Blurry Jesus.

Despite our calling as a Church, it is difficult to maintain a clear view of Jesus. Mighty difficult. Always has been, always will be. Ever since Jesus first walked the earth, there has been a sure, steady attck upon the truth about his life and death. This shouldn't be too surprising, of course. If Jesus is the image of the invisible God, then God's enemy is going to be very interested in blurring that image. Clarity is the last thing our enemy is interested in. He hates clarity. Abhors it. In teaching about satan (a name that literally means 'adversary') Jesus called him "the father of lies" ( John 8:44 ). The liar, I like to call him. Sure, calling him satan clarifies that we have an enemy, but calling him The liar clarifies what his primary weapon is: deception. Deception is his game. And if the incarnation of God in Jesus was God's greatest, most concentrated effort in history at revealing himself, then it would stand to reason that God's adversary, The liar, would attack that image with his greatest, most concentrated efforts at deception.