Chapter 1
Who is Jesus to You? Who are you to Jesus?
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While I was born and raised in a family that regularly went to church, read the Bible, and identified as Christian, in some ways I wasn’t so different from the non-religious folks around me. The similarity I am thinking about has to do with what I could see, or more accurately, not see about Jesus and consequently, about myself.
Not really seeing Jesus
The inability to see the truth about Jesus is a serious problem with dangerous consequences. Paul wrote,
In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:3–6)
I now see my younger self as like so many others because when I thought about Jesus, my mind was filled with the same muddled, insubstantial, and largely irrelevant ideas.
Here are some examples:
Jesus is one of those religious figures people strive to build their lives around, like the Buddha, Confucius, or the prophet Muhammad.
Jesus is one of the many mythical figures from ancient civilizations that still inspire people to attempt to live better lives and be better people.
Or finally, Jesus is a long way away, up in heaven, hanging out with God the Father, the angels, and all the good people who have died and are now with Him in heaven.
However, I now believe these ideas about Jesus were distortions at best and lies at worst. As Paul claimed, these pictures of Jesus resulted from the “work of the god of this world to blind our minds” to keep me from seeing the truth about Jesus.
Beginning to see Jesus
All of this began to change for me when I met George. George was leading a bible college program for young leaders. A fundamental change in how I saw Jesus started with a class he taught on the Gospel of Mark. George had us read the text carefully then outline the whole book by writing key words or phrases for each paragraph and then memorize them.
The objective of the exercise was for us to see the main flow of the narrative through Mark’s gospel and commit it to memory. The unexpected consequence was that for the first time, I read the gospel narrative so closely that I found myself drawn in the story.
I could visualize Jesus with the disciples, talking, eating, and walking with them. I saw them with Him when He taught and when the power of God opened blind eyes, straightened crippled bodies, and released people from demonic powers. My heart ached with a yearning to be with Jesus just like they had been, but I knew that wasn’t possible. I could never repeat their experience with the living Jesus in my life today no matter how much I longed for it. He was no longer here on the earth like He had been with them.
In John’s gospel, I read what is often called Jesus’ high priestly prayer. In this prayer, Jesus prayed for the first disciples who walked and lived with Him. It made me feel such anguish and jealousy when I thought about their privileged lives, a life that seemed denied to me. In His prayer, Jesus said,
I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me [this is about the first disciples who knew Him in their physical world] … Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me… As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. (John 17:6-8,18)
And then I discovered I hadn’t missed out just because I was born two thousand years too late. As I read further, I realized that Jesus was also talking to the Father about people other than the first disciples; He had prayed for me, too.
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20,23)
It was like a light clicked on. I began to “see for myself.” I could now see myself as one who believed in Jesus through the first disciples preaching of the gospel. The unbroken chain of their good news had reached down through the generations to me.
Moreover, I discovered the Jesus who died for me and now reigns from heaven as King and Lord was also living in me. He was right here with me just like He had been with the first disciples. Paul said,
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:9–11)
The imperative to see Jesus
Jesus is the center and focus of God’s plans for the earth and the humans who live on it. We must see Him as clearly as possible. Our allegiance to God must be appropriate to the Jesus of the New Testament. Our lives must follow the pattern of the extraordinary life of love and power Jesus lived as a man.
Through the gospel of Jesus’ kingdom declared in the New Testament, we can see everything God accomplished through Jesus. God has done everything necessary to restore humans to their proper relationships with Himself and the world. He makes it possible for us to the lives of power and purpose assigned when He created us as the image of God (Genesis 1:26).[1] Jesus made sure that we lacked nothing necessary to be successful as we live and serve Him.
The gospel of Jesus’ kingdom is much more than good news for the enhancement of your personal life. You will see for yourself the magnificent revelation in the Bible that the sovereign creator has done everything required to ultimately fix all that is broken and corrupted in the cosmos. As a disciple of Jesus, you have an important role to play in all of this.
Those who seek to follow Jesus today face a daunting challenge from the beliefs embedded in nearly every layer of our culture. Culture functions like the camera lenses photographers use to achieve focus and clarity and to filter out light pollution. Unfortunately, some of the light pollution that our culture filters out includes all that we need to see from the creator’s perspective about who He is, who we are to Him, and what our purpose is in this life. As it turns out, the most unfiltered view of God and of ourselves is gained through seeing Jesus and our association with Him more clearly.
Life is not the same when you begin to see Jesus
The impact on me of these realizations was both profound and permanent. I no longer see Jesus as a distant, indistinct, remote figure. I am a disciple of Jesus, just like those first followers in Galilee who listened and learned from Him.
I am not an adherent of a religious tradition but a follower of Jesus, the son of God. I am not a practitioner of an ancient moral philosophy but a disciple of the resurrected Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, and the Lord of the whole earth. I am not a member of a religious group that is just one among many scattered through the diverse communities of humanity around the earth; I am a child of God, a member of God’s family because of Jesus, who is the firstborn among many children in God’s household (Romans 8:29).
The first disciples, whose lives with Jesus are documented in the ancient biographies of the four gospels, are my brothers and sisters. I am separated from them by time, space, and culture, but we are the same in all other essential ways.
Our lives, then and now, are centered around the son of God, Jesus. We live, love, and work in His presence. We listen to His words and carefully watch His example of life and ministry to learn from Him so we can emulate Him because we want to be like Him. We love Him and the family He has called together, these people He is pleased to call His brothers and sisters and even friends. We follow Him, even though we don’t know or see everything. At times, we make mistakes and misunderstand Him. But our confidence is in His wisdom and power to lead and save us despite ourselves.
My Jesus Meditation
At the end of 2017, I was preparing to begin working on a research project that has resulted in this book. But I felt God leading me to delay writing. Instead, I should spend a year refocusing on Jesus. So, during 2018 I attempted to read all four gospels every month and devoted my additional reading time to those scholars and writers[2] who were focused on Jesus and His kingdom. (I have reproduced the scripture reading plan I created in Appendix 7 for your reference.)
During that year, I spent many hours walking and praying. I often turned to the classic Jesus prayer which goes like this: Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
However, as I walked, prayed and reflected on all I was reading about Jesus this simple Jesus Prayer began to grow and expand until it became the following meditation. I share it here as an example of what there is to see when you become intentional about focusing your attention on Jesus to learn from Him what only He can teach us about God, ourselves, and the life we were created to live.
Jesus, Son of the Living God, Israel’s Messiah, and Lord of the whole Earth:[3]
You are the King of kings and Lord of lords,[4]
the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning, and the End.[5]
You are the radiance of God’s glory and the exact imprint of His nature.[6]
You are the Resurrection and the Firstborn from the dead.[7]
You are the Creator and the Judge.[8]
You are before all things, and in you all things hold together.[9]
Jesus, you are the source of eternal salvation to all who obey you.[10]
You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.[11]
You are the Good Shepherd and the Gate for the sheep of your pasture.[12]
You are the Head of the church and the Firstborn among many brothers.[13]
Jesus, you are my Master and Teacher, and I will follow where you lead me.[14]
You are the Vine and I abide in you.[15]
You are the Great High Priest and I draw near to God with confidence.[16]
I trust in you with all my heart and mind and strength.[17]
I believe in you and trust your saving power.[18]
I believe, Lord; help my unbelief.[19]
Jesus, let your Kingdom come and your will be done here, as in heaven:
Show mercy and forgive.
Grant grace and favor.
Give wisdom and understanding.
Send guidance and provision.
Clothe with power from on high.
Heal, deliver, and confirm the proclamation of the Gospel of your Kingdom.[20]
I love you. I trust you. I obey you.
All my hopes are in you, Jesus.
Amen
Here are some questions for consideration and discussion.
Who has helped you grow as a disciple of Jesus, and how did they impact you? How can you apply what you learned to help others?
How does your relationship with Jesus compare to what you believe the first disciples experienced?
How do you want to grow or change in the future as a disciple of Jesus?
Chapter 1 Daily Scripture Readings
How to spend some quality time listening to what Jesus would like to say through the scriptures:
In preparation, acknowledge the Lord’s presence and love for you and settle yourself before Him (in your mind and heart).
Read the day’s text carefully; take your time.
Reflect on what you have been reading with a listening ear – what word, phrase, or sentence speaks to you from the text?
Now, talk to the LORD about what you hear from this text. What has Jesus stirred in your heart?
If you were with Him walking from one Galilean village to another, what would you say to Him about this?
Chapter 1 - Day one: Mark 1:1-20
Chapter 1 - Day two: Mark 1:21-45
Chapter 1 - Day three: Mark 2
Chapter 1 - Day four: Mark 3
Chapter 1 - Day five: Mark 4
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[1] For reading Genesis 1:26 as God’s image rather than in God’s image, see Carmen Joy Imes, Being God’s Image: Why Creation Matters
[2] N.T. Wright, Matthew Bates, Michael Bird, Scot McKnight, Carl Medearis, etc.
[3] John 1.41; Matthew 28:18; Acts 17.29-31
[4] Revelation 19.16
[5] Revelation 22:13
[6] Hebrews 1:3; John 14:8,
[7] John 11:23; Revelation 1:5
[8] Hebrews 1:2; John 5:27
[9] Colossians 1:17
[10] Hebrews 5:9; Romans 1:5
[11] John 14:1-7
[12] John 10:11,14
[13] Ephesians 5:23; Romans 8:29
[14] Matthew 23:10; 16:24
[15] John 15
[16] Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:1-7; 7:25
[17] Luke 10:27,28
[18] Psalm 78:22
[19] Mark 9:24
[20] Hebrews 2:3,4
There are two ways you can go deeper with this material, if you are finding this helpful.
First, read How to get the most from this book. I offer some suggestions about how to do more than skim the pages and move on with minimal impact.
Second, read How to use this book with a small group. This material was formed and proven in a small group setting that has been very effective at helping participants engage with Jesus at a much deeper and transformative level than is typical in our churches today.