WHO IS THIS JESUS?: PART ONE

Who is this Jesus? This God-man who so many have believed in, and so many others have followed, who is He? Where can one begin when attempting to write about this perfect man?

I believe the best place to start is in my heart, where my love for Him grows. And if I start there, then you will begin to see a picture of how Jesus is best represented to me personally. Sure, I could start rattling off hundreds of Bible verses, and leave Jesus on the pages of a book. But I think Jesus is in my heart far more present than He is on the pages of the Bible. I do not always act or live as though He is strongly entrenched in my heart, but that isn’t His fault.

Starting in my heart then naturally lends itself to a far less than perfect “theological” picture of Jesus. But it does lend itself to something I value more; an intimate portrait.

I have heard and read and seen enough of theologian’s descriptions of Jesus to last a lifetime. I need no more, and I am guessing you don’t either. So let me begin drawing this picture, and filling the lines and spaces with color.

For myself, I have always been in awe of Jesus’ power. When I speak of power, I am not speaking of “authority” in the sense that a theologian would. I am instead speaking of miracles.

Jesus is the miracle man to me, the man with the attesting signs, performing things this world has not seen before.

Picture it if you will; a young man spends his entire life blind, his parents are unable to heal him, or to bring him to anyone who can offer more than words of comfort. This young man will spend his life destitute, unable to earn a living in the ancient world. Furthermore, because of the religion he was raised within, he will be looked upon as the son of sin, a misfit in a “survival of the righteously fittest” nation. If he begs, he will be spat upon. If he cries out to God, he will be called a blasphemer, raging against God’s just judgment of he and His parents. In essence, he may as well be dead already.

In an instant, in a moment no one could have predicted, he is cast from the land of the dead into the land of the living, by a man named Jesus. This blind man has never even heard of this Jesus, how could he, for he cannot travel around Judea and Nazareth, so crippled he is by his handicap. He is not welcomed in most circles; people are either uncomfortable around him, or will not touch him, as if he is an unclean leper, this young man born blind. But this Jesus touches him. The blind man heard Jesus speak from the temple the other day, but did not know who shouted so clearly amidst the columns of the temple. He only knew a man had angered the rulers and lawyers, nothing more.

Can you imagine what this blind man must have felt at the touch of Jesus? Can you imagine the gentleness in that touch, of such a quality the blind man had never experienced before, save maybe from the hands of his mother? Can you feel him tremble as Jesus closes his fingers around the man’s face, and begins to whisper something softly, an encouragement, a command, maybe a prayer? Who can tell what Jesus whispers at the time, with all of the noise surrounding He who embraces the blind man now?

Picture God now, as you have never pictured Him before. Include the long flowing white beard, the stern face of Michelangelo’s God. Picture the wrath you have heard about, the love, the POWER, the absolute Everything that cannot be described capably with our language, EMBRACING this blind man. Bring everything you have ever known about God into this embrace, and witness the result, God’s answer to years of crying, suffering, anguish, and pain. Picture a mean God if you must, but can you continue to see a mean God in this embrace of love?

Jesus, God, locked into the soul of a blind man, touching him, ON A SABBATH! What does this blind man feel, as Jesus gives him sight? Can he feel electrical charges pulsing through his head? Can he hear humming, or a high pitched whistling? The gospel accounts are silent regarding the feeling or the sounds of the moment. We can only speculate. But we do not need to speculate about the result.

SIGHT!!

A man born blind can now see. God, the Great I AM, has touched a blind man, the least of all those amongst Him. He came to be amongst His creation, and if that is not enough, now He is face to face, touching, embracing, healing what no one else can. And who could bring God to account for walking away from this man without ever talking with him, touching him, healing him? Who amongst us could ever accuse God had He not performed this miracle?

The power of Jesus is the power of God. This is what was on earth with Jesus. The same power that created all which we see is that same power which gave sight to the young blind man, healed the cripple, made new the shriveled hand of another fellow, and raised the dead, at least three times, not including Himself. (I may have miscounted, but I will not go into my bible, and count the number of people He raised from the dead. If you wish, you may tell us the correct number in the comments section, all to the glorious portrait of God).

If the Gospels are to be believed, Jesus must have nearly wiped out disease in Israel. John says He did so many things, that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. In actuality, I see a bit of foreshadowing in those words, don’t you?

But imagine the power! “If you will not believe on the basis of my words, at least believe on the basis of My works”. And what works they were, are, and will be.

This Jesus, who is He? He’s the miracle man, to whom nothing is impossible, and if all the works He did while He was here are not enough proof, why, He’ll even raise Himself from the dead.

Imagine God amongst us. What kind of power will He display? Imagine the creator, now in flesh breathing upon a blind man. Can you make the stretch? Can your distant God come down to earth, and touch you?

His name is Jesus.