It's What's On The Inside That Counts

I've just started rewatching the Disney childhood classic 'Aladdin'.

 

At the beginning, the travelling salesman/narrator introduces the magic lamp and tells the audience that, like many things, It might not look like much from the outside, but it's what's on the inside that counts.

 

His line reminds me of Isaiah's description of Jesus:

 

       "He had no special beauty or form to make us notice him;
       there was nothing in his appearance to make us desire him.

       He was hated and rejected by people.
       He had much pain and suffering.
       People would not even look at him.
       He was hated, and we didn’t even notice him."

 

       [Isaiah 53:2-3 NCV]

 

There was nothing stereotypically attractive about Jesus.  Nothing on the outside to make us stop and notice Him.

 

But on the inside.

 

On the inside, He is the most attractive person who has ever lived.

 

But we have to look beneath the surface.  We have to choose to look beneath the surface.

 

The Jews rejected Jesus because He wasn't what they expected: they were waiting for a royal King to rescue them from oppression and to bring God's rule and reign to earth.  They were looking for a figure of strength and power and authority and instead, they found a tiny, weak, helpless baby in a manger.

 

They rejected Him because He didn't look like a King.

 

Sometimes we can reject Jesus because He doesn't fit our stereotype or our preconceptions.  We can reject Him as the One who can fulfil our needs and satisfy the longings of our hearts.  We can reject Him as the answer to our prayers.  We reject Him because He doesn't fit into our preconceived idea of what He should be like.

 

And He doesn't fit into our preconceptions, because He is bigger than them.  He is bigger than our ideas and our imaginings and our hopes and our dreams. 

 

But we only see it when we look beyond the surface.