Who is Jesus, pt 2

This is a follow up to yesterday’s post (two in a row…woohoo!).

So, I realize that if you are a Christian who is part of the church in the US, you probably fit into one of three categories in regards to what I posted yesterday:

1. You know exactly what I’m talking about. Most likely you have experienced it first hand and are able to recognize it. Perhaps you are familiar with people who have been talking or writing about the issue (there are several).

2. You are intrigued. You’re not quite sure you buy it, but for some reason it piques your interest.

3. You really have no idea what I’m talking about. You either feel completely lost as to what my point is, or else you think it is way off-base.

For the record my story goes in the following order: 3, 2, 1. This has been my personal experience, and I have conversations almost weekly with people who have grown up in the church and struggle with who Jesus is.

I have been at every stage, and for the record this is NOT a commentary on “who are the ‘real Christians’”. I do hope that everyone who considers themselves a Christian will be able to eventually recognize what I’m writing about, but if it doesn’t make sense at this point, that’s okay. In all honesty these posts are written for people who find themselves at #2.

The struggle is to keep these posts short and still make sense of it all. Also, I hope to ask questions that might challenge us to be more open to the work of the Spirit of God in our lives, questions that might lead to God opening our eyes a little wider to see more of who He is. I want to ask questions more than give answers, but if you want to know something, just ask.

That being said, the short thought for today has to do with the Life of Jesus. At one point in my journey I openly said to myself: “why Jesus? Jesus doesn’t make sense.” Recently I was conversing with someone (a Christian)who said the exact same thing, and that is what prompted me to write.

There are a few things all Christians can tell you about Jesus:

1. He was born of a virgin, Mary

2. He died on the cross for our sins

These two factoids can be found in most church’s/ministry’s Statements of Faith (aka “what we believe”), and we teach them to our children first thing. They are true and they are important (especially the second one, hallelujah!), but they say nothing about the Life of Jesus; what happened between (pardon the phrase) the cradle and the grave.

Think about it for a minute, what was the “point” of the Life Jesus lived? Did He do everything He did for the singular purpose of proving Himself to be the Son of God? Why are there so many interactions with people recorded in the gospels?

For many, it is hard to have a meaningful conversation about the Life of Jesus. Even with “mature,” knowledgeable Christians, it is easier to discus Romans and Galatians, and theological issues like predestination and eternal security, than it is to discuss the Life of Jesus. This might say something about how we think about “maturity” as a Christians within the church, but that’s for another post.