Would you say, He is kind, gentle, loving, forgiving, full of grace?”

If you did you would be right. 

But He is also just, holy determined, righteous, a judge and a savior. We have to be careful we’re not buying into Jesus at a “half-off” price. We must see Him wholly as He is.

Knowing Passover is coming and He is the lamb to be sacrificed, He is determined to follow through with the Father’s will and plan. Coming into the city of peace, peacefully riding on the colt of a donkey, He symbolizes the king in peace time. Like a parent, we see Him tender as he heart brokenly weeps for His people and their lost state.

But coming into the temple and finding His Father’s house out of order and a mockery of what it should be we see His righteous indignation explodes on the scene with the judgment of God cleaning house of those who were defiling it!

What does this teach us of the Jesus we should know? We should keep our eyes and ears wide open to know Him completely for who He is–He is our King of glory! How would you feel if you found out today you only knew half the truth about an important financial matter or your mate or the lives your children have been living? I promise it would disrupt your peace, steal your joy and possibly even devastate you. And it can be worse to only know half the truth about Jesus.

Let us never be found with blinded eyes or deaf ears to the Jesus we should know so that it will never be said of us: "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.” (Lk 19:42) To completely know Jesus is to know peace, to not know Jesus is to have no peace. Why only take half a Jesus when He has already given you His all?

Dr. William Burnham is pastor of Point of Grace Church in Covington. He can be reached at burnhamw@charter.net.