“You are the most beautiful of the sons of men.“—Psalm 45:2
The whole person of Jesus is like a diamond, and His life in all its dimensions leaves a lasting impression on us. He is utterly complete, not only in His individual parts, but also as a graceful and glorious whole. His character is not a heap of confusingly mixed bright colors, nor a pile of precious stones laid carelessly one on top of the other; He is a picture of beauty and an armor of glory. In Him, all praiseworthy things are in their place and help to adorn each other. No feature of His glorious Person attracts too much attention to the detriment of the others, but He is perfectly and entirely beautiful. Jeanne Guyon once said that she “loves the Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration as much as the Jesus on the Mount of Golgotha”.
“You are the most beautiful of the sons of men.“
Psalm 45:2
I love the Jesus who heals the fever of Peter’s mother-in-law as much as the Jesus who heals the paralytic who has been so for 38 years near Bethesda. I love the Jesus who welcomes little children into His arms, and also the Jesus who overturns the merchants’ tables and chases the traders out of the temple. I love the Lamb and the Lion. The King of kings and the Servant of all. Divine Love and Divine Wrath. The Alpha and the Omega. The Creator who became Man. Messiah of the Jews and Savior of the world. The Prince of Peace and the Man of Sorrows.
O Jesus, Your power, Your grace, Your justice, Your tenderness, Your truth, Your majesty and Your immutability combine to make a Man, or rather a God-Man, that neither heaven nor earth has ever seen elsewhere. Your childhood, Your eternity, Your sufferings, Your triumphs, Your death and Your immortality are woven into a magnificent tapestry, without seams or tears. You are music without disharmony; You are everything, yet You are not dispersed. We can know You, yet not understand You. You hold us in Your hands that still bear the scars of the cross.
“We have the privilege of contemplating the beauty of Christ and knowing Him, yet not understand Him thoroughly.“
As all colors merge into a resplendent rainbow, so all the glories of heaven and earth meet in You and unite so perfectly that there is no one like You in all things; indeed, if all the most excellent virtues were bound into a single bundle, they could not compete with You, mirror of all perfection. You have been anointed with the holy oil that Your God has reserved for You alone; and as for Your scent, it is the holy perfume that cannot be matched even with the extreme skill of a chemist; each essence has a fragrance, but the blend is perfectly divine.
Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to Your beauty. Let Your glory be the object of my contemplation. I praise You for what You do and what You are. Make me sensitive to Your Presence and to the wonderful relationship we can have together. I adore You, O Jesus. In Your glorious and wonderful name, Amen.
