[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fwhat-do-you-think-of-jesus":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fwhat-do-you-think-of-jesus-surround":95},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":16,"columnName":77,"date":78,"description":22,"extension":79,"image":80,"meta":81,"minRead":82,"navigation":83,"path":84,"postType":85,"publication":86,"publicationUrl":80,"seo":87,"stem":88,"topics":89,"__hash__":94},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fwhat-do-you-think-of-jesus.md","What Do You Think of Jesus?",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10,11,12,13,14,15],"Mark","John","Luke","2 Peter","1 John","Colossians","Acts",{"type":17,"value":18,"toc":73},"minimark",[19,23,26,29,32,35,38,41,44,47,50,53,56,64,67,70],[20,21,22],"p",{},"A well known hymn exclaims, \"O, How I Love Jesus!\" But do you like him? If you had rubbed elbows with Jesus in Galilee, would you have enjoyed being around him?",[20,24,25],{},"Was Jesus Likeable?",[20,27,28],{},"There's a lot to like about Jesus. I like the way Jesus appreciated simple things. He didn't demand the fancy, the elaborate, the expensive. He found lessons in ordinary objects like salt, bread, fish, oil lamps, flowers, and birds. He interrupted a busy schedule to spend a few moments with children. He graciously accepted simple expressions of love, even when a repentant woman awkwardly wept and wet his feet with her tears.",[20,30,31],{},"I'm impressed by his ability to communicate. People \"listened to him with delight\" (Mark 12:37). They didn't have to endure long, boring discourses from Jesus. His parables were pint-sized packs of wisdom. His stories were witty and thought-provoking. Most of us would consider it an honor if, 100 years from now, others remembered and quoted even one sentence we had said. But with Jesus, one unforgettable phrase after another poured from his lips, and his words still impact the world nearly 2,000 years after he spoke them.",[20,33,34],{},"Jesus showed integrity in his daily life. He had an unbending devotion to the Father and a consistent concern for others. He could associate with sinners, yet maintain his own moral standards. He could face false accusations from hostile critics and still keep his composure. He practiced what he preached.",[20,36,37],{},"I like Jesus because he brought out the best in people. He loved the unlovable, forgave the unforgivable, embraced the untouchable. He saw potential in hated tax collectors and coaxed maximum achievement out of ordinary men.",[20,39,40],{},"Why Didn't Everyone Like Him?",[20,42,43],{},"Yet, Jesus had so many enemies! He won no popularity contests when he announced his kingdom was \"not of this world\" (John 18:36). His contemporaries expected a Messiah who would reign in Jerusalem, but Jesus told them he was going to die. They wanted to see miraculous signs—and Jesus performed so many it was hard even to write them all down (John 20:30; 21:25)—but he refused to be a wonder-worker on demand.",[20,45,46],{},"Some openly disputed his claims. They grumbled when he said, \"I am the bread that came down from heaven\" (John 6:41). They tried to stone him when he claimed he had existed before Abraham (John 8:58, 59) and when he said, \"I and the Father are one\" (John 10:30, 31).",[20,48,49],{},"Others hated the way he unmasked their hypocrisy. Jesus focused the light of God's truth on the phony holiness of those who prayed fancy prayers but secretly cared more about their positions and their possessions than they cared about people.",[20,51,52],{},"Even some of his potential followers disliked Jesus because of the commitment he required. He spoke about cross-bearing and self-denial, telling them to surrender everything and love him above all else. He insisted that God's law requires more than external piety—more than simply offering the right sacrifice at the right time. If we ever feel uncomfortable with Jesus, maybe it's because he exposes our pretensions, alters our traditions, and challenges our self-centeredness.",[20,54,55],{},"Undeniable Reality",[20,57,58,59,63],{},"Skeptics doubt his miracles, liberal scholars dispute his words, and even many who wear his name do not appear to take Jesus seriously. The doctor-historian Luke, though, \"carefully investigated everything from the beginning\" and wrote a reliable book so we could \"know the certainty of the things ",[60,61,62],"span",{},"we"," have been taught\" (Luke 1:3, 4). Peter said, \"We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty\" (2 Peter 1:16). John heard, saw, and touched Jesus (1 John 1:1). Even doubting Thomas was convinced and exclaimed, \"My Lord and my God!\" (John 20:28).",[20,65,66],{},"After 2,000 years, he's still the central figure of history.",[20,68,69],{},"In Jesus these eyewitnesses saw a genuine historical figure in whom \"all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form\" (Colossians 2:9). He fulfilled prophecies written centuries before, and performed miracles even his enemies couldn't deny. He died on a cross so real, if you had been there you could have gotten a splinter from it. He returned to life again and proved the reality of his resurrection for 40 days with \"many convincing proofs\" (Acts 1:3).",[20,71,72],{},"The inescapable conclusion? He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Like him or not, Jesus of Nazareth cannot be ignored.",{"title":74,"searchDepth":75,"depth":75,"links":76},"",2,[],"First Look","2004-04-04","md",null,{},4,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fwhat-do-you-think-of-jesus","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":22},"articles\u002Fwhat-do-you-think-of-jesus",[90,91,92,93],"Biblical Theology","Holy Week and Resurrection","Intergenerational Ministry","Spiritual Formation","RKTKLxDnCr75xTp5FWuOQM1_qbJtFAcC3bKxlXrruXA",[96,101],{"title":97,"path":98,"stem":99,"description":100,"children":-1},"What Do You See? . . . Really? by: Matt Faust","\u002Farticles\u002Fwhat-do-you-see-really","articles\u002Fwhat-do-you-see-really","\"My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 'Here's a good seat for you,' but say to the poor man, 'You stand there,' or 'Sit on the floor by my feet,' have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?\" (James 2:1-4).",{"title":102,"path":103,"stem":104,"description":105,"children":-1},"What Does a Bridge Cost?","\u002Farticles\u002Fwhat-does-a-bridge-cost","articles\u002Fwhat-does-a-bridge-cost","On June 1 a new bridge is scheduled to open in Canada—a nine-mile-long marvel of engineering that connects Prince Edward Island with New Brunswick and the rest of the mainland. Many welcome the bridge, for it will provide an estimated 25 percent growth in tourism on the island. However, according to an article in *The Wall Street Journal* (February 14, 1997), the project has sparked considerable controversy."]