The taste of Jesus

I hate when a sight and taste don't match up. Last year on my birthday I went to Disneyland. My friends and I went through the line to get our lunch and this piece of chocolate moussey yumminess stood out to me. My friends and I decided to buy it and split it. It looked so decadent. We ate our salads and then got ready for the main event, a triple layer, cookie crusted, chocolate mousse cake topped with chocolate shavings. It looked so amazing we couldn't wait to take our first bite.

The moment came and our forks sunk into the creamy chocolate delight. We were feeling overly cheesy being at Disneyland and all and so we waited to take our first bite together. We sank our forks into the cake and lifted them full of chocolate into our mouths and waited for the layers of chocolate to spark as they hit our taste buds.

We waited... and waited, but nothing. It tasted like cardboard! It was plain and horrid. We each took another bite hoping that the cake would be redeemed, but again, nothing.

The taste most certainly did not match the appearance.

The concept of taste is a little bit more challenging to see how Jesus invited people to taste, or even to see where He himself tasted. We see him see a crowd of people, has compassion on them and brings healing. His disciples realize there are ton of people and it's getting late, so they may need to eat. Jesus invites them to feed the crowd. So Jesus takes the little gift of loaves and fish and produces a feast! I am sure that tasted amazing.(Matt. 14:13-21)

We also see Jesus inviting the disciples to taste of his body and blood as they ate the one last supper together. I'm not sure how that would have tasted. (Luke 22:14-22)

Psalm 34:8 says, "Taste and know that the Lord is good, blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." I think the psalmist gets it right. We are to taste the Lord. Experience Him. Not just look at Him. Jesus painted pictures all through His life of experience. He invited people to experience life. I kinda think that taste is the active part of sight. One can see and do nothing, but to taste... one actually has to act. Taste is the litmus test to sight. Are things really as they seem?

Jesus acts all of the time. He sees the crowd, has compassion and heals. He hears a person, has compassion and acts. When Jesus invites people to act and they do, a taste is always left in the mouth of the participant. I wonder what taste I'm leaving? I wander how the world would taste differently if I were not merely a hearer of the word, but a doer? I wonder how Jesus would taste to me, if I didn't just study him, but I responded to him, taking a bite out of the life He has offered.