Can Anything Good Come Out Of Nazareth?

"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 

How is it that you see Jesus?  Do you stick to the old teaching line we find in the church?  That the Jesus we know today is Holy, exalted and well worthy of our praise and adoration?  If this sounds a lot like a praise and worship tune you're right.  For centuries we have been exalting the deity of Christ with our adoration and praise.  Now, there is nothing at all wrong with this as Jesus is indeed holy.  But does this depict the Jesus which we should be knowing?  Suppose that you were to meet the man Jesus on the street, would He look holy and exalted?  Did Jesus indeed resemble the Son of God when He walked the earth?  No!  In fact, a few of His early followers wondered, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?'  Indeed, those who knew Jesus did not see Him as holy or exalted, but as the son of the carpenter Joseph.  And Joseph?  Well, he had more than a few rumors swirling around town about he and his wife.  So, you could say that Jesus was simply a regular guy who did not attract too much attention from His appearance.  I have gotten frustrated too many times that the original authors of our biblical texts would not include any scriptures referencing the growing and maturing Jesus.  Like many people, I want to know who Jesus was.  What were His quirks?  Was He a wild kid growing up?  Did He try His parents patience more than a few times?  I would have to say that as a young child that Jesus was pretty much a normal kid.  Indeed, if He had shown anything special one would have noticed and written about it, right?  So, why do I mention all of this?  What is my interest in knowing the kind of person that Jesus is?  Well, because knowing the man Jesus blows a hole in the entire church teaching of who Jesus is.  They claim Jesus is holy and deserves our praise and worship.  I say that Jesus is just like me.  What?  How can the ordained Son of God ever resemble a sinner?  That's a good point, if you continue to believe that sin is the issue.  However, as the apostle Paul tells us in Romans, we are to consider ourselves 'dead to sin,'  Yet if we are dead to sin wouldn't that make us like...Jesus?  On the contrary, it would make Jesus like us.  

Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we should also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.  Death no longer has dominion over Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV 

I know a few Christian friends who simply cannot handle making the proclamation that they are anywhere near what Jesus is like.  I get it.  I've sat in the halls of mainstream church teaching for far too many years, so I know exactly what they're going through.  We are to believe that Jesus is the holy Son of God and should be treated as such.  I don't dispute this.  Yet, can anything good come out of Nazareth?  I would say that the man Jesus is all which we need.  That is, holy and exalted as well as sharing the same flaws which I have.  Now, before you cast me out as a heretic, consider what we're told about the man Jesus.  Paul reminds of of the most important point, that it is Jesus who is in us {Galatians 2:20}.  That's right, Jesus shares all who we are as a human of Gods creation.  Also, it is Jesus who willingly became sin that He might share this vessel of a body with us {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  In other words, Jesus became me.  Not only that, but He did it of His own free will.  That is why I can confidently say that I am Jesus.  Of course, a more proper proclamation would be Jesus...is me.

And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Colossians 2: 10 NKJV