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Jesus: Actually
We talk a lot about Jesus in the church. He constantly comes up in the songs we sing, the prayers we pray, and in our regular conversations. But who was Jesus, really? What made this carpenter from Galilee the most influential and controversial figure in all of human history? Join us as we dig into who Jesus the man was…and why we follow him as Jesus the King.

Jesus as Radical

Responses to the Red Letters:

Here are some positive responses:
1. The crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers – Mt 5:28
2. The crowds were astounded at his teaching. – Mt 22:33
3. The crowd listened to him with great delight. – Mk 12:37 3
4. Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. – Lk 4:22
5. Then many who heard him say these things believed in him. – Jn 8:30

Here are some questionable responses:
6. Then the disciples asked Jesus, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?” – Mt 15:12
7. When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him. Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?” Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! – Jn 10:19-21

Here are some responses on the other extreme:
8. Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. – Mk 14:63
9. When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff. – Lk 4:28
10. The people retorted, “You Samaritan devil! Didn’t we say all along that you were possessed by a demon?” – Jn 8:48
11. At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. – Jn 8:59
12. Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. – Jn 10:31

As you can see from the responses, they give us insight into how radical and controversial Jesus’ teachings were. Many of them were hard to swallow.

Because we are mere humans, it is illogical to trust our logic.

Jesus’ teachings remind us again and again how counter-intuitive God’s ways are.

Do you know the problem with anything that is counter-intuitive?
It means you can’t trust your intuition.

We have to continually read God’s Word to find where our logic and intuition fail.

Bible for Dummies: A suggested order for reading the Bible
- Luke, Acts, Paul’s Letters
- John, John’s Letters, Revelation
- Mark, Peter’s Letters, James, Jude
- Matthew, Hebrews
- Old Testament
- Repeat often

God’s first covenant with the Hebrew people was all about what we, as humans, need to do to make ourselves right with God.
The Old Covenant is about following rules and what to do when rules are broken.
In a real sense, the Old Testament is what most of us are looking for. We just want steps to follow in order to be right with God.
We want to be able to check down a list of rules and feel good about our great standing with God.
We also want to know exactly how far we can sin and God still be okay with us.
But what we find by reading the Old Testament is that we, as humans, are not capable of checking all the right boxes to reach God’s level of holiness. We try because it makes us feel good about ourselves as we check off more boxes than the person sitting next to us, but we eventually realize we still haven’t checked off enough boxes…and we never will.

And then Jesus says the most radical statements of all. Over and over again, Jesus tells us now that He has made us right with God…now that God loves us and we love Him…we must live that out by loving others:our neighbors, our enemies, and the least of these.

More Radical Statements
1. Think I’m taking it too far? Remember the sheep and the goats? George talked about them a few weeks ago.
Jesus says the only difference between whether you are right with God or not is how many Bible studies you’ve attended. Wait! That isn’t what Jesus said. It was solely based on whether you prayed before every meal. No. The only difference between whether you are a sheep or a goat is whether you loved the least of these.
2. Still think I’m taking it too far? How about when the rich man asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, and Jesus told him to sell everything and give the money to the poor. We’re so selfish we can’t get beyond the first part about selling everything, but I don’t think that was Jesus point. His point was love other people with everything you have.
3. Or how about what happens when you are bringing your offering to God to show how much you love Him, and you remember you have wronged someone else. Does Jesus say to make yourself right with God and then go make yourself right with the other person? No. Just the opposite. Can you imagine how radical that sounded to people who walked for 30 miles to bring their offering and were now told they needed to walk back and make amends with their neighbor before returning to give their offering?
Do you still think I’m taking it too far?
4. Remember the new commandment Jesus gave his disciples before he was crucified? All 613 commandments had been handed down by God through Moses, and now Jesus has the audacity to create a new one. Who does he think he is? God?