Jesus_I_never

I don't know where you are with Jesus, but I think we'd all have to agree that this is one of history's most influential if not THE most influential person who walked on the planet.

Even people who don't go to church know that's true. I mean, have you ever been on a golf course behind a foursome, and seen a guy shank one into the pond and say,

"T h o m a s Jefferson!!"? Or have you seen a guy working on a deck hit his thumb with a hammer and say, "SSSOCRATES!!"?

Well I believe that if you're anything like me, It's like in your mind you have your own personal police sketch artist and over time, you have your own personal picture of who Jesus was.

And it's probably not just a picture you can probably also see what kind of a personality He has and what kind of temperament He has too.

For me, I used to think of Jesus' personality much like a lot of films portrayed Him you know, very in control very even keeled very steady and deliberate not a "fly off the handle" guy not a reckless, or super-emotional guy. In my mind, I think I painted the picture of what I thought a Messiah --- the Son of God should be like.

And just as we saw earlier in the service, we saw very different takes on Jesus from historical figures. And I bet if we put all our faces on the side screens with our own quote, that we would also see very different takes on who Jesus was.

So today, I want to ask you to perhaps let go of the image in your mind, and let's try to take a fresh look at Jesus through historical and documented accounts.

(1st map of world) As we look at the screens we can see the indicator of where He was in relation to the United States

And here we can see the region He lived in. To be less confusing, these are the current names of the countries. Any of these been in the news lately? IraqSaudi Arabia IsraelSyriaJordanand just out of the picture to the right would be Iran & Afghanistan.

And here's a closer look at the place He spent most of His life. (3rd map) It's a very small area. It's kind of amazing that in such a short time on the planet (33 years) and in such a small sphere of influence, Jesus ignited what He has.

All of us in this room, no matter how old we are we all know that this part of the world has been extremely volatile our whole lives.

For the record, it was arguably no less volatile back when Jesus lived there. In Jesus' time this was as much of a political and warring powder keg as it is today. Back then the humongous and nearly invincible Roman army was in control of that whole region

But with all their might, the Palestinians would still fight back against the Romans. It almost like the US vs. the Taliban. Shortly before Jesus was born, no less than 150,000 men died in Palestine in revolution uprisings against the far superior Romans. Basically the Middle East has always been problematic.

And because Jesus was the Son of God, He could have been born anywhere. A peaceful corner of the world. But God chose one of the most volatile regions on the planet.

"Jesus, can't relate to menot in MY time what does He have in common with me 2000 years later?!" Or let's not say, "I can't believe we've let this world and the Middle East get to this place, where it is SO messed up!"

The Middle East and the uncertainty of the political & warring world was THE topic during the life of Jesus --- it was unavoidable---it is what everyone talked about back then. And 2000 years later, because of technology bringing the whole globe closer together through jets, live TV, and the internet. The same kinds of things in the same part of the world are still what everyone is talking about today.

So know that in 2000 years, some things haven't changed that much and we have more in common with Jesus in terms of world problems than we might have thought. ///

Culturally back then, people from Galilee were considered bumpkins "losers" They probably would have said jokes like: "What do you call a Galilean skeleton in a closet? Last year's hide & seek champ!" Instead of "blond jokes" they would have had Galilean jokes.

Galileans spoke Aramaic, a trade language that was closely related to Arabic. And Galileans spoke it so poorly---butchered it so badly --- they were not allowed to read from the Torah (explain Torah"Law of Moses") in other synagogues.

And in the culture, Galileans were also considered to be very lax when it came to spiritual matters. They weren't the sharpest "spiritual tool" in the shed!

So knowing all this about Galilee, we can understand when Nathaniel finds out the Messiah has arrived and He is from Nazareth in Galilee, he says,

That would be like um, imagine if Jesus came back in our time and a friend of yours tells you, "Man I swear you know Max McGee's boy just outside the south east corner of GreentownHE's the Messiah!"

You and I would never think the Messiah would come from Greentown, or Burlington or Swayzee. And they never thought their Messiah would come from Nazareth.

And His name "Jesus" comes from the name "Joshua" meaning "he shall save" which was a common name "back in the day." Jews put a lot of emphasis on names. So with His very run-of-the-mill name, it must have seemed scandalous for Jews to have a Savior from Greentown named Vern.//

Out of the 4 authors of the Gospels we have only about 1/10 of Jesus' life described and NO physical description not shape, eye color, ZIP!

The only physical Biblical description is written by the prophet Isaiah who never saw Jesus --- he wrote it HUNDREDS of years before Jesus' birth:

"He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him." Isaiah 53:2 niv

Because all Scripture is "God breathed" it's no accident that the Bible leaves out a physical description of Jesus.

God knows our nature, which is, if we knew Jesus was 5' 8" with a bowl hair cut and a goatee I'm sure we'd try all too hard to always have a Holy haircut and pray that our sons would stop growing at 5' 8" and shop at Walgreens for the razor that guarantees a "sanctifying shave!"

Not having a physical picture of Jesus kind of illustrates the point that Jesus always taught: that what was inside a person was most important --- he did not care about what was on the outside of people. That's why He got extremely mad at the religious Pharisees. They did everything to APPEAR spiritual on the outside, but their heartswhat was on the inside, was polluted. He said one of his harshest words to them:

"You're hopeless, you religious scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisees! Scour the insides, and then the surfacing will mean something." Matt. 25-26 The Message

Jesus was more concerned about the inside of a person than the outside. So that's my editorial on perhaps why we are not given a physical picture of Jesus in the Bible.

The first portraits of Jesus did not come until the 5th centurythat's about 400 years after He lived. So they were based on speculation. What did Jesus look like? The best guess is: Whatever a normal looking Jewish man looked like born in the Middle East 2000 years ago

Simply, He was not like most of us here--- He was not a middle class Caucasian American. He was a poor Jewish man born in the Middle East who physically, was "nothing special" to look at. //

First and foremost Jesus was a Jew. He came from 42 generations of Jews. His genealogy mentioned 4 women (he seemed to give value to women before anyone else in the culture did). And 3 were foreigners --- so the Jewish Messiah would have gentile (non-Jew) blood.

At this point in history, blood lines were everything to royalty. But not only was there gentile blood in the Jewish Messiah, but the genealogy contained sexual deception, prostitution and an affair between David & Bathsheba that included murder.

This was not exactly the squeaky clean Messiah that Jewish leaders looked forward to. This sounds more like the plot of a soap opera than a royal blood line.

"You're telling me, VernMax McGees boy, from Greentown is the Messiah. The same Vern whose lineage has outlandish sexual exploits and icludes "non-white" people HE's the MessiahHE's the 'Great King' that's gonna save us??"

I want to give us a handful of words that we can use to try to get a more accurate picture of Jesusso that when you leave you're personal sketch will perhaps be a little more clear.

The word that wraps where we've just ended is: Underdog Jew. He was born into a poor family in an area that had a negative reputation He came through 42 "colorful" generations of Jews. He was raised in the synagogues on the Torah. His roots and His life were surrounded and steeped in Judaism. We could classify his situation as "less than likely to succeed". ///

I'd like to spend a little time looking at some characteristics that we can observe from His life. And as we do, let's remember that Jesus' life is an example of the only sinless Person who walked the planet, and so when we look at Him let's always ask ourselves what we can learn about us. (no particular order & won't cover everything"grace?")

He called them to eventually spread the Good News, but clearly from this Scripture it was in the context of friendship. At least 3 times He cried in front of them. He did not keep His fears tucked away and He openly asked for help.

"My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me." Matt. 26:38 nlt

He had a habit of creating relationships that went below the surface of polite conversation very quickly. Whether it was a woman at a well, a religious leader at night, or a fisherman by a lake. Which at that point in time, rabbis and "holy men" were kept at a distance

This relational way of doing life with people in a spiritual context was new. And very much sets a standard that God shows up in honest vulnerability and areas of more substantial or "below the surface" relationships.

And He praised people. When He did a miracle, He put usually put the praise back on the person: "Your faith has healed you," He said. He called Nathaniel "a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." And He said there was no one greater born of a woman, than His cousin, John the Baptist.

If ever there was a Person on the planet who we would think would NOT NEED people, don't you think it would have been Jesus? I mean, come one what advice or "new" ideas are you and I going to offer the Son of God?

I think the question here is: If the Son of God needed to be relationalto depend on othersto share with others don't we need to? //

I doubt whether Jesus would have carried a Palm Pilot if they would have been around back then: (couldn't afford)

He did not seem to follow a "to do" list. He attended wedding feats that lasted for days, He got distracted by people who crossed His path: Like a bleeding woman who touched His robe or a blind beggar who was making a scene

And 2 of his most impressive miracles happened because He arrived too late to heal the sick (Lazarus & Jairus' daughter).

It's as if there's a lesson here that haunts my own Palm device which is: If you're too busy for someone in need, you're too busy. People, not plans, were His priority. //

And He was not a "Prozac" Jesus. He was not always, like I had seen in some movies, a monotone, calming voice:

He had so much charisma that people would sit for 3 days to hear Him speak. He drew crowds regularly. He showed sudden sympathy for a person with leprosy, excitement over His disciple's success, grief over Jerusalem, and He cried out & worked Himself into a sweat of blood in Gethsemane.

(Go with this)Not to mention when He went "postal" and literally turned over tables in the Temple when it was turned into a market.

He didn't always sugar coat it either. In one of Peter's moments of denseness, Jesus yelled,

Clearly, He was not a Prozac Jesus, but a "real" human and emotional Jesus who felt and displayed emotions from A to Z. //

He was not political. What are the 2 subjects Ms. Manners tells us NEVER to bring up at social events? (Politics & religion). So I brought up politics in church!!

Here's a fact: The only time Jesus met with high ranking political officials His hands were tied and His back was covered with blood. Other than that He encountered political people as much he encountered prostitutes, tax collectors and anyone else.

Like I said earlier, this was a very intense time in history (very messed up) --- and there were a lot of political factions: Pharisees, Sadducees, Romans, Zealots & Essenes. We could very easily make the case that Jesus' world could have been radically shaped if the right political people were in the right places. I'm sure we could say the same thing right now.

He didn't choose politics to impact the world. He chose the church. He chose thick-headed apostles and goofy people like you and me.

Even though He could have, He never endorsed any political faction as more holy than another.

Jesus showed restraint with people. Or in other words He demonstrated a lot of respect for human freedom He didn't force people into things or keep them from things.

And towards the end of Jesus' life when the crowds and followers turned away from Jesus, He said to the 12: "You do not want to leave too, do you?" He didn't say, "stay!" He asked a questionHe gave the freedom to choose.

When we look through the Gospels we cannot find pictures of Jesus manipulating or strong-arming people to believe. He explains The Way. He exposes them to the Truth. But He doesn't force people to go somewhere they are not ready to go.

He didn't feel that He had to convert the entire world in His lifetimeor to cure or heal people that weren't ready to be cured or healed. He did not emotionally pressure people.

Jesus seemed to be ready to go many miles with a person, but only if they were ready and willing.

My personal take-away from this is that as important as eternity is if Jesus didn't force or strong-arm or manipulate people to grow, or accept Him, if Jesus respected their freedom and accepted God's timing; then shouldn't you and I? //

The next word and the one I think is the only word we can use to describe His whole life, emotions and actions: Paradox. (ppt)

Paradox means: "One who exhibits aspects that are contradicting or hard, if not impossible to explain."(ppt)

Jesus barely said anything about the Roman occupation, the main topic of Jews at that time, but He took a whip to drive out the profiteers in the Jewish temple.

He told people to obey the Law of Moses, but at the same time He gained a reputation as a law breaker.

His heart could go out to a stranger, but then turn with His harsh words of "get behind me Satan" to a close friend.

He held strong uncompromising opinions of loose women and rich mean, but He hung out with both.

One day miracles flowed out of Him, but the next day His power was blocked by a lack of faith.

One day He talked in detail about the second coming, but another day He knew not the day nor the hour.

His claims about being the Son of God kept Him in the center of controversy, but when He did miracles He usually told people to keep quiet about them.

He was powerful enough to yell at the wind to "be still!" but He did it out of sleeping because He was so tired.

I'm sure we all associate Jesus with miracles, but His first is something of a paradox:

When the wine ran out, at the urging of His mother, He told the servants to fill 6, 20-30 gallon jars with water. And He performed His first public miraclenot just turning it into wine, but turning it into GOOD wine!

Only a short time before, the same Jesus who would not turn stones into bread in the dessert at Satan's request, made 120-180 gallons of wine for a wedding reception!

As far as emergencies go, this situation was pretty far down the list! You and I wouldn't think a social faux pas like running out of wine was miracle-worthy. But He did. ///

One of the biggest paradoxes about Jesus, was that in Isaiah 9:6 He is called the "Prince of Peace." But Jesus said,

"Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I have come to bring strife and division!" Luke 12:51 nlt

Before Jesus came, the Jews were about keeping step with the Torah (Jewish Bible). And they were so into rules, they had God's law broken down into:

The Jews had already made these rules extreme--- For instance, to avoid taking the Lord's name in vane, they refused to say His name at all!

(My favorite) To avoid sexual temptation some Jewish leaders had a habit of lowering their head at all times--- they were known as "bleeding Pharisses" because they frequently bumped into walls!!

But when Jesus showed up on the scene, He made it even MORE extreme and divided when He said,

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill themFor I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:17-20

Jesus kind of said, "You want law? I'LL SHOW YOU LAW! Can you imagine seeing "bleeding Pharisees" walking around bumping into things, and now Jesus says, "You must be holier than THAT, to get into heaven!"

Look at the EXTREME of this statement by Jesus. In the first part He says, "I me- Vern from GreentownI'M the Messiah." The Jews freaked out right there! But then He kicks it up a notch and says,

"You want in heaven? Then the standard is perfectionYou can't do enough 'Law', you can't DO enough stuff to get there. It is only through me!

And that was too much for the Jews to buy. If what He said was true then the Pharisees & Jewish leaders were taking a serious demotion. It's like Jesus walked into Chrysler or Delphi and said to all the supervisors,

"There's a new way to do stuff. It's through meand I'm the only way it works now. The rest of the factory will go through me now."

The Romans leveled Jerusalem to the ground within a generation of Jesus. And when 1st century Jews saw that happen, very few Jews converted to Christianity. Some Jews began an anti-Jesus campaign against the Christians spreading rumors that Jesus was the illegitimate son of Mary and a Roman soldier & wrote a cruel parody of the Gospels.

A Messiah who dies at 33, a nation that goes downhill after His death and a world that grows more divided, not less is hard for a lot of people to swallow. The angels sang of "peace on earth" when He was born, yet it was definitely the great divide.

And it's easy for us to look at the Pharisees and the Jews who didn't believe and say,

"Man! How could they have rejected Him? How could they not believe who He was? How could they ignore who He was?

But those aren't questions to ask of people who lived thousands of years ago Those are questions that we still struggle with "How can I reject Him?How can I not believe who He was?How can I ignore who He was?(pause)

All of us at some point have to wrestle with those questionsBecause Jesus wasn't someone who WAS. Jesus is someone who IS.

And we know now Jesus is about restraintgiving us our freedomfreedom for us to come to terms with who He IS.

And I don't care if you missed 99% of what I said today --- because the most important thing about Jesus is the fact that He IS IS available to everyone---available to all of us, whether we're Jew, non-Jew, rich, poor, relational, non-relational, political, a-political, excited, calm, underdog or over-achiever.

I want you to know that He IS available to you no matter what's going on in your life. You don't have to be an expert on Jesusyou don't have to be a Bible scholaryou only have to know that He ISThat He IS available for you to know.

Right now the band is going to do a song. And our prayer is that during this song God will move in your heart that perhaps you'll feel a tug that is a little sign that He ISreal that He IS available to you.

And after that, together we're going to do a song that all of us ---believer or seekers, can sing and it simply says, "I want to know You...I want to know you more." I don't know where you are with Christ today---but if you'd like to be closer to Him than you are right now, then be open and sing this song today...But first let's listen.