Through his cross he paid for our sin, cleansed us, bought us out of the dungeons of the evil one and brought us back to his Abba. Jesus established a whole new way of relating to God. He often reclined at meals with people; he stopped along the road to chat; he touched them, embraced them. He called them by name, and they him. Jesus is always closing the distance. The encounters in the Gospels are intimate. My goodness, the whole incarnation is intimate. Immanuel, God with us. Why do we feel we must help Jesus set that mistake right by pushing him off a bit with reverent language and lofty tones? I understand that much of it is done with good intention, by men and women who want to honor Christ. Just like Peter. But the irony is, this isn’t how God chose to relate to us.

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