How Did Jesus Walk?

photo credit grahamjbaird.blogspot.com

Have you ever thought about how Jesus walked? Did He walk slowly in a meandering kind of fashion? Did He walk purposefully like He was a man on a mission? Did He walk quickly, knowing the time was short?

Since Jesus literally walked almost everywhere He went (minus the times he took a boat), I kind of always envisioned Him walking slowly, steadily. I have pictures in my mind of different events during His life and ministry, such as when He and the disciples were reclining at the table or when He was up on a mountain praying.

Those times give me the impression that Jesus had a somewhat slow pace about His daily rhythm. However, as I began to read through the book of Mark, I think His walking pace, and even His life pace was a bit faster than I imagined.

He was on the move quite a bit after his baptism and temptation time in the wilderness. He started gathering His team together (a.k.a. the disciples) and went from town to town, teaching and healing people.

Sometimes when we read little bits here and there of the Gospels, we might get a sense that Jesus healed one person here, one person there. But in actuality, I believe Jesus healed far more people than we realize, thus making His pace faster than what I originally thought.

For example, Mark tells us, “That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases…” (Mark 1:32-34a, emphasis mine). It wasn’t just a matter of healing a sick mother-in-law here and there.

When people heard that Jesus had returned home, “They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.” (Mark 2:2)

If you keep reading through the next several chapters of Mark, you will see how often a “large crowd” gathered around Jesus. The people were so desperate for healing that they literally ran to Him. “As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.” (Mark 6:54-55, emphasis mine).

Jesus’ time was so occupied by teaching and healing, that there were occasions where He didn’t even have time to eat. “Then, because so many people were coming and going that that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.'” (Mark 6:20, emphasis mine). You know your life is full when you don’t even have time to eat. I feel like my life is too full at times when I don’t get to drink my coffee hot in the mornings.

I had a professor in college who said that she walked quickly everywhere she went. That didn’t mean she didn’t make time for people, but rather that she was intentional and purposeful as she headed toward her destination.

Put another way, perhaps we could say that Jesus walked deliberately and with a sense of urgency.

photo credit biblestudywithbishopmiller.blogspot.com

Jesus had a limited amount of time on this earth and He had a mission to accomplish. Understanding that likely instilled in Him a sense of urgency to complete what the Father had ordained for Him to do.

Like Jesus, we also have a limited amount of time we’ve been given on this earth. One thing that has brought that truth home recently is the study I’ve been doing with my small group in the book of Joel.

Joel is a prophetic book in the Old Testament that focuses on the Day of the Lord, mentioned five times in the brief three-chapter book. Further study on the Day of the Lord throughout the Old and New Testaments reveals that it is going to be a time of reckoning, a time of judgment and those who have not repented will face undeniable doom and destruction.

I have to admit that studying that reminded me rather strongly that I need to be walking and living with a sense of urgency. Who knows how many days, weeks, months or years I have left on this earth? I need to be telling people and showing them through my radiance (reflecting God’s glory) about the saving Truth of Jesus Christ.

If part of our maturation process as Believers is to be more like Christ, I think it would behoove us to walk as He did. Let’s not meander or wander through our day-to-day lives. Let us go be radiant as we are mindful of the lost souls around us, and walk toward them with a sense of urgency.