Essential Jesus
I find myself questioning some of my perceptions of who Jesus is. I feel that perhaps I have been carrying around some misconceptions. I sense it is time to put some of my understandings of who he is under the microscope of the Word of God. For me it is time to reexamine what the Bible says about Jesus. To reexamine his life, his actions, his words.
Who exactly is Jesus? I mean who is he really? Yes I can rattle off a lot of things about Jesus. I have read verses here and there and hear things about him at church. I have listened and sung songs about Christ. I learned about him as a kid. Perhaps I know him best factually and historically through religion and Christian doctrine. But really who is Jesus? As a Christ follower and believer perhaps I shouldn't even be asking this question. Shouldn't I already know? In one sense I do. I know he is the Son of God. I know he died to free me from my sins. I know he came back to life and lives. I know one day I will see him face to face. I know in one sense this is enough, but in another sense I want to know more. I really want to know who he is. The more I know him, the better I know Jesus, the better I know God, my creator, and the better I will know myself. I realize I will not in this present age know him perfectly, but I know there is an ocean between what I know now and knowing him perfectly. So ...
I will be journaling through 100 verses laid out in a book titled The Essential Jesus: 100 Readings Through the Bible's Greatest Story.. This book was written by the same guy, Whitney T. Kuniholm, who put together the E100 challenge. Here is how he starts the introduction in the book.
No matter what you think about Jesus, there's no denying he is the most influential person in all of human history. And what's truly amazing is that his path to influence was so unlikely.
Jesus never became a political, military or government leader; he never wanted to. He never owned a multinational corporation or acquired any wealth to speak of; he didn't need it. He never wrote a book, never staged a concert tour, never appeared on television and never had a radio talk show or even his own blog. He was born in a barn, grew up as a laborer, remained single and childless his entire life, and was executed at the age of thirty-three.
Yet somehow Jesus became the reference point for life ever since - we mark our calendars by his death. He has inspired some of the world's greatest art, literature, music and architecture. His ethical teachings have been hailed as the world's greatest - even by those who aren't his followers. He's been the subject of countless books, articles, television programs and movies. ... Not only that, the book that gives us the most information about him - the Bible - has sold more copies than any volume ever printed. What's so special about Jesus?"
Why has he had such an impact on the world? What is so special about him? I want to know him better?
Who is Jesus really?
Here are the posts corresponding to each of the 100 passage readings I have completed to date.