"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,"
Galatians 2: 20 NKJV
I have been watching a few snippets of the relatively new internet series The Chosen on my Facebook feed for awhile now. I have found it to be interesting and a fresh new perspective upon the life of Jesus and His disciples. Yes, I've read the scriptures of these twelve men whom Jesus selected randomly to follow Him along His ministry, but to see it brought to life in such a way as the creators of this series have is nothing short of inspiring. Last night I watched once again the scene where Jesus passes by the booth of the tax collector Matthew along with His other disciples. Now, I am well aware of the reputation that the modern day IRS has with the working man, but the view of tax collectors in the time of Jesus was even worse. For the hated Romans would recruit local civilians to man the tax collection booths. You can imagine the feelings that the locals would carry towards a man such as Matthew. This is evidenced as Simon, brother of Andrew, protests Jesus' calling of this tax collector. "Do you know what this man has done?" Finally, as Matthew joins his new crew, Simon proclaims to Jesus, "I don't get it." Jesus' reply? "You didn't get it when I first chose you either." Yet, there is one phrase which sets the stage for this series that Jesus proclaims, "Get used to different." Indeed, how different was this man who was asking these men to follow Him as He walked the countryside? How different was the message that He was speaking than the one they had become so used to hearing? For many of these men had been raised in the teachings of the Jewish texts, which certainly foretold the coming Messiah. Yet, their own idea of the Messiah seemed entirely different than the man who would arrive to fulfill that prophesy. Get used to different.
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 6: 19 - 20 NKJV
As I was thinking about this new series on the life of Jesus, I thought as to what was so different as to how we as Christians have traditionally seen Him. Well, what is our traditional view of Jesus? He came, He ministered, He was crucified and on the third day He rose once again and is now seated with the Father in heaven. But is the story of Jesus really over at that point? Not in the least, and I would say that the Christ we have the opportunity to know today may be radically different from the Jesus you were expecting. That's right, get used to different. The apostle Paul introduces us to this radical new Jesus in Galatians. Far from spending His eternity in heaven, this new Jesus Paul speaks to actually lives in us today {Galatians 2:20}. That's right, Jesus Himself resides within us. How radical of a Jesus is that? Yet, it's not like it wasn't predicted either. Jesus speaks to the lives of His followers in His prayer in the garden in John 17. The prayer of Jesus? That we would be one with He and the Father {John 17:21}. Knowing the truth of Christ which Paul speaks to, are we to believe that the prayer of Jesus has been answered? I believe so. What makes the truth of Christ so radically different is that it personalizes Jesus on a more human level than the traditional church teachings do. Instead of Jesus watching over us from heaven, He is slogging it out with us through our regular every day life. Jesus is with us throughout all we will ever do. I know that this might be different from the Jesus you have been taught, but get used to different.
But Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit. By who also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also a antitype which now saves us - baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
1 Peter 3: 18 - 22 NKJV
~Scott~
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