Getting to Know Jesus...really.

I am certain that I first met Jesus, at least the concept of Jesus, in a Sunday school class. From a young age, I knew about Jesus. I knew that Jesus was God’s son, that Jesus died on the cross, and that my sins were forgiven through Jesus (or at least could be). But my knowledge of Jesus was like my knowledge of flying in an airplane.

I knew about airplanes and where they came from (my dad worked for Boeing), and we could fly to different places. It wasn’t until the thrusters powered on and I sunk back into the airplane seat that I began to understand what it was like to fly in an airplane. Likewise, on the cool, rough concrete floor in a picnic shelter on the shore of Cultus Lake, BC was when I began to understand Jesus as my savior and my king. I may have met the concept of Jesus in Sunday school, but I met Jesus himself on the shore of a lake.

Before Christianity, there was Jesus—the historical, religious, and political figure known in sacred and non-sacred texts. For over two thousand years, people have been talking about Jesus, writing about Jesus, learning about Jesus, and teaching about Jesus. Who was Jesus, how did he live, how did he die?

People know much about Jesus. During the short 33 years between Jesus’ birth and death, he became known as a good moral teacher among the Hebrews. Today, many cultures and faiths still regard Jesus as a good moral teacher. The first-century appeal of Jesus was far-reaching, and crowds of Hebrews and non-Hebrews began following Jesus. Jesus’ followers formed an eclectic group; some were like Jesus, some were different from Jesus, Hebrew, non-Hebrew, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, powerful, and powerless. What was Jesus starting?

On the hillsides and lake shores of the Judean countryside, crowds formed around Jesus. Some thought of Jesus as a religious figure, a teacher, or even a Hebrew rabbi. Others saw Jesus only as a potential political ruler, a leader, or a king. Still, others followed Jesus because he gave them food, helped others who were poor, and healed those who were sick or lame. Some may have followed because Jesus treated everyone with dignity and respect—especially those cast aside by the majority culture. Jesus did not merely tolerate people; Jesus spoke and acted in love towards everyone (Matthew 8:14-16; Matthew 15:21-27).

Who was and is Jesus? Savior? King? Son of God? Prince of Peace? The Lamb of God? The Lion of Judah? Yes, yes, and yes. Yet, Jesus is more. Jesus is kind, merciful, caring, a healer, a prayer, patient, loving, generous, wise, strategic, tender-hearted, humorous, and righteous. If the main question we ask is, “How do I get to heaven?” We ask a good question, and for this question, Jesus needs to be our savior and king, propitiation for our sins and righteousness. But if we ask, “Who was the Jesus the disciples got to know?” Then, we must look into the stories, the journeys, the nights spent camping, the days spent traveling. We must look at what Jesus taught, how Jesus taught, and his actions—how Jesus treated everyone around him. The Jesus the disciples got to know over the course of three years is the Jesus they taught the early Christians.

In the years following Jesus’ death, Christians continued living out and mirroring the

teachings and actions of Jesus. The Church was a radical force within their culture. Women, children, infants, the enslaved, the disabled, the infirm, and foreigners were often overlooked in the dominant culture. They were discarded and, at times, considered and treated as less than human, but not by Christians. Christians lived within their surrounding culture but in a way that honored Jesus as their king. The worldview and approach to life found in the Christian Church testified to the life and freedom found only in Jesus. The living testimony of the early Church brought about constructive changes in the surrounding cultures and resulted in changed lives: the lives of those who surrendered to Jesus and the lives of those who did not.

When did you first learn about Jesus? When did you meet Jesus personally?

How does following Jesus affect your life? (Your actions, schedule, how you spend money, and how you spend time?)

From Chapter 3 of Revive: Leading Change-Igniting Movement by Jim Strecker