Who is Jesus of Nazareth?
From a small town He came.
He did not speak from a podium.
His message was not contained in a building.
He wore no robe or crown.
He held no scepter.
He held no religious or political position.
No army accompanied Him.
He walked miles everyday and when the evening hour came,
He was exhausted, filthy, hungry and homeless.
He carried no weapon of man's device.
He raised His voice and spoke the written word of His Father, the Lord God Almighty.
He spoke with an authority not known to man of this era. For the days of man were consumed in darkness, void of His Father's word and instruction.
He graced this earth with a light so brilliant and powerful that to date, the world trembles in the wake of His brief, triumphed life.
There is none like Jesus. He is the first and will be the last in His word, authority, power and rule.
His Name is proclaimed throughout the world, yet most do not know Him.
After 2000 years, most are deceived today as they were so long ago.
The world hungers to know-
Who is this Jesus of Nazareth?
The people of this day lived in brokenness and despair. For generations they had been impoverished and enslaved. They had no reprieve from their labor. Their lives were a meager, physical existence. Their days were consumed in their efforts to survive. They were unable to offer their children a future different from that of their own. They were a people entrapped in bondage, under the authority and oppression of man.
They heard of this One, Jesus, a stranger in their land. He walked from town to town to deliver His message of love, peace and joy. Multitudes gathered awaiting His spoken word. He went into the alleys and beyond the city gates that the very least among them, those despised and forsaken, would hear His message. The ill and diseased were made well, the crippled walked, the blind were given sight and their dead were raised. He cast out demons that possessed them, spiritually and physically renewing them.
He used no potion or instrument, for it was with His powerful, supernatural Spirit in which He healed. Into them He spoke His word, life and spirit, miraculously restoring them.
He looked beyond their rough, haggard exterior and into their broken hearts. It was there that He met them in their secret place and He saw their pain. His compassion and love was felt as He touched each and every heart, one at a time. They clung to His every word and in doing so, they were given His priceless gift of hope. In Him their every need was met. In Him they were valued, worthy and honored just as they were. He called them friend; mother, father, brother and sister though they knew Him not.
Who is the Jesus of Nazareth
His miracles astounded and amazed all that witnessed. He came, this stranger, into the land and did what no other before Him could. Jesus is the Son of God and through Him the people were given a personal relationship with their Almighty God. No longer did they have the need to listen to the empty words of man, for they were given the wisdom and council of God through Jesus. At His feet they entered the Holy of Holies, the throne of God.
Jesus served the people daily with every breath He took and every measure of His strength.
His message rocked the largest, most powerful nation in the world into utter chaos. His words of TRUTH were cutting like a double edged sword, penetrating the hearts, souls and minds of those that heard Him. His spoken word was commanding, convicting and converting, transforming a lost and forsaken people. Jesus offered both the Jew and Gentile alike a life in which transcended the grave, an everlasting life with Him in paradise. Through Him they were promised to become a new creation, their generational curses and sins forgiven and forgotten. Nothing could they do to earn any of this in which He offered freely to them. For it was only through Him and in Him that they could be made whole-perfect and spotless-separated from their old life and all evil. He told them to believe in Him, trust in Him, keep His commands and be redeemed. He chose them unto Himself for He loved them so.
Jesus empowered the masses in His TRUTH and love.
His word and miracles, heard and witnessed, were testimony of His greatness. There was no longer an excuse for the wicked deeds of man. No. There is no excuse for now they had seen God, His goodness-Holiness-and the Way in which to live.
Jesus came to give all people life and that they might have it more abundantly. In offering Himself, they were compelled to choose their master.
Jesus warned the people as He addressed the issues that plagued them. He told them they could not serve two masters and they must choose-Jesus, the God of TRUTH and life, or Satan, the father of all lies and death.
Their love of money-the root of all evil-pleasure and power, had been their hearts desire as this was seen by the poor as their only means in which to escape their enslavement. Poor were some that wanted only to crown Jesus as means of their provisions and future prosperity. They had witnessed His miracles of feeding thousands. They sought Him to provide them with their physical needs. Jesus offered them Himself, His bread and water-His word and Spirit-to satisfy their souls. In Him, never again would they hunger or thirst, for they would not be poor in spirit. They turned their heads from Jesus and remained in darkness.
The rich worshiped their money and could not accept what He taught. Their earthly treasures stored and their life of comfort was their god. They refused to acknowledge that they were to love their neighbor as they did themselves and provide for their neighbor by sharing their wealth. They chose to deny their neighbor of his needs and in doing so, denied Jesus. They too remained in darkness.
Those that rejected Jesus did not understand that it would be better for them to loose their life and gain it, rather than to gain their life and loose it. The god of their choice would have them pay for an eternity in Hell, separated from Jesus.
There were many religions of this day. All were deeply involved in their religious, ritualistic occult practices. Although the names of the gods they claimed to serve were different, all served Satan.
One such occult was most prominent as they proclaimed the name of the Lord God Almighty. They claimed to be the remnant of God, His chosen people and heirs to the inheritance of God. In their possession they held the ancient scrolls of God's Holy Word; however, they did not hold His word sacred. They used God's word as merely a means in which to hide as they portrayed themselves holy. Their high priests had neglected God's people as they withheld the word of God from them, condemning them according to the Law of God. God's instruction and His love and mercy were not offered. Due to their lack of knowledge God's people perished.
They had adopted occult teachings and customs and in doing so, they had allowed the perversion of God's word, His moral laws and precepts. They were imposters, blasphemers, having no loyalty to God whatsoever. Their thoughts and deeds were of evil and they had become a twisted people.
Without God's instruction-TRUTH- darkness prevailed and the culture depicted the evil that dominated. The shedding of innocent blood, divorce and sexual immorality was prevalent. Evil was taught as good and good as evil. The masses were held captive as tyranny resided.
The religious gave no thought to God as though He could not see into their hearts and their wickedness. The masses with whom they kept in ignorance and poverty were deemed of having no value. Jesus has fiery eyes and saw their apostasy. He heard the cries of those suffering-His children.
The religious did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God-God in the flesh- the prophesized Messiah. They rebuked His virgin birth. His parents were from Nazareth, a town from which no one of renown had come. They denounced His every word. They murmured slanderous things and plotted against Him.
They sent to Jesus their high priests and lawyers with their prestigious degrees and their well articulated, rehearsed words that they might discredit Him and judge Him falsely in public. Jesus saw into their hearts and was aware of their cunning and deceit.
Jesus did not compromise TRUTH and stood firm in His response to them. Their reasoning and philosophies of evil could not withstand the test of His spoken word. Their wise and proud were confounded by His infallible word and inconceivable wisdom, making foolish their accusations against Him.
They were seethed with anger that Jesus claimed all authority and power of GOD ALMIGHTY! They refused to submit to Him and conspired to have Him killed. They knew, should Jesus continue to teach God's word in TRUTH, their position of power over the people, their relationship and influence they held within the government and the great wealth they had accumulated thereof would be jeopardized.
Through Jesus and His publicly proclaiming His TRUTH, the once captive in deceit were offered freedom in Jesus. Exposed were the lies of the religious. The followers of Jesus were growing in number as light of TRUTH and knowledge shined.
These religious moved to eradicate TRUTH-Jesus-once and for all.
In the name of God, the Jewish high priests contacted government officials to have Jesus arrested. Once killed, they conspired; the masses would resume their lowly state having lost their leader.
Tension grew throughout the land as those in authority evoked fear upon those that followed Jesus.
They offered a cash reward for the whereabouts of Jesus to be revealed. Jesus was betrayed when one of His friends accepted money and led His enemies to His place of prayer.
Those faithful to Jesus could not comprehend all that Jesus had spoken. As the enemy rose up against Him, Jesus told them that this was necessary for His Father's work to be completed in Him, glorifying His Father.
As the enemy approached, He prayed for those He called His own-His precious.
When He was arrested, He humbly submitted Himself unto His enemies.
His followers who called Him Lord denied Him, fearing that they too would be apprehended.
Jesus stood alone.
The religious sought to remain sovereign over the people.
Their high priests demanded His death.
The government sought to remain sovereign over the nations.
The religious were recognized as peacekeepers, controlling the masses.
Despite being found innocent of any crime by the government, the religious were obliged their demands.
The judgment of Jesus was given to the religious.
The religious knew not TRUTH and justice. Hate was their motivation.
Jesus did not resist as He was brutally beaten.
As He took His last steps on earth, He was forced to carry the weapon that would be used to kill Him.
His gruesome appearance, His body torn and bloody, was a reflection of the dark, wicked hearts of those that had gathered to witness His excruciating torture and death.
He did not complain. Not once.
