Novem

Who's that man thinks He's a prophet

I wonder if he's got something up his sleeve

Where's He from who is His Daddy

There's rumours He even thinks Himself a king

Of a kingdom of paupers, simpletons and rogues

The whores all seem to love Him and the drunks propose a toast

And they say

Surely God is with us today

-Mark Robertson/BeakerW

So, then, who was this Jewish guy who walked about Judaea, starting around the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (AD 29)?* The Bible is full of testimony about him, if you want to know. Who is Jesus? Who is Yeshua? Who is Iesus Nazarethaei Rex Iudaeorum? My task here is not to tell you every, single last bit of the Bible that is about Jesus. That would be truly insane. The first testimony about Jesus is in Genesis, though. Genesis 3:15 reads, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."** Who is Jesus? The one who defeats the serpent, the devil. The last testimony about Jesus is in Revelation 22:20 which says, "He who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." Who is Jesus? He is someone who is coming soon. This article will commence the discussion of who Jesus is through the Gospel According to Luke. I will not list every example for some things, due to how often Jesus revealed himself in ways such as healing, preaching, teaching.

Who is Jesus? A great man. The Son of the Most High. The heir to David's throne--which he will occupy. Therefore, the King of the Jews. (Luke 1:32, 23:3) Indeed, "he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." (Luke 1:33) He is the Son of God. (1:35, 2:49, 3:22, 4:3, 4:9, 4:41, 9:35) Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, Yahweh's Anointed. (2:11, 4:18, 4:41, 9:20, 24:26) Jesus is the salvation of God. (2:29) He was "destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed." (2:34-35a) Jesus was wise, and God's grace was on him. (2:40) He was obedient to his earthly parents. (2:51) He had favour with God and man. (2:52) Jesus is so great that not even the righteous prophet John the Baptist was worthy tie his shoes. He baptises "with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (3:16) Jesus separates the righteous from the unrighteous. (3:17) God is pleased with Jesus. (3:22) Jesus is descended from King David. (3:23-31) Jesus moved with the power of the Spirit. (4:14) The Spirit of the Lord was on him. (4:18) He comes "to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." (4:18b-19) Joseph's son. Therefore, a man. (4:22) A prophet. (4:24, 24:19) Jesus was not accepted and almost killed. (4:28-30) He is from Nazareth, a tiny town. (4:34a) He is the Holy One of God. (4:34b) A preacher. (4:43) A healer. (4:38-40, 5:12-15, 5:18-19, 6:6-10, 7:1-10) God. (5:20-24) A metaphorical bridegroom, whose bride is all faithful believers. (5:34) Lord of the Sabbath. (6:5) A man of prayer. (4, 5:16, 6:12, 9:18, 22:39) One who raises the dead. (7:14-15, 8:54-55, ) A son and brother. (8:19) A teacher. (8:49) An exorcist. (4:33-35, 8:32-33, 9:42, 11:14) The Son of Man. (12:10) His body was given for us. (22:19) His blood was poured out for us. (22:20) Jesus was blameless. (23:4, 23:13-15, 23:40) A righteous man. (23:47) He died. (23:46) He rose from the dead. (24:6-7) Repentance and forgiveness of sins come through him and are preached in his name. (24:47)

These testimonies you have read came from the narration of Luke, from Jesus himself, from angels, from demons, from his enemies, from his friends, from his disciples, from Pontius Pilate, from his cousin, from Almighty God. They are true and valid. The evidence they reveal to us is this: Jesus is unique. In the face of liberal theology these days, we must not lose sight of the biblical testimony about who Jesus is. He is unique in every way. His uniqueness cannot be sacrificed in an attempt to marry the Church to the times. His uniqueness cannot be sacrificed to make him more easily swallowed by non-believers. Being so unique, so holy, so righteous, and so perfect, he is excellent and worthy of all praise. Being so loving, he died on a cross and took our sins and the sins of the whole world upon him. Through him we obtain salvation, eternal life, and a mansion in the Father's City. Jesus intercedes on our behalf in heaven--that is, he speaks for us and his perfection is seen as our perfection if we put our faith in him. Jesus is the only way to heaven. All of these truths are Bible truths and life truths.

Jesus is central to Revolution--a fact that I have expounded time and time again. I do not wish to talk about Jesus as a facet of Revolution. That is absolute . . . flummery. Jesus is central to Christianity. If he is who he claims to be, then I cannot see any valid Christianity other than a radical one. Jesus is not a plot device or a thematic transition. I do not press the agenda of Revolution under the cover of Christ. Instead, I press the agenda of Christ under the guise of Revolution. How can we change our lives according to Jesus' greatness and holiness? I believe if we bring ourselves in line with the Gospel truth and Gospel living, we will realise the following:

We must see Jesus as the man who walked all over the place in ancient Judaea. We must see him as the God who became a man. We must see him as the man who was God. We must cling to these truths and the other truths about him proclaimed in the Bible. We must base our whole lives around them. We must resist any force that seeks to remove his uniqueness, remove his power, remove his salvation. We must strip away 2000 years of clichés and run after him with abandon, leaving everything for him. For it is in Jesus that we find total freedom. If we do this and are obedient to what he tells us, we will revolutionise the church, and the church will revolutionise the world.

God does not seek the impossible. In Philippians 4:13, Paul declares that he can do everything through Jesus the Christ who strengthens him. Each of us has massive amounts of influence upon the Church of Christ and the world. Since I know me better than I know any of you, let's examine Matthew. There are almost 50 people on this mailing list. God, through me, can inspire each of you to Jesus Following with reckless abandon, which is my ultimate goal. Each of you can influence those around you. That is a lot, trust me. My father is the Anglican Archdeacon of Thunder Bay. I can easily obtain his aid. I can also tell him what I think. If God gives me a good idea, he can influence every Anglican clergyman in the Thunder Bay area as well as the other pastors on the ministerials he is part of. He also has the ear of the Anglican Bishop of Algoma and the other Algoman Archdeacons. The Bishop is a righteous man and has the whole Diocese of Algoma under his pastoral care. He is part of the House of Bishops, which influences the whole direction of the Anglican Church of Canada. As well, my pastor in Ottawa is the chairman of the Essentials Council, which seeks to return the Anglican Church of Canada to orthodoxy. He can help me to help the Church. And I, in a small way, can help him through prayer and maybe a fresh little phrase or two. My brother attends the Anglican seminary of Wycliffe College in Toronto. He agrees with me (we're all about Revolution) and has contacts with other seminarians and his professors. I have contacts with Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canada, which seeks to reach university campuses for Christ and empower the Jesus Followers at universities. If God, through the vessel named Matthew James Joseph Hoskin, influences certain people that Matthew knows, he can use those people to influence more people. I have the ear of God Almighty, and he can access anybody he wants. Each of us has enormous influence if we dare to see it, seek it, and utilise it for Christ's sake.

Want the Church to be relevant? Want the Church to be on the cutting edge of culture? Want the Church to lead a cultural revolution? Want a revolution that affects Christian unity, Christian doctrine, Christian arts, Christian evangelism, Christian action, Christian declaration, Christian "culture"? Want the Church in the West to get up and do something? I have three answers: First, hold fast to Jesus and who he has revealed himself to be. Second, pray. Praying is doing something. Third, do something else. Tell people about such a revolution. If you an artist, create good art because that glorifies God. If you are friends with a member of another denomination, show your bigoted friends why this is real Christianity. If you know someone with confused doctrine, tell that person. If you know someone who doesn't know Jesus, tell that person about Jesus. If you see a hungry man, feed him. If you think your sermon on Sunday--although not untrue--was crap, tell your pastor. If you think that trendy Christianity--from cheesy paintings to badly-written romance novels and cliché-ridden musicis crap, let everyone know it and tell them why! And in it all, remember Jesus. Remember who he is. Remember what he has done for us. Who is Jesus? Jesus is the biggest revolutionary to ever walk the earth. He's not afraid of challenging people. We shouldn't be either. If Jesus thought a teaching was wrong, he said so to the Pharisees' and Sadducees' faces. Jesus knew the Kingdom of God was at hand, so he told everybody about it. Jesus condemned the trendy Judaism of Pharisees. Jesus sought the unity of all peoples--Gentiles and Jews--under his salvation. Jesus proclaimed the undiluted truth of Yahweh--that he was the only way to salvation and a host of other related themes. Jesus fed the hungry. Jesus died. He wasn't "the man who started Christianity." He was far more than that. If we acknowledge that, proclaim that, and live that, we will revolutionise our lives, our Church, and our world. That's all Jesus ever wanted. He came to establish the Kingdom of God and commissioned us to spread it and edify it. Why don't we?

Who's that man they made Him a prisoner

They tortured Him and nailed Him to a tree

Was He so bad who did He threaten

Did He deserve to die between two thieves

See the scars and touch His wounds He's risen, flesh and bone

Now the sinners have become the saints and the lost have all come home

And they say

Surely God is with us todayW

Jesus is life.

-Steven Curtis Chapman=