Daniel N. Lee

Who is Jesus?

This question is one of, if not the pivotal question. Who is Jesus? Was he just a teacher, a healer, a miracle worker? Was he a made-up character? Was he just a founder of a new religion like Muhammad, Siddhartha, or Joseph Smith? Or was he really the Son of God?

This is the ultimate question. The answer you give to this question is number one most important answer. This answer has complete bearing on the entire course of your life.

Who is Jesus?

This is a question that people have been trying to answer since the time a little baby was born in a manger in Bethlehem. People are still asking it and wrestling with it today. And Mark was especially interested in answering this question for his readers.

In Mark 3, we see an interesting attempt at some religious leaders to answer this very question. Who is Jesus? Well, obviously he must be a servant of Satan. (o.O)

You see, Jesus had been going around healing people and casting out demons. He was single-handedly overthrowing the powers of darkness and evil. The answer to their question is so glaringly obvious, but it’s not an answer they like.

For them to admit that he was casting out demons by the power of God meant that they would allow for him to be considered one of God’s holy servants. Only those in good standing with God could receive this kind of power through him (think Moses and the Prophets who also did miraculous signs). And if this is the case – if Jesus is in good standing and is blessed by God – then his teachings were legitimized. And these were not teachings that the religious leaders liked.

So for them to admit that Jesus was doing these things by the power of God would be to concede defeat and forfeit their pomp, pride, and prestige. And who wants to do that?

So keep in mind that these religious leaders are calling Jesus a servant of Satan (o.O) But earlier in that same chapter, we see demons acknowledging him as the Son of God! (Mark 3:11-12)

Jesus knows what their saying, so in response he quotes Abraham Lincoln, “A nations divided against itself cannot stand.” (Just kidding, Abe quoted Jesus here, but Shhh…don’t tell the government). Jesus is using a parable to point out the absurdity of their claim. Satan is not waging war on himself. This is a full frontal attack on Satan by the armies of heaven, with Jesus as the general leading the charge.

Then he says something that gets a lot of Christians all wound up and anxious, “I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. He is guilty of an eternal sin.” Just a brief note about this – 1)If you are a Christian, you have no reason to worry about this. Pay attention to that first part about forgiveness. 2)This is an ongoing blaspheme. Whoever continually denies the saving power of the Holy Spirit at work in the world without ever repenting.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite teachings from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity:

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would be either a lunatic – on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would the the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

Last Sunday we talked about Jesus’ disciples. We talked about the process of becoming a disciple (as seen in the video below), and we talked about the little we know of some of the disciples. We really only know a little bit about 7 of the 12. But one thing we know about all of them was that they weren’t good enough to become any disciples of any other rabbi. They were average Joe’s, if not a little below average in some cases!

What really sticks out to me about this particular passage is that Mark gives a slightly different job description than Matthew and Luke. Mark says that Jesus called these 12 guys to him so that they might 1) Be with him, 2) Be sent out to preach, and 3) Have authority to drive out demons. Matthew and Luke do not include 1 and 2. It’s almost as if Mark has a more universal view of discipleship. Not everyone has the power to drive out demons or to heal diseases (Matthew 10:1), but everyone can have the chance to be with Jesus and to go out and preach.

Be with Jesus
We all have different categories of relationships. Not everybody can really be considered a “friend” (sorry, Facebook). There are strangers, acquaintances, co-workers, friends, good friends, best friends, mentors, teachers, students, family, extended family, spouse, child, parent…the list goes on. This is just how our brains handle all the different types of people we interact with.

The relationship between disciple and rabbi was a truly unique one. When it says they would be with Jesus, this supersedes practically every other relationship. We see sons leaving their parents, employees leaving their employers, husbands separating from their wives for a time – just to be with their rabbi. And they would be with him nearly 24/7 for however long they were discipled to him.

How many of us can say that we are truly WITH Jesus? Does he get 24/7 access to your life or do you just lump him into one of the other categories mentioned above? We sing the songs “I’ll Be a Friend to Jesus,” and “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” Well, what kind of friend? A good friend? A best friend? A Facebook friend? Being a friend and being a disciple are two completely different things.

Be Sent Out to Preach
But preaching is what that one guy does for that thirty minutes on Sunday mornings. I’m no preacher.

News Flash: If you’re a disciple, you are a preacher. Preaching comes with the territory. It’s a two-fer-one deal. No, not everybody is supposed to get up on Sunday mornings and deliver a thirty minute sermon. But preaching is so much more than that. The preaching that Jesus and his disciples did was simply proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15).

As his disciple, we are expected to carry on Jesus’ message – God is establishing his kingdom on earth, and this movement is for everybody! God loves everybody! God wants to save everybody! We don’t have to live with guilt and regret over past sins and screw-ups because Jesus took all that to the cross. His blood has wiped all that away! That’s good news. Preach it wherever you are and however you can.

Have Authority to Drive Out Demons
This one is a little more tricky. This was a very specific ability granted to these apostles. Jesus came to wage war on the powers of Satan. Releasing people from these evil forces was a central component to the ushering in of God’s Kingdom (see Mark 3:23-27).

No, I don’t think demons posses people today like they did in Jesus’ day. Satan is fighting a losing battle, and he knows that God has already won the war. But as Jesus’ disciples, we are still given the authority and power to battle against the powers of evil wherever we encounter them (Ephesians 6:10-18).

True Discipleship
I think we all need to do a better job of learning what it means to be Jesus’ disciple. It’s far more than just showing up to church once or twice a week. Do you really know Jesus? Are you really WITH him, or are you okay with just an arm’s-length friendship?

Check out this video if you have the time:

I love religion. Religion fascinates me. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and a bunch of other -isms… they’re all intriguing to me. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a culture throughout history that was not at least somewhat religious. Mankind has set out to find God from the very beginning. In fact, archaeologists have recently discovered a 12,000 year old temple! This means that religion – not agriculture – could be the reason for the beginning of civilizations. People came together for religious rituals long before they came together to farm, buy, sell, or trade.

And we like religion. We like religion because it means we are in control. If we say the right prayers, offer the right sacrifices, and observe the right rituals, then the gods owe us their good favor. If we choose not to do these certain things, or if we break certain laws, then we are sure to receive the wrath and punishment from whatever god we angered.

It’s a very simple, straightforward system. If you do (X) and avoid (Y), you will be blessed. If you do not do (X) or if you do (Y), then you will be cursed. All the power is in our hands. Can you imagine having that much control over your eternal destiny?

But in this system, there is no room for grace (getting the blessings you don’t deserve) or mercy (not getting the punishments you do deserve). It’s all up to you, but if you mess up, you are still on your own.

This is seen clearly in two back-to-back encounters that Jesus has with the Pharisees in the book of Mark. At the end of chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3, we see Jesus and the Pharisees at odds over the observance of the Sabbath day.

Observing the Sabbath day and keeping it holy is one of the Ten Commandments… so it’s kind of a big deal. God wanted his people to rest on the 7th day of the week – just like he did in Genesis 2. God worked on 6 days, rested on the 7th. Six days on, one day off. It gave life a rhythm of sorts. 6 and 1, 6 and 1, 6 and 1. It was a day to rest, to take a break, to re-energize, to reconnect with God and creation. It was a GIFT of REST! A rest that I and any new parent out there desperately needs.

But the Pharisees, because of their religion, had taken a gift and turned it into a burden. They created a list of do’s and don’ts concerning the Sabbath day…and it was a ridiculous list.

Then Jesus comes along and refuses to buy into their interpretation, their understanding of what the Sabbath was about. He and his disciples had no food – so they picked grain on the Sabbath. There was a man with a withered hand – so Jesus healed him on the Sabbath. The Pharisees had completely lost sight of the original intent of the Sabbath – to restore, to heal, to refresh – that they even prohibited to act of doing good on God’s holy day!

Religion had become more important than people. Rules were more important than healing. But Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

Think about all the things we get so legalistic about – church attendance, worship, doctrines, etc. And then fill in the blank: “____(X)___ was made for man, not man for ____(X)____.”

Not that those things aren’t important. But if we place the emphasis on anything but the gospel – the good news – that Jesus has come to bring something completely different, then we have missed the point completely.

This is a pretty popular video, but give it a look again. I think he’s speaking the same message that Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees.

Have you ever stopped to think about the kind of people you go to church with? For the most part, I would guess that your fellow church members are pretty good people. They aren’t murderers, thieves, or rapists. The vast majority would be well behaved, upstanding citizens. You probably feel safe with the people at your church.

But what about the people who first followed Jesus? In Mark 2:13-17 we see Jesus calling another disciple. He has already called 4 guys, two sets of brothers who were fishermen. These were your blue collar, time-card punching, guys whose language was only slightly less foul than their body odor after a long day on the lake. Not your typical suit and tie, third row center church goers. And now he calls a guy named Levi.

When thinking about the people in your church, I doubt any of them are murderers or thieves. But is there anyone who would be considered a traitor to your country? No?

Levi was a tax collector. Strike one! We don’t like for people to take our money and give it to others without our say so. Levi probably took more than he should have. Strike two! Tax collectors could with full authority take more than was necessary and pocket their profits. Levi worked for the Romans. Strike three!

There are not words appropriate for this blog to describe how orthodox Jews felt towards tax collectors. In fact, they had their own category. There were “sinners” and then there were “tax collectors.” Traitor! Thief! Hypocrite! Backstabber!

And along comes Jesus, this traveling rabbi, healer, and general holy man. He passes by Levi’s table (probably passing a long line of disgruntled citizens along the way) and says, “Follow me.” Really Jesus?

Levi immediately got up, flipped over his “Closed” sign, and went to lunch with Jesus. And then as they were going to lunch, Levi calls up all his tax collector buddies and all his friends from the local tavern and brothel while he’s at it. This is not the kind of luncheon your parents would want you going to.

Unfortunately, far too many “Christians” take the attitude of the Pharisees in this instance: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

We have an image to uphold.

Don’t you know those people are just going to take advantage of you?

Sure they are repenting now, but they’ll be right back to it in a couple weeks.

We should take care of our own first before reaching out to “those people”.

I’m not comfortable around that person.

Someone else can minister to them.

They got themselves into that situation. They deserve whatever they get.

Two thoughts: 1) Last time I checked, following Christ is not about being “safe” or “comfortable.” Jesus was never concerned about PR or his “image” except the image of God that he was reflecting – the image of a loving, forgiving, compassionate God who wants to save everybody! 2) Last time I checked, none of us is safe. We are all broken, messed up people who continually sin and fall short of God’s glory. We all deserve God’s wrath, but he chose instead to take that wrath upon himself so that we might experience his grace.

Jesus said in response: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Followers of Christ should follow Christ’s mission. If we aren’t reaching the people Jesus reached, then maybe we’re not really his followers.

Leprosy is and has always been a terrible disease. Today it can be treated with a series of antibiotics. We know the cause, we know the treatments, and we know that it is not nearly as contagious as was feared until somewhat recently. Unfortunately, there are still many people in the world who contract leprosy and are unable to gain access to the necessary treatments. And this is the result:

One of the main symptoms of leprosy is the loss of sensation in the hands and feet. Nerve endings in the skin become numb to all sensations – including pain. Thus, a scratch, prick, or burn can go unnoticed for quite some time – which leads to infection. If these infections go untreated, which is as likely in undeveloped nations today as it was in ancient Israel, then fingers, toes, and entire limbs may need to be amputated. The untreated disease will eventually cause the infected person a slow, miserable death as his organs gradually succumb to infection and shut down.

Under the Law of Moses, persons with such skin infections were commanded to be cut off from the rest of society. They were ceremonially unclean and were forced to live alone outside the city (Leviticus 13:45-46). There was no hope. There was nothing anyone could do.

Until Jesus of Nazareth came along, healing people and driving out demons.

In Mark 1:40, a man with leprosy came to Jesus. A leper was forbidden to approach those who were clean under penalty of death. In fact, they had to yell out, “Unclean!” so that people could keep their distance. This man approached Jesus unannounced – risking death.

We don’t know much about this man. But can you imagine? He might have had to leave his wife and children without ever getting to hug them and kiss them good-bye. He couldn’t work. He had no social life. He was cut off from the synagogue, so he couldn’t even worship God or go to the Temple to offer sacrifices. He might not have felt the touch of another human being in years! He was probably disfigured, unable to stand straight. Missing a few fingers and toes. Oozing, bleeding sores all over his body.

This really was his one last shot.

“If you are willing, you can make me clean.” What faith! He had never met Jesus. Up to this point Jesus had never healed anyone with leprosy. But this man knew without a doubt that Jesus was his one chance. He had full confidence that Jesus could heal him. The only question was – would He? Would Jesus dare get involved with this guy?

Jesus is willing. He says the words, “Be clean,” and the leprosy immediately left the man. That would be an awesome end to the story right there. Except we’re given this detail: Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man.

Jesus does the unthinkable. He touches a leper! That was considered a death sentence in His day. Anyone who touched something/someone unclean became themselves unclean. Why would he do that? There are other times when he heals lepers just by saying the word – no physical contact needed (Luke 17:11-14).

This is just the first time we see Jesus do this throughout Mark’s gospel. He meets peoples’ needs – not just their physical needs but their spiritual and emotional needs, too. Jesus could have just said the words and this man would have been healed. But this man needed more. He needed the loving contact of another human being. Jesus’ touch was a touch of compassion and love. There is power in human touch beyond that of Jesus’ physical healing. This was an emotional healing, too.

Jesus touched the untouchable. He took this man’s uncleanness upon Himself. He leveled the playing field and came down to that man’s level. That’s what this man needed. And it’s what you and I need on a daily basis.

The gospel of Mark is definitely in my top 4 books about Jesus. Get it?

But seriously, Mark is such an interesting take on Jesus’ life. From the very beginning we see Jesus going, doing, teaching, healing, driving out demons, and gathering a massive following. Mark loves the word “immediately.” It’s just one thing after another.

To the Roman reader, this would have been business as usual. Romans were pretty much workaholics. Sun up to sun down, seven days a week, except for certain holidays and festivals. Time off was rare. If you didn’t work, you didn’t eat. It was dog-eat-dog. So it makes sense why Mark would portray Jesus as a man of action. Always on the go. Always with things to do, places to go, and people to see. A fully booked schedule.

And it’s right in the middle of it all that we see Jesus doing something out of the ordinary. He took time to REST. Not just sleeping in on a Saturday or lounging on the couch watching football all afternoon kind of rest. But this was a truly rejuvenating rest. It was a chance for him to escape the crowds and focus on the one relationship that really matters – his relationship with God.

Mark tells us that Jesus went out early in the morning even before the sun came up. He found a solitary place and prayed. He disconnected. He unplugged. He logged off. He silenced all the distractions around him and focused.

How many of us need that today? Across the board, Americans are the most overworked people of all the developed nations. We work the longest days with the least time off. Add to that the constant beeping, buzzing, and dinging of our devices trying to pull our already stretched attention in just one more direction. We have to drop everything we’re doing and respond to that text, that email, that phone call. Because if we don’t, others will think they aren’t important to you! We feel guilty for ignoring someone who isn’t even taking the time to talk with you in person.

With all our busy-ness, our relationships are suffering. Family and friends are placed second to work, and God is LUCKY if he gets a whole hour out of an entire week!

Things haven’t changed much since Jesus’ day. This is evident in the words of Jesus’ disciples when they finally track him down (How did they ever survive without cell phones?). When they find him, they are upset that he has been ignoring them and everyone else: “Everyone is looking for you!”

It’s so easy for us to feel guilty for wanting to take some time to ourselves. But if Jesus needed that time, then how much more do we?!

Take a deep breath, and then press the power button. Close your “Windows,” log off, sign out, and unplug. But not just for yourself. Do this so that you can connect to God, be plugged in to His Spirit, and zoom in on His Word.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640

Welcome to the beautiful Judean Wilderness! It stretches for many miles out from the Dead Sea. There is little to no vegetation – a few small plants are all you see in this picture. And this desert is not covered in sand – it’s covered in rocks. Not boulders, but not exactly pebbles. The ground is littered with rocks about the size of a loaf of bread. Just big enough to twist your ankle if you are not careful.

This desolate wasteland is where David fled on multiple occasions. On one such getaway, David and his army are on the run from David’s own son, Absalom, whose name ironically means “Father of Peace.” Absalom had politicked his way to the top, going behind his father’s back to gain a following in Israel. After four years, Absalom amassed an army, marched into Jerusalem, and usurped his father’s throne. David and his armies escaped just in time, and fled to the Judean wilderness, along the Jordan River just north of the Dead Sea.

And it’s here in this wasteland, on the run, in hiding from his own son, fearing for his life, and suffering from dehydration, he pens the words of Psalm 63:

O God, how awesome it is to call you
My God!
Though I have you, I want more
Though you are mine already, I will pursue you
Even to the ends of the earth
My soul is parched
My body aches
As I wander through this spiritual wasteland
And only you can satisfy
I have a disease and the only cure is not more cowbell
It’s more you.

I have witnessed your presence in my worship
I have seen your power and glory at work around me
And I long to see it again
Nothing but praise will pour from my lips
Because your amazing, unfailing, all-consuming love
Is better than life itself!
You’ve got me for life
To you alone will I give praise
To you alone will I lift my hands
Because you are all I need
You satisfy my soul more than a Thanksgiving turkey or a Christmas ham
I will sing to you at the top of my lungs
And I don’t care who hears

I lay awake at night and can’t shut my brain off
Because you are all I think about
You alone are my helper, my guide, and my protector
Even under the shadow of your wings I will keep on singing
My soul clings to you like a child to his mother
On the first day of kindergarten
And I feel safe with you like a child in his father’s arms
In a room full of strangers

There are those who want to see me fail
Those who have set themselves against me
Just because of what I believe
But I know their end already
We’ll see who has the last laugh

As for me, I will praise God regardless
Everyone who claims the name of God will shout Hallelujah!
But skeptics and liars will be silenced

I’ve been reading through the story of David. His life is an amazing testament of what kind of great feats men can accomplish under God’s power. And as a man, it got me thinking about what it really means to be a Man of God.

I first heard this song on a CD by the group Turning Point. You can hear their version here. But this is the original song with a touching music video. I hope it impacts you as much as it has me.

Anyway, by Brad Reynolds