Do you know who Jesus was?

Sometimes when I see someone for the first time in years, often in a setting where I would expect to meet them, I often cannot remember their name. If they have had a makeover since that time it makes them even harder to recognise. You feel embarrassed because it is someone who has recognised you and you are trying to bring to mind something about them, sometimes from the distant past. Afterwards, and it is often afterwards, you remember a number of things when the pressure is off. Now I want you to imagine you are out in the street. It can be any street and Jesus comes walking up to you and greets you. Now you do not know this man and he may not fit in with your image of what Jesus looks like and you reject him. Jesus disciples may have known Jesus by sight but they had not recognised who Jesus truly was. Certainly Jesus was not the warrior king who was going to lead them into battle against their Roman oppressors. He was gentle in his manners but radical in his teaching. So no he was not a warrior king. He was man of peace. He had confronted the scribes who had become over legalistic and set down many rules for people to follow so they did things the correct way but Jesus told them they were wrong and were too controlling. We were to love one another as he loved us, and to love God with all heart, mind and being. Jesus did this in his life loving the many that the scribes made outcasts and brought them healing and wholeness again. He included them when others excluded them. Jesus was remarkable man then. Perfect it would seem and still they did not get it. In Mark 4: 35-41 Jesus calms a storm. He has power over creation. They will not truly get who Jesus is until the Ressurrection. The perfect man, who has power over creation and rises to new life after dying a painful and humilating death. Who do you think Jesus was?