"Who Is This Jesus?"
By Amy Kidd
A carpenter that may have shaped your life.
Who is this Jesus? Is he merely a historical figure in history? Was he just a really good man or maybe a prophet? Not one man in history has made the impact that this man has. This carpenter shaped the face of history and therefore the path of many and the world we live in today.
He was born from a simple Jewish teenager named Mary and raised under the crafted hand of a peaceful carpenter. He studied the scriptures of the Old Testament and learned the word of God just as any mortal man. As a young boy he baffled scholars with his wisdom as he taught in the temple of Jerusalem at the age of only twelve!
He began His ministry while in his early thirties. He had no army and no revolutionary upheaval followed him. He chose 12 men, whom he called disciples, to walk the dusty roads of Israel with him. He chose these ordinary men to show us that he delights in using the meek, not those who think they have it all together. He carried nothing but the clothes on his back and a message of salvation. He healed the sick, but mostly the soul. He blessed all the children that approached him with their child like faith and summons us to do just the same.
He walked on the waters of the earth and calmed the storms with one command, not to show off his power, but to teach us to trust. He offered living water to a woman who could not seem to quench her thirst from the many husbands and men in her life she sought approval and love from so desperately. He pardoned the sin of an adulterous woman who had many accusers and in his mercy all he asked was that she go and sin no more.
He took what little the disciples had and turned it into a feast for the thousands that were hungry around him. He tenderly asked Martha to slow down and not be so concerned with all her preparations, not because he wanted her to pay attention, but because he wanted her to choose what was better. He created quite a scene as he turned over the tables in the temple, not in an uncontrolled temper, but out of holy anger as he watched the so-called “men of God” turn his Father’s house into a market place. He did this not to retaliate, but to redirect hearts who sought their fulfillment in the emptiness of monetary treasures on earth.
He knew what it was like to be alone as his disciples and friends abandoned him during his darkest hour. He was mocked and scorned not for any evil he had done, but because of who he claimed to be. He was spat upon, yelled at, whipped and chastised until muscles could be seen on his back, a crown of thorns was placed upon his brow and he was mutilated until unrecognizable as he carried the cross to Calvary .
He was dragged up the hill where his wrists and ankles were nailed with nine inch nails to a cross. Then they raised him up where he hung from only his flesh. It hurt to even breathe and yet he refused to take the wine offered to ease his pain. Even in the most horrible hours on that Friday he showed mercy to the thief by his side, comforted his mother knowing she was being tortured by his pain, and even begged the Father to forgive all those around him who “know not what they do.” As he breathed his last breath he proclaimed, “It is Finished!”
But what was finished? Was he referring to his time on earth or something much more? Whatever it was, it forced the skies to turn dark. The ground underneath the roman soldiers’ feet shook and trembled as he breathed his last. Something shifted in the earth and the temple filled with the law and legalistic Pharisees was split right down the middle.
They laid his body in a tomb, but within three days the stone was rolled away; a stone that would take several soldiers to move was rolled away and only two angels remained when Mary returned to the tomb. The angels inquired of Mary, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is risen!”
He was seen in the upper room among the disciples and along the shore of Galilee . He even walked and talked along the road of Emmaus and broke bread with some men who didn’t even recognize him. Many were with him the day he ascended into heaven and gave the commission for his believers to go into the entire world and preach the message of salvation for all who put their faith in him. He claimed to be the son of God, the salvation of the world, the one who would bring eternal life to those who believe in Him. He said he was the One Isaiah spoke of that would set the captives free.
This is Christmas, the celebration of Christ. Whether or not you acknowledge him this season is your choice, but without Christ there would be no Christmas, no Christian churches, no prayers in Jesus name, and certainly no security of salvation. He came to show us not what love is, but who love is. He doesn’t require that we have it all together; he wants us to come as we are and loves us with the full knowledge of all we are. This gospel is for the weak, the faint of heart, those who struggle with the human soul, who are driven to their knees and those who live with scars.
Who is this Jesus? Is he just a religious figure or is he the way, the truth and the life as he claimed to be? Everything in this life can be taken from you, but no one can ever take away your will to choose Christ. To this day, I think he is still posing the question as he did to Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” He stands at the door of your heart knocking. Who will you say that he is this season?
Copyright © December 5, 2006 – Amy Kidd. All rights reserved.
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