Recently, I came across a book my grandmother gave me in 1966 about Jesus and His disciples. It includes a one-page description and an artist rendering of Jesus and each of the twelve. The full-color drawings are beautiful. They just aren’t necessarily accurate. For instance, “Jesus” is portrayed with light brown hair and blue eyes.
In giving Jesus these specific physical characteristics, the artist separated Jesus from His Jewish heritage. Maybe that’s how the artist pictured Him. Perhaps the artist was swayed by his audience’s expectations. But a Jew with blue eyes and light hair would have been very unusual in ancient Palestine. A blue-eyed, light-haired Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible.
After seeing that drawing, I started to wonder about other ways we might have “altered” Jesus into a Savior of our own making. Is our understanding of Jesus accurate? Or has it been morphed by our own worldviews and preconceptions?
Join us this month at Do Not Depart as we explore the Jesus of the Bible. Our goal is to delve into the truth of God’s Word to better understand Jesus. My prayer for us is that God will correct any misconceptions. That He would expand and explode our view of the Savior. That we would be humbled and fall on our faces in worship.
Have you ever believed something about Jesus that God later corrected? What was it? How did He show you the truth?
Have you ever believed something about Jesus that God later corrected?
Yes.
What was it?
Original belief that Jesus was God Almighty – as in the Trinity style.
How did He show you the truth?
He opened my eyes when I read scripture; he opened my ears when people discussed the topic.
Now I know that he really is the Son of God.
Hi Deborah! Understanding that Jesus IS God is a key, non-negotiable truth. We will be highlighting that one this month for sure! Thanks for sharing.
While he is divine: John 1:1 – for sure, he is not the Father { who is the one true God: John 17:3 }.
Semantics; I look forward to seeing how the discussion goes. :o)
The concept of the Trinity is mid-boggling and I believe our puny, human minds cannot fully comprehend the depth and scope. One God, yet three persons of the Trinity whom the Bible teach are all the one, true God. And while the Son is not the Father and the Father is not the Son, Scripture makes it clear in numerous places that Jesus is God. (John 20:28, John 1:1 & 8, John 10:30-33 (Jesus outright claimed to be God here), Philippians 2:6, Colossians 1:15-20, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:1-3.) Thanks for highlighting this discussion. Should be a great month!
The relationship between the son and the father seems to develop through the NT. eg they are identified in John but differentiated in Paul’s earlier letters (I’m just reading Vermes’ Christian Beginnings).
fwiw I am most comfortable thinking of Jesus as an aspect of God (so, like John).