Was Jesus Spiritual? (1 of 4)

Was Jesus spiritual? I always just assumed that He was, no questions about it. I mean we’re talking about Jesus of Nazareth, the God-man who walked on water, hushed the storms and baffled the spiritual leaders of Israel. Of course He was! But was it a process or was he innately just Spiritual? I don’t think I have ever even considered exploring the disciplines in which Jesus engaged in to discover the answer to this question. Really, how dare I ask if Jesus was Spiritual He’s God in the flesh! But, what a fascinating and totally exciting question to ask. And what challenging quest to explore the life of Christ in a historical context and see the spirituality of Jesus as man.

So what then does it mean to truly be “Spiritual?” We will be exploring the disciplines of Christ through the next week or so to better understand what it means. Dr. Leslie Hardin suggestions in his book “The Spirituality of Jesus” that we are conditioned to see spirituality packaged in a special or “big event,” I could not agree more.  We need to challenge ourselves and be accountable to develop true spiritual disciplines allowing us to continue growing spiritually. With that said, Dr. Leslie Hardin has identified nine spiritual disciplines in the life of Christ that we can model after: Prayer and Solitude, Resisting Temptation, Scripture Study, Corporate Worship, Submission, Simplicity, Care of the Oppressed and Outcast, Meal-sharing, Evangelism and Proclamation. Today we’ll explore the first discipline further.

Prayer and Solitude

Admittedly both prayer and solitude are difficult, especially for me. With today’s busy schedules dedicating intentional prayer time can be challenging as is finding the opportunity to get away to spend uninterrupted quality time with God. Who has the time?  I struggle with the twenty-four hours we have.  Between family, work, school, church and filtering through 150 spam emails, who can get away for prayer?  Okay, the emails are not that important.  Nevertheless prayer is a vital discipline in our spiritual growth, “for Jesus prayer was an opportunity to connect with the power of the Spirit, to be alone with the Father, to see God’s counsel and guidance on important ministry matters, and to seek strength and courage to be obedient to the Father’s will when tempted” (27).

Jesus often withdrew to private places to pray to the Father (Luke 5:16). On several occasions the authors of the Gospels write that Jesus spent several hours in prayer, Luke notes that Jesus “spent the night praying to God” (Luke 6:12). He prayed when his soul was heavy, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matt 26:38); asked for guidance (Luke 6:12, Matt 9:38, Mark 3:13); interceded for other people (John 11:41-42, 17); and even asked God the Father to lift the cup of suffering, “let this cup pass from me” (Matt 26:39, 42, 44; Mark 14:35-36, 39, 41).

It was such a pleasant surprise to see real human emotions in Jesus prayer life like sorrow and fear. Well, not really surprising but revealing.  Jesus is usually painted as a superhero in Sunday school.  I was taught all about his miracles and divinity but never once was taught about his more human disciplines.  Jesus is much more like we are than we understand.  When we think of Jesus we think of his divinity and forget that he was also completely human. He worked hard on his prayer life and dedicated himself to withdrawing to private places often spending hours in the Father’s presence.

I hope to model after Christ in this area and improve my prayer life by retreating to a private place, getting to know the Father more intimately by spending more than just a few minutes in His presence, seeking for His will and strength to be obedient and praying not only for guidance but truly interceding for my fellow brethren.

In the next blog we will discuss the disciple of resisting temptation and scripture study…. till next time, Shalom!

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The Spirituality of Jesus
by Dr. Leslie Hardin

What do we know about Jesus’ spirituality? What disciplines did he follow? These rarely asked but essential questions are answered in The Spirituality of Jesus. Author Leslie T. Hardin points readers to the Gospels and shows that Jesus’ spirituality is seen not in the miracles he preformed but in his everyday activities. In the Gospels, we catch glimpses of his instructive daily routines.

Hardin identifies nine practices, or disciplines, that allowed the Spirit to work in and through Jesus:

• Prayer and solitude
• Care for the oppressed
• Resisting temptation
• Corporate worship
• Scripture study
• Meal sharing
• Simplicity
• Submission to the Father
• Evangelism and proclamation

Hardin looks at how these disciplines opened avenues for the Spirit, and how they can be integrated into the lives of modern Christians.