Jesus: He Gets Us | Plan 1Sýnishorn

Day 1- He Gets Us: Jesus shook things up

When you turned on your device just now, it likely flashed today’s date. No matter what you believe about Jesus, his life split history into two—the years coming before him (b.c.) and the two thousand plus years that have followed him.

If you’ve wondered, why should it matter who someone is from two thousand years ago on the other side of the earth? What difference does it make to me?—that’s a great question.

Who is the real Jesus? He's been portrayed by miscellaneous groups in every generation. To answer that question, it helps to go to the source.

In his day, Jesus’ enemies accused him of enjoying himself too much at parties and hanging out with the wrong people. They feared him because he challenged the norm.

Look closely and you’ll see Jesus was...

Fearless; never backing down from doing what is right.

Vulnerable; allowing us to get close enough to know him.

Compassionate; entering into our pain.

And what makes his invitation to us all the more meaningful is that his world was as mean-spirited and divisive as ours today. Long before COVID, fear and other contagions were also viral. Yet, Jesus stepped into people’s space, bringing the anxious, comfort, the sick, healing, and joy to everyone who welcomed him in.

Jesus...he showed up. He sat across from people at the dinner table and wept at family funerals. He invited people to know him. He taught them how to live in a dysfunctional world (his was, too). His words weren’t just radical for the first century, they’re still extreme today.

No one cares like that. Except he did. He insisted on human dignity, that every person matters.

No one teaches like that. Yet the change he ushered in still reverberates today.

The way Jesus called out the toxic religious and political systems turned history upside down. He’s a radical in any decade—which makes him a worthwhile model to live by today.

But how?

Let’s explore his life together...He came to show, not just tell. Match his words and his actions and you might be surprised at what you’ll find.