This piece is written by Tekoa Manning and edited for Wonderfully Made. Ladies, if you’re like us, you loveeee shoe shopping!! Maybe you have a closet full of high heels, tennis shoes for the gym, sandals for hot days, flats for work, and boots for the cool fall months… May this piece about shoes and Jesus speak to your heart! Love, Wonderfully Made.
By: Tekoa Manning
We enter rooms and we wear different shoes. For instance, if we are conversing with our professors, our pastor, affluent business owner, or doctor we may act differently than when we are around some of our High School friends or peers. We may act even more different around our siblings and our parents. We take a pair of shoes out of the rack and put them on depending on the circumstance and who we are with. At least some people do. But what about Jesus/Yeshua… What kind of shoes did He wear? Did he change his shoes for anyone? Did he act differently in front of the elite Teachers and preachers of his day?
“Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.
One of the experts in the law answered him, ‘Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.'” (Luke 11:43-45 NIV)
Jesus still had on His sandals of Truth. He was still busy “insulting” people by telling them the Truth. He wasn’t worried about whether the Truth of His Father would go down smoothly or if those standing around would accept Him. And people scoffed him saying:
…“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” (Mark 3:22 ESV)
How did Jesus answer those who didn’t believe in Him? Did He back down and remove His work boots and slip on some loafers?
No, doesn’t look that way.
What sort of shoes did He wear around his family? We all like to let our hair down in front of our families and friends, but… should we ignore and sit quietly while sometimes those close to us have been persuaded by false doctrine and proceed to sit under those teaching such messages? Would Jesus have compromised His Fathers instructions simply to fit in and become someone His family, friends, and peers approved of?
“When His family heard this, they set out to restrain Him, because they said, ‘He’s out of His mind.’ They said, ‘He has gone mad!'” (Mark 3:21 HCS)
Let’s look at more verses about His family.
“Someone said to Him, ‘Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.’ But Jesus answered, ‘Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, ‘Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:47-50).
What about His best men and those He taught?
“After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ (John 6:66-67 ESV).
Jesus wore the same shoes whether He was around family, friends, and the elite. He wore the same shoes when He was talking to the demon-possessed, the prostitute, and the blind. He even wore the same shoes when He bent down to wash the feet of those He called his disciples.
Yet still the public scoffed when the Pharisees grumbled about Him saying, “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'” (Luke 7:34).
Jesus didn’t take His shoes off and act like someone else in front of the religious people of His day. He had no time for fake appearances and polished shoes. He talked to the people most deemed sinners. The ones the Pharisees pointed fingers at, whispered about in their circles, and isolated because “those people” just weren’t as perfect as them.
The Son of God healed, listened to, and touched “those people.” And He didn’t change into some loafers for it. He kept the truth right there with the love. Balance.
This man named Jesus was a Jew from the tribe of Judah. He did not need validation. With His mouth closed like a Lamb going to slaughter, He knew his time was coming. HIS MOMENT! He knew that very soon he would be sitting at the right hand of His Father.
So, now I ask you- Are you wearing Torah shoes; shoes that are shod with peace but also with love, obedience, and truth?
If you are, like Jesus in many circumstances, you may be hated. You may be ignored. You may not be popular or even taken seriously. Many in your circle may leave because your word is too hard to swallow. But that’s okay, as you can see even Jesus experienced that.
Ladies, for the love of shoes, I encourage you to change your shoes if you must. Put on some bright green Peter Pan slippers when you get down to the floor with a child to play. Put on some soft furry house shoes when you watch a movie with your friends. Wrap a pair of red sassy heels around your ankle when you go out, or a pair of flip-flops for the beach on vacation. But continue to be who you are in Christ and announce it without shame. And more importantly, take off your shoes when you see a man who has none.
Photo Cred: Abigail Keenan
Tekoa Manning is the author of two fiction works, Polishing Jade & Walter the Homeless Man. After a neurological illness left her disabled and eventually homeless, Tekoa began to channel her creativity into writing and devouring the Word of Yahweh. She is the wife of a retired police chief and the mother of three sons. Tekoa and her husband reside in a small town in KY. The pen name Tekoa means Trumpet, the instrument that unites people at a sudden impulse.
You can find out more about Tekoa and her writing endeavors at tekoamanning.com
