"A new precept am I giving to you, that you be loving one another; according as I love you, that you also be loving one another. By this all shall be knowing that you are My disciples, if you should be having love for one another."
John 13: 34-35, Concordant New Testament
Today is super bowl Sunday, and honestly I couldn't care less. I know that the Kansas City Chiefs will be facing the Philadelphia Eagles, but that's where my interest dies. Perhaps if my Minnesota Vikings were in the game I would take more interest, but I'm good where I stand. Obviously, the Super bowl has not become a world wide icon, with networks and the internet broadcasting the game across the world. With this popularity comes a unique opportunity for the advertisers who will spend millions for one short ad to be played during the game. Sure, we all expect to see the Budweiser, Frito Lay and Coca Cola commercials we've all grown accustomed to. Admit it, those Clydesdale commercials are pretty cool. Yet, here's something you probably were not expecting to see during the super bowl. This year, people across the globe will see ads featuring...Jesus. Yes, Jesus. It seems that the Hobby Lobby corporation has purchased ad time during the super bowl to spread the message about Jesus. What is this message that they are already sharing with the world? Simple...Jesus gets us. Now, most mainstream believers already know that, but there are many who do not. If I were Hobby Lobby, I would give a big fat bonus check to whichever advertising executive came up with the Jesus gets us campaign. I like to think that this is not simply about the ads, as Hobby Lobby is a well known faith based business. What better way to introduce someone to Jesus? Instead of some boring sermon or over used scripture, tell us something about who Jesus is. They certainly nailed this one in my opinion. Scripture tells us that we have a high priest that sympathizes with our weaknesses {Hebrews 4:14-16}. Jesus gets us. This is exactly the message about Jesus that the world needs to hear. In a world filled with sorrow, pain and uncertainty, Jesus has suffered as we have.
Having, then, a great Chief Priest, Who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, we may be holding to the avowal. For we have not a Chief Priest not able to sympathize with our infirmities, but One Who has been tried in all respects like us, apart from sin.
Hebrews 4: 14-16, Concordant New Testament
I'm not a new believer, but if I were I would want to know more about this man named Jesus. I feel that our mainstream churches are lacking in this regard. We know OF Jesus, yet we seldom actually know Him personally. I look back at some of the greatest leaders of all time, and the ones that garner the most attention are those that have walked the same roads as those they were leading. There is definitely something to be said for walking that mile in someone's shoes. Jesus has done just that. There is no situation or pain which we have ever experienced that Jesus cannot personally attest to having experienced Himself. For before He was even crucified, He lived a life of the flesh, yet without sin. Scripture tells us very little of the formative, young years of the boy Jesus. We can assume that He was active in the same ways as children of His age. We can assume that this boy Jesus was disciplined as a child as we were. We can also assume that He spent a good amount of time in Joseph's workshop learning His fathers trade. One of the best films I have seen that depicts the boy Jesus and what He must have experienced is The Young Messiah (2016). I feel that, lacking scripture references, that the writers of this movie did a good job representing what life must have been like for the boy Jesus. Jesus gets us. The focus of the Hobby Lobby ad campaign is not one designed to entice more people into church. No, the focus of these ads is to entice more people to come to know Jesus.
~Scott~
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