The Jesus I Never Knew

I have to thank my wife who recommended this book by Philip Yancey to me. Our perception of Jesus is often clouded by 2000 years of history. Jesus is this white man with long hair and a beard. He is always calm, infinitely patient and never gets angry. We read about him knowing that he is going to die and be resurrected, that the world will not end for at least 2000 years, that the Roman Empire will crumple and be replaced by others. We encounter Jesus in comfortable circumstances and are free to choose and worship whoever we want.

But Jesus was this Jew who was more likely to be darker, without a beard, and unattractive. He got sad, angry, disappointed. The people who encountered him first hand were mostly poor, oppressed, brutalized, rebellious, suspicious of and even hated each other. He was a messiah that was weak, a king that had no power. He asked his disciples to take up the cross, probably after passing by rebels nailed to crosses by Romans. He had miraculous powers but refused to use them to re-establish a Jewish kingdom a la David and Solomon. His follows deserted him when he died. Yet he transformed them with his resurrection, and proved to this world that the way to overcome evil is not with force but with love and sacrifice.

I had inklings of this image of Jesus before but Yancey was able to paint a much more complete and convincing picture for me. And it is factually based on the Bible, strictly speaking, the Gospels. I strongly encourage you to find our about it yourself, if you have not yet done so.