Hey Mom! Look at those funny skis; they are the oldest skis I’ve ever seen! She tried to shut him up, but the damage had already been done – to my fragile ego. It’s true I’d bought the skis (used!) in the early 60’s, some 30 years earlier, but I was proud of those skis because they weren’t made of wood and they didn’t have leather strap bindings. Everyone else on the mountain was ignoring my shame, but not the kid. Kids have a way of blurting out true but awkward things.
Like Who they knew Jesus was. He’d just scolded the merchants who had set up shop in the Temple (Matthew 21:12ff) and then began miraculously healing people. Check out the two reactions to what He was doing:
“But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.” (Matthew 21:15)
Jesus was revealing His identity to anyone who could see it. He was the promised Messiah, the Son of God. The children got the picture and whooped and hollered. The chief priests, the Bible teachers, the experts who should have known more than anyone else? They were indignant.
Our first response is to criticize the priests for their blindness. But not so fast: Let’s acknowledge that they had far more to lose by recognizing Jesus. They had gradually advanced into positions of prestige and privilege. They were comfortable. If they acknowledged Jesus’ identity publicly, all that was at risk. Even the way they had come to understand life itself would have been up for grabs. The children had none of that baggage; it was easy for them to see the truth.
I was slow to recognize Jesus for the same reasons. I sensed doing so would put too much at risk. I’d worked for years to develop a successful business. My marriage, rocky at times, seemed to be in a comfortable place. I couldn’t predict how surrender to Jesus would shake everything up, but I was afraid to risk it. Until it became too hard to ignore what I knew was true. Looking back almost 30 years later, my leap of faith really did shake things up in my home life and business. But it did so in amazingly good ways. There is no comparison between what I called life back then and what Jesus described as a more abundant life. But I couldn’t experience that new life until I was all in, until I risked it all.
Maybe you can relate to the priests’ fear and blindness, too. it’s pretty common. If so, let me encourage you to look through the eyes of a child, to see the truth and risk it all. You will discover knowing Jesus is really worth it.
Also, if you are interested in some classic Head skis…
FRESH BREAD OF LIFE 
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