Who is Jesus? #148

Ten Things You Must Know About Jesus

His Simplicity

From beginning to end Jesus was an example of simplicity rather than glamour and extravagance. Being born in a stable is pretty simple. Not having a place to lay your head at night – again, simple. Though He was killed in a very public way, He was buried very simply in a borrowed tomb.

Though people provided some difficulty for Him, His ministry was pretty straight forward. If they are sick, heal them. If they are dead, raise them. If they are possessed, free them. If they are ignorant, teach them.

When He commissioned the twelve to go preach (Matthew 10), He gave them simple instructions; don't take a lot of stuff, stay where you are welcome, perform miracles, preach the Kingdom.

Religion at the time had become pretty involved and somewhat complicated. According to traditions even the simple task of washing hands had become quite a ceremony. A Jew had better know all of the ins and outs of keeping the Sabbath or he might find himself in violation.

Well before the time of Jesus I recall the story of Naaman who thought there would be some sensational exhibition by Elisha the prophet that would result in his leprosy being healed when all he needed to do was simply dip himself seven times in the Jordan River.

I'm wondering if the traditions of man, somewhat involved traditions, are the very things that have turned people away from religion. It seems that a lot of high-church ceremony is exactly the thing that becomes a road block, if not a stumbling block, for many.

The religious leaders were trying to make some kind of complicated and contorted mess out of Jesus making a blind man receive his sight. It takes all of John 9 to tell the whole story. The now seeing man summed it all up very simply, "I was blind, and now I see."

Let’s not complicate what is so simple. We toss words into the mix like theology, ecclesiology, missional, eschatology, substitutionary, and people wonder what we are talking about.

Doesn’t it really all come done to this? You’re lost. Jesus saves. Let me tell you about it.

Give me Jesus. Give me Jesus. You can have all this world, just give me Jesus.