This longer-than-I-expected series continues with a study of Christ’s persona. John the Baptist proved tough as the diamond in the rough he seemed to be. Yet his adamantine nature seemed but a single stone unearthed in Israel when Jesus of Nazareth appeared as an entire mine full of brilliant diamonds coalesced into ONE immovable, impenetrable, unconquerable TREASURE!
Consider a few of many ways this remarkably forceful man impressed people. First, he allowed only himself the right to determine his ministry. See Mark 2:1-12 for an example. - Petitioners came wanting healing - Jesus instead forgave the cripple’s sin - Religious bureaucrats fumed at the pronouncement - Jesus removed the cripple’s paralysis to prove he HAD forgiven his sin See Mark 3:1-6 for another. - Enemies glared, daring him to heal on the Sabbath - Defying their hatred, he did See Mark 3:20-21, 31-35 - Concerned with his sanity, his family came to take him home: treating the 30-something Jesus as a mental incompetent - Unable to access him personally, they sent word person by person to him in the house - Back came his scorching rebuttal exploding in their faces Mark 8:27-33 - The disciples scaled spiritual heights by declaring Jesus God’s Christ - Not until then, but regularly after, Jesus began to teach them his rejection, death and resurrection - They in concert agreed that Simon, who had been their spokesman earlier, should correct his mistaken view of what being Christ meant - He tried: when Jesus saw that all of them agreed to correct him, he called Simon a satan and (perhaps) pointed to the rest as accomplices in his sin See Luke 19:1-10 - A stubby man took extreme measures to get a personal look at Jesus - As the only person Jesus saw anxious enough to see him that he climbed a tree, he invited himself to lunch, the only time we know he took that initiative - Which elicited blistering criticism from the attending crowd - To them, Zacchaeus proved the one person in Jericho unfit to host Jesus - Which proved their lack of spiritual savvy; Jesus saw a son of Abraham under that flab The point of these illustrations from scripture is Christ’s refusal to let either friend or foe dictate what he did, said or planned. Skeptics, take note: Jesus isn’t impressed by your unbelief. Superficial Christians, take note: you can never understand Jesus by standing so far away. Only bird-dog disciples qualify to understand, those always pointing directly at him. Only they can hope to even come close to appreciating his iron-willed forcefulness. End Part VIII
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