Street Jesus

 2“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4“And where I go you know, and the way you know.” 5Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 8Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” 9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
John 14: 2 - 9 NKJV

As I was driving home the other day I happened to pass a local church I've driven by many times yet never entered.  What made this drive by different than before was the message which was on the sign out front.  Just below the Sunday service times was what someone apparently thought was a welcoming message.  "What this world needs is more Jesus."  Immediately I knew that I was doing ok with God, but obviously this message that others might see was designed not to know the man Christ Jesus, but to draw people into a local church.  Now, I won't argue the point that the world needs more Jesus, but do we really even know where to begin looking for Him?  Do we really know where to find He who it is that we are seeking?  I have a better question for all of the Jesus seekers out there, why all of a sudden are we so interested in finding Christ?  I mean, he's always been there {John 1: 2-3}.  It's not like Jesus has suddenly burst onto the scene proclaiming some new religious fad.  If that were the case then my faith and trust in Him has been misplaced.  No, Jesus has always been there...waiting.  See, our heavenly Father so loved us that He would give His only Son.  Not that the Son would condemn the world, but that all through Him might be saved {John 3: 16-17}.  That doesn't sound like someone who we just happened to find out about.  Now, I will also venture a guess as to why there are so many Jesus seekers out there these days.  See, this world of ours can be a harsh place for anyone to survive in.  Christians and non christians alike have often found that we need something no, someone, to somehow make this life of ours make sense.  Enter street Jesus.  Street Jesus walks among us each day showing us that very image of the invisible God {Colossions 1:15}.  In fact, we would not know God if not for street Jesus.

20“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galations 2:20 NKJV

So, who is this street Jesus?  Well, I'm street Jesus.  People I pass on the street are themselves street Jesus.  We see Him everywhere we go.  Street Jesus is everywhere.  The apostle Paul assured us of this in Galations 2 when he spoke of the indwelling Spirit of Christ in him.  It is Jesus who gave Himself for us, and it is Jesus who lives through us today.  This is why I call Him street Jesus.  For is Christ is in us, then He is indeed in those who we see each and every day.  Some just might not know it just yet.  So they keep looking for Him.  I would even say that the person who put up that sign outside the local church was Jesus, even if they didn't realize it.  See, Paul wasn't always Paul, nor did he always have Jesus.  No, the man Saul of Tarsus was one of the biggest persecutors of the early church of the followers of Jesus.  Then, one day God chose to reveal Himself in Saul {Galations 1:16-17}.  Now, Saul may have been born with the Spirit of Christ in him, but it took the revelation of the Father for him to see and proclaim it.  Paul was now street Jesus.  I'm thinking that a better message on that sign outside the local church would be something along the lines of..."The world HAS more Jesus."  Then again, that might not bring in too many people if everyone already knew where to find Him.

 15But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,
Galations 1: 15 - 16 NKJV

~Scott~