As we continue in our walk through N.T. Wright’s book, Simply Jesus, we are faced with the fact that, whether we are believers or skeptics, we simply cannot avoid Jesus. He is the central figure of history. We measure our time today and ancient history according to our perception of when Jesus was born. We may have changed what we call it: current era (CE) or before current era (BCE), but that doesn’t change the fact that it is figured from the time ancient scholars believed Jesus was born. How can we ignore him, even skeptics use his name to blaspheme or swear! He appears in a line of poetry, a song, a story in a book. We wear a cross as a necklace; we even forbid his name to be mentioned in our study halls, and are ever vigilant for transgressors, so even our efforts to cast him from our thoughts (Romans 1:28), we find him there! Simply put, Jesus is unavoidable.

Jesus is simply not like any other figure in ancient history. We could go years without ever mentioning or referencing any of the ancient rulers of Greece, Rome or Egypt, but we cannot go a day without a reference to Jesus. Every time we date a letter or document, he is there. Every time we swear by his name, we unconsciously make a reference to his existence. He is an enigma! Yet, this isn’t because we know very little about him. The fact is we, know more about Jesus than most figures of ancient history. Nevertheless, just as folks who lived during the days of his public ministry, we puzzle over who he is. They wondered then (Matthew 11:3; 16:13-14; John 10:24), and we wonder today – who is this Jesus? Why would this be so?

Puzzle Number One:

The world in which Jesus lived was very different from ours. People spoke and did things differently from how we do things today. For example, marriage in the time of Jesus was celebrated in two stages, first was the period in which the woman was betrothed to the man, and then came the final wedding celebration. However, even during the betrothal period the two were considered married, although living apart, and a letter of divorcement was required to annul the marriage. Every nation observed certain cleansing rites, each of which had a specific meaning (cp. Mark 7:3-4; John 13:5; Matthew 27:24). People thought about their world differently, they wrote stories and records differently, chronology wasn’t always as important to them as it is for us, today. So, in order to really understand what Jesus tells us, we need to learn more about his world, its customs, worldviews etc.

Puzzle Number Two

Jesus came to reveal a different God to mankind than any god the world had known up to that time. Not only did the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans have different perceptions of god, but even the Jews, who were supposed to be worshipers of the true God, did not know him as he is revealed by Jesus (Matthew 11:27; John 1:18; 5:37). Part of the mystery about Jesus, as that pertained to his own day, can be attributed to the fact that he often spoke of God, but most of the time, the thing he claimed about God, didn’t make sense to the folks, who listened to him (cp. Luke 16:15). We need to get inside Jesus’ world, if we ever hope to understand what he meant, when he spoke of God, whom he claimed was his Father.

Puzzle Number Three

The thing we hardly ever hear mentioned about Jesus, whether we’re listening to the skeptics or the Church, is that, whenever Jesus is speaking in the Gospel narratives, or whenever we read about what he did, he spoke and acted like he was in charge! He did things, like casting folks out of the Temple, which other folks didn’t think was permitted. He broke the Sabbath (John 5:18), but was blameless (Matthew 12:5; cp. 12:1-8 and 9-14). The number of his Apostles symbolized the New Israel (cp. Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30), which might be taken by some to mean, Jesus intended to begin a political revolutionary movement. He was thought to be the King, folks had been looking for (cp. John 6:15; 12:12-13), but Jesus’ idea of rule was opposed to how folks thought a king should rule (cp. Matthew 20:25-28). Jesus was a teacher (rabbi), but more than the rabbis of the times. He was King, but not like any other king known to man. He claimed the titles men claimed for themselves, but the words men used to identify themselves couldn’t describe what Jesus claimed to be (cp. 1Corinthians 2:9).

So, Jesus is in charge, according to the Gospel narratives, but what does that really mean, if it isn’t meant to be a political threat (cp. John 18:36)? In what sense, then, is Jesus King? Who is he, really, and who is God, his Father? To understand these things, we need to get inside the Gospel narratives and discover the world in which Jesus lived and ministered.