What Jazal and Jesus Have in Common

My current favorite Magic deck, my Mono-White Tokens/Lifegain Commander deck, includes a handful of Legendary creatures, including Jazal Goldmane. Jazal is a Leonin, a lion-like creature, of whom his brother, the Planeswalker Ajani Goldmane, said this: "As my kha (leader), he is the source of my inspiration. As my brother, he is the embodiment of my aspirations."

When I think of a leader who is also my brother, the source of my inspiration, and the embodiment of my aspirations, only one or two people come to mind. I am referring, of course, to Jesus Christ. Jesus is our brother and our leader, but He is much more than that. He is the one who gives us hope. He is the one who encourages us to keep striving for righteousness. He is "the source of [our] inspiration." He inspires us to become the best people that we could possibly be. And the best person that we could ever hope to be like is Him.

Jesus Christ is our exemplar. He was perfectly righteous. He marked the path that we, as Christians, have chosen to follow. Jesus Christ was and is the ultimate Christian. He is the ideal we all strive for. He is "the embodiment of [our] aspirations." When we say that we want to be more Christlike, we are literally saying that we want to be more like Him.

And we should. Jesus Christ was (and still is) a really good person. He almost literally wrote the book on what it means to be good. He is an excellent role model for us, not just because He's our older brother or because He's the leader of our faith, but because He is the central focus of our faith. He is the one in whom we have faith. He is the one like whom we all strive to become.

Jazal Goldmane will always have a place in my Commander deck, partly because he's a great creature (a 4/4 for (2)WW with First Strike and a really powerful activated ability), but mostly because whenever I read that quote at the bottom of his card, it reminds me of my Brother, my Leader, "the source of my inspiration," and "the embodiment of my aspirations." I like Jazal Goldmane because he reminds me of Jesus Christ.