“Creepy Jesus pictures” are what my friend calls them. You know, those portraits of Jesus often hung in churches, particularly in the Sunday school area. They portray Jesus as a soft handed, almost effeminate, wouldn’t hurt a fly kind of person. This imagery has been perpetuated by people who seek to portray the all-loving side of Jesus. I’ve never really cared for those.
Why? Well, that’s not all Jesus was. He was just as complex of a human being as any of us. He was the one that said love your neighbor as yourself. He was the one that said we must be like little children to enter the kingdom of God. He was the one that said we should treat others as we would want them to treat us. He is the one who said turn the other cheek.
He is also the one who called the religious leaders a brood of vipers and white-washed tombs. He is the one that made a whip and PHYSICALLY drove out the money changers from the temple courts for ripping off worshipers. He is also the one who said to sell your cloak and buy a sword. He is the one who endured being flogged and subsequently crucified by the Romans at the request of the Jewish religious leaders.
Jesus is said to be a carpenter. When we hear that most of us probably think of a finish carpenter that makes chairs and tables. More than likely he was, as his father before him, a construction worker. They probably built houses and the like. The interesting thing is that most homes in that part of the world are not made of wood, they are made of stone. That means he was more likely a stone mason. A stone mason, at least in my mind, does not evoke a mental picture of a wimpy person. How many wimpy construction workers have you seen lately?
As a Christian, I serve Christ who not only loved the whole world so much that He gave his life to save us; but also overcame death, hell and the grave to rise victorious on the third day.