Over time, lies, lies, and more lies have come out regarding who Jesus Christ is and how He was like as a Man who walked the earth.
What really bothers me is when people form impressions about The Lord Jesus Christ that aren’t consistent to Bible history. These false impressions would usually portray Jesus as a weak, crying, and soft person who needs our pity, our cares and sympathy. The world portrays a Jesus who is needy and it brings more doubt (and confusion) on people who were already asking: “can this person really be the Saviour of the world?” Hope the image below is not all too familiar?
The danger to these lies are connected to the fact that Jesus Christ is the head of The Church and The Kingdom of God. He is the Supreme Ruler and He is second to none in all creation. It is very important for us to see Him for what He truly is because how we experience His love and how we revere His power depends totally on how we see His character.
When people see the inaccurate images and attempt to infer who Jesus Christ is, it comes to no surprise why some people seem to shut away The Man and His Word. I mean how can the sheep take confidence on a shepherd who can barely stand up for himself? Fortunately, these images do not portray the real Jesus Christ. They are mere products of artists and tradition that have no basis from actual history.
Just ask yourself, how would rough and burly fishermen (ie. Peter and Andrew) just leave their nets behind and follow Jesus without question? Why would a tax collector (ie. Matthew) leave his old life of power and comfort for a man he barely knows? Jesus Christ was more than what the media has portrayed Him to be over the centuries. A lot more.
We need to know more about Him because we need to know the truth about our Creator and our Saviour. After all, our souls are in the hands of this Man. Ultimately, we need to know who Jesus Christ is because we need to know whose blood is covering us. We need to know because His identity is also our identity (1 John 4:17).
As lost sheeps, we need to know our Shepherd.
As the bride, we need to know our Bridegroom.
As spiritual orphans, we need to know who our Father in Heaven is.
As lost, miserable sinners who have forfeited our lives, we need to know WHO saved us!
I want to know, who is this Man who died for me on the cross?!
So who really is this Jesus of Nazareth and how was He like here on earth?
The sections below are hand picked Bible incidents about Jesus Christ that reveals certain truths about His character. I particularly drew each trait out from the Bible to avoid as much bias I have for The Lord and of course, to remove any accusations that I am merely writing out of my own impressions. Below is a crude personality profile I have of The Christ. A full profile would be impossible, so for now, I will merely show that He is NOT a character made up of weakness and meekness but a person full of strength and majesty. A Person who is worthy of the title King of kings.
Observation #1: Jesus was one tough Dude
Jesus Christ was a Carpenter before He became an evangelist (Mark 6:3). Forget about the soft skinned, rosy cheek, nail polished image you have about Jesus Christ. This Man worked as a carpenter in a time when there were no power tools, no trucks, or any form of machinery. They didn’t even have air conditioning back then. Every work was carried out and done with their bare hands.
Cat o nine tails: The torture tool that ripped Jesus’ back to shreds
Even up to now, I still can’t imagine anyone who can survive the ‘cat o’ nine tails’ and still carry a splintered log on His torn and shredded back up a mountain (while being kicked and smacked around by the Roman soldiers). By that time, any weaker chap would have gone into shock from the pain and the blood loss. So, next time you think of Jesus, you can imagine a guy who has spent decades carrying construction materials under the hot sun; someone who can confront the market crowd and topple over shops of the money changers and traders (Matthew 21:12).
Observation #2: Jesus was full of majesty
Being the tough and resilient man that He is, The Lord Jesus did not use His physical stature recklessly. Jesus Christ dealt with people through His love and His unspoken air of authority. For the most part, the uncontainable majesty of The Lord can’t be concealed by the flesh that it just flowed out of Him effortlessly leaving people awed at His very presence.
The guards couldn’t arrest Him and their excuse was: “No one speaks the way this man does.” (John 7:46)
When the guards came with Judas Iscariot, Jesus didn’t run away in fear; instead, He came forward and presented Himself. At this revelation, the guards who came to arrest Him (in awe and panic) fell at His feet (John 18:6).
At Jesus’ very presence, even the most powerful demon in the city fell at Jesus’ feet to beg for its life. (Matthew 8:31)
I strongly believe that when we encounter The Lord Jesus Christ, a fraction of His majesty alone would leave us no choice but to bow down our knees and worship Him. It’s no different from what John the beloved went through when he witnessed The Risen Christ.
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if I were dead. -Revelations 1:17
Forget about the images you’ve seen of the weak Jesus Christ who needs our care and prayers. We pray to Him and worship Him because it is our greatest honor to do so! Jesus Christ is heaven’s best. There is no way we can do anything for Him.
The real Jesus Christ rules with an iron rod, not with a Barbie doll in His hand (Psalms 2:9, emphasis mine, obviously). Now, when I am a sheep being hunted down by wolves, this is the very Jesus I want to protect me! When I am flooded by life’s storms and waves, the very Jesus I want is the Jesus who would hug me, face the storm and tell it to shut up! With this Jesus in the Bible, it is not a surprise why no demon or devil would dare mess with you ever again.
Jesus Christ is the epitome of the loving Shepherd who can drive away any wolf or devourer from His beloved sheep. Knowing this truth will give us ultimate security and confidence that when you are under the wings of Jesus Christ, nothing can harm you! (Romans 8:31)
Jesus Christ
This is the kind of Man Whose very presence drives demons away.
This is the kind of Man Who is loving you and me despite our sins.
This is the Man Who worthy to go up the cross and die for you and for me.
This is The Man we call KING.
Power and Majesty wrapped up by His love for us, this is the real Jesus Christ of The Bible.
It is the greatest honor of my life to call Him, LORD.
* Image taken from Google Images [Edited]