We’re three posts in, so let’s review…
The first two mind-blowing realities of the doctrine of Christ are:
- God came to earth.
- God became a man.
Today, we’re digging into the third reality.
MIND-BLOWING REALITY #3
GOD CAME TO ORDINARY PEOPLE
Philip Yancey, in his excellent book, The Jesus I Never Knew writes:
“Jesus was a friend of sinners…
“‘You can know a person by the company he keeps,’ the proverb goes. Imagine the consternation of people in [the] first century who tried to apply that principle to Jesus… The Gospel mentions eight occasions when Jesus accepted an invitation to dinner. Three of these…were normal occasions among friends. The other five, however, defy all rules of social propriety…” [1]
For instance, on one occasion Jesus had dinner at the home of a guy only known as Simon the Leper (Matt 26:6-13; Mk 14:3-9). It’s probably that Simon had been healed by Jesus. That may have even been the reason he was hosting a meal in home.
What’s crazy is that Jesus accepted the dinner invitation of a guy who, according to the social protocol in that day, had to live outside the city and scream, “Unclean!” every time someone approached him. But Jesus went to His home.
The meal was interrupted when a woman crashed the dinner party and poured expensive perfume over Jesus’ head.
Some of the people at the party got really upset. But Jesus commended the woman!
On two other occasions, Jesus accepted dinner invitations from tax collectors, one of the most hated groups of people in the first century. They were known as “notorious sinners”. But Jesus’ extravagant grace attracted them. Jesus’ willingness to go to their homes and attend their parties infuriated the religious crowd. Check out their response in Mark 2:16.
But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples,
“Why does he eat with such scum?”
— Mark 2:16 NLT
Jesus answered,
When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
— Mark 2:17 NLT
On the heels of inviting himself over for lunch at the home of Zacchaeus, the tax collector, when people in the crowd began to complain, “Can you believe the nerve of this guy? He is going to hang out with a notorious sinner!” (Luke 19:7)
Jesus made His mission crystal clear.
“…the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
— Luke 19:10 NIV
Let me ask you a question: Who was the MOST DEEPLY SPIRITUAL, GOD-CONNECTED MAN that ever walked the planet? This is not a trick question.
JESUS was the most deeply spiritual, God-connected man to ever walk the planet.
He actually was God. He was pure, blazing righteousness, holiness, purity and truth IN HIGH DEF! Yet somehow, amazingly, at the same time, Jesus was a SINNER MAGNET!
People who were NOTHING LIKE JESUS actually LIKED JESUS!
What’s even more interesting, is that HE didn’t just “like” them, He LOVED them! Oh, and He didn’t love them because it was His job to love them! He loved them because He loved them. In fact, that is the reason He came!
Have you ever thought about the “messed up” book ends of Jesus’ life?
I mean, His life started with him being wrapped in rags and laid in a manger. His life ended with him being stripped naked, hanging on a cross, taken down, wrapped in rags and laid in a borrowed tomb. And, in between the first day and the last, He mostly just hung out with really messed up people. He kept loving them and embracing them. This was and is the signature of Jesus.
When Jesus finally went to the cross, the reason he went to the cross, wasn’t for crimes He had committed, but because He was taking on Himself the whole mess of this very messed up world — the mess that you and I can never straighten out.
He took upon Himself our sin, pain and shame.
[1] Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, p 149, Kindle Ed.