Have you ever wished that you lived in the time of Jesus so that you could’ve seen Him in action?

How wonderful would it be if we could?
We would witness His miracles.
We would get all our questions answered.
We would learn the Bible from the source!
We would know for sure that God is real!
Or would we? (Know for sure that God is real)

Have you ever dreamed of meeting someone great only to be disappointed that he’s not 10 ft tall and is not perfect as we imagined him to be?

I believe we who live in the 21st century is actually at an advantage when it comes to viewing Jesus. We have 2000 years of history of churches following after this Person. We know of nations rising and falling because of this Person. We have paintings done by masters filling our national galleries that are about this Person. Even now, there are hundreds of churches right around us worshiping this one Person. All of these give credibility to who Jesus is.

But in the first century Israel, it wasn’t so. There were only a handful of disciples who followed Him. He ate, slept, laughed, and was 5’8″ tall (I’m guessing) like every other Jewish man. He had a beard. He had possibly a receding hairline. He went to the bathroom like everyone else….

For such a man to claim that he’s better than Moses or Abraham (who were mythical figures to the Jews) was unthinkable to the Jews.

Imagine your older brother all of sudden declaring that he is God! Can you understand now why Jesus’ own brothers did not accept Him as God until after His resurrection? He was all too human.

By God’s providence I wasn’t born in the first century Israel. I have no doubt that I would’ve wanted to see Jesus crucified just so that I’ll know that He’s not God. If He really were God, I would think, He would not let Himself be crucified. I would shout, “crucify Him, crucify Him,” just to see Him perform some more miracles….

Now you know why all I can say is, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, a sinner…” It is I who killed Him.

But Christ died for me anyway…

PH