CONNECTING POINT - Not My Jesus: Is Jesus a Buzzkill?

“Jesus is way too restrictive.” I’ve heard it too often. True, invariably each person develops his or her own opinion. It is a basic freedom. However, when it comes to following Jesus and being His disciple, the Bible never presents this decision as “fun.” Discipleship requires self-sacrifice, setting our ambitions aside, and making Jesus our number one priority. Great joy is fulfilled being Christ’s disciple. Pastor Shane Pruitt says, “It’s an adventure to know Jesus and make Him known. He lives, and there is no one like Him.”

First, if Jesus is “so boring,” then why have millions of people throughout history dedicated their lives to Him? The Bible is almost silent about Jesus’s young adulthood. After, as a preteen, the “finding of Jesus” moment when the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, and Mary and Joseph made him submit, the Bible goes silent until Jesus is about thirty (Luke 2:51). Then his notoriety grows quickly amongst his travels, preachings, and the many miracles he performs, some of them during celebrity-status-sized events, our equivalent to an Ed Sheeran concert at the Garden.

Second, perhaps the most effective way to comprehend Jesus is through Paul’s eyes and faith: “For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible…all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together,” (Col: 1:16-17).

It is important to understand that Christianity is founded upon Jesus, and no other world religion has ever had a leader/servant live, die, and rise again from the dead. Christianity is rooted in Judaism, with one key difference. Jesus fulfilled the thousands of Messianic prophecies. It is an article of faith; this discovery is so important.

On the road to Emmaus, recorded in Luke 24, Jesus met two disciples after His resurrection. Some followers of Jesus at that time expected Him to overthrow the Roman government. They thought that was God’s plan. Instead, Jesus came to overthrow the power of sin. As Jesus walked and talked, they did not recognize Him at first. He then spoke with them throughout that day and evening about various Messianic prophecies they held dear as Jews. Then, as per their practice of hospitality, Jesus ate with them, and when He broke bread, the Bible says, “…Their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight,” (vs. 31).

No one with credibility finds this a “buzzkill.” It was just a few days prior, when Jesus, before His arrest and crucifixion, broke bread with these same disciples, proclaiming He would suffer and die.

From that day to the present, our responsibility as Christians is to know Jesus and to make Him known. Again, take Jesus at His word: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Pastor Shane Pruitt looks us square in the eye and warns us to accept mature faith.