So What’s The Big Deal With Jesus?
I am a man obsessed! I can’t help it—the more I read and study about Jesus the more I am fascinated with Him.
Let me be very clear…I am NOT one of those wimpy pastors who portray Jesus as a frail, weak and sad individual. I can’t stand the pictures of Jesus that many people have in their homes and churches—there He is, white, Anglo-Saxon Jesus (I thought He was Jewish), wearing a white robe with a purple sash, looking skinny and frail, a tear in His eye and holding a lamb.
I have to be very honest at the risk of offending some people—but the picture I just described DOES NOT inspire me—AT ALL! It makes me sick…if this is the Jesus the church is portraying then no wonder it is so difficult to get men to come to church!!! No man in his right mind would want to follow a wimp—which is EXACTLY what the church has been teaching!
I believe that the picture of Jesus that the Scriptures teach about is far different from the ridiculous paintings we worship!
First of all I believe Jesus was a tough kid! Seriously—his mother was a teenager and became pregnant before she was married. (Do you REALLY believe that everyone at that time believed the whole “virgin birth” story?) Mary knew the truth, so did Joseph—but growing up in that culture and being known as the kid whose mom became pregnant HAD to be tough. Remember, He WAS fully God—but fully human as well!
Secondly lets take under consideration his occupation until the age of 30…He was a carpenter. I have to be honest—I have never seen a wimpy carpenter. I can imagine His hands were calloused and I believe that He had to be strong!!! Remember—Jesus didn’t have power tools!
There is a story of Jesus clearing the temple…and to my best recollection—He didn’t need any help! Basically we see Jesus here whipping some rear end—so much for the passive view of Jesus!
(I love the stories of strength in Scripture—like when the Spirit of God came upon Samson and he tore the lion apart…or in the last chapter of Nehemiah when he went and beat the crap out of people who were not doing what was supposed to be done!!! I think the world needs more passionate people today!)
If you study the culture of that time period you will come to understand that Jesus was not a somber individual who was always rebuking people and speaking in the King James version only, but rather He used humor at times and had a grasp on the cultural climate of the day.
He CHANGED everything—He didn’t care what people said about Him…and trust me, they blasted Him—the people of that day who loved tradition fought against the changes He brought about—and even were the catalyst for the movement to crucify Him. (Aren’t you glad we’ve progressed so much since there—there is no one who loves tradition more than Jesus right here in good ‘ole 2006!!!) :-)
And then lets not forget the resurrection—ANYONE who gets killed and then comes back to life in three days…now there’s something to brag about!!!
As I said before—Jesus was fully God—AND fully man! And when I say “man” I do not mean some weak, pathetic, passive wimp! I mean strong—confident—passionate—and willing to do whatever it took to honor God!!!
I can’t wait until this weekend—we are beginning the series entitled Davinci Decoded and we will be talking about my favorite subject—JESUS! And NOT in a way that you might be used to!
IN OTHER NEWS:
I am currently compiling a list of top 10 reasons to come to NewSpring on Easter—there have been some awesome suggestions; however, at least five or six people have said something about me dressing up in a bunny costume. I have no idea where this came from—but I can assure you that I will NOT be dressing as a bunny—it’s just not me!
If you are into leadership development—Tony’s post today knocked the ball out of the park!!!
I loved what Jonathan had to say about the Gospel of Judas—people, it’s really not new news!
Lee had some thoughts on Jesus this week that were outstanding and were one of the inspirations behind this post today.
Fourteen miles Saturday…and then two services on Saturday evening! Remember—4:00 and 6:00 on Saturday…and then 9:30 and 11:15 on Sunday! (If you are coming on Sunday you might want to get there early!!!)