because he could hear what others couldn’t,
he acted differently than they did. Remember when everyone was troubled
about the man born blind? Jesus wasn’t. Somehow he knew that the
blindness would reveal God’s power (John 9:3). Remember when everyone
was distraught about Lazarus’s illness? Jesus wasn’t. Rather
than hurry to his friend’s bedside, he said, “This sickness
will not end in death. It is for the glory of God, to bring glory to
the son of God” (John 11:4). It was as if Jesus could hear what
no one else could. How could a relationship be more intimate? Jesus had
unbroken communion with his father.
Do you suppose the Father desires the same for us? Absolutely. Paul
says we have been “predestined to be conformed to the image of
his Son” (Rom. 8:29 NRSV). Let me remind you: God loves you just
the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to
be just like Jesus. God desires the same abiding intimacy with you that
he had with his son.
From Just
Like Jesus
Copyright 2001 Max Lucado
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