My fellow travelers,
Very vivid in my mind’s eye is the encounter I had with the Almighty at Windy Gap in mountains of western North Carolina in 1990 only 2 years after the Lord saved me from a life of deep, deep sin. This Young Life camp in the rolling countryside just outside Asheville, NC is a earthly paradise for those seeking a respite from the drone of city life.
The prophet Tony Campolo was the main speaker at this conference sponsored by Doug Coe’s Washington DC group called simply The Fellowship. Tony’s delivery was a refreshing jolt to the staid religious overtones I had been subjected to in the same ol’, same ol’ church meetings. Where is the passion of Jesus, I wondered?
Well, it showed up one mid-September weekend in the form of Campolo. And were we energized! There were about 150 men in attendance, mostly upper income business types. I didn’t fit in very well as I remember getting significant resistance to the questions I was asking concerning the kingdom of God, especially the off-the-wall teaching and prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 5-7.
Tony made many bold proclamations during the 4-5 times he spoke, further amplified in the subsequent times I listened to the tapes from the conference. One of those proclamations that has reverberated in my head from time to time was the following statement.
With spittle flying into the first few rows as he flayed his arms and gestured enthusiastically, sometimes pounding the podium with a thud, he said, “ Most of you have Bibles where the dirty pages are only in the Epistles and other letters. But the life of Jesus is in the gospels, man. You need to be reading the gospels every day.” By dirty pages, he meant from use.
But he was right. Dead right.
It was like a lightening bolt to the heart from the very throne of God. Bam! I had been in the gospels a lot and those WERE the dirty pages on my Bible. But the sinful pride I felt at the time soon melted as the Holy Spirit confirmed Tony’s prophetic words to my soul.
I took his admonition to heart, and pretty much have spent a portion of every day reading, meditating, reflecting, and following the very life of our Lord.
So then, how did Jesus act in the gospels?
Most people today in affluent areas of the world are not in the Bible itself. If we are called to be like Jesus in all ways, this is a crucial need if one is to be obedient in this high calling necessary to inherit the kingdom of God and to spend eternity with the Holy One, the Lover of our soul. Let’s double check the command:
1 John 2:4-6
The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in him: the one who says he abides in him ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked.
In the first few years that I began my own walk with Jesus in middle age, I saturated myself in His Word, and with His people. Was there anything more pressing than pressing on with Him? As stated to you all before and I’m sure many of you too can attest, it was the pearl of great, great price! Amen?!
But I soon began to notice strange statements from so-called believers, many who professed to have walked with God for a long, long time. Many were fully supported and had ministries named after them. Many were influential teachers in the pulpits, and others than written book after book. And many others were the average pew warmer who had been influenced by these leading men and women.
Why were many of their statements strange to my ears? They didn’t seem to line up with the Bible I was reading. At first, I really thought it was me. What do we know? And, besides, many of these folks were “famous”in Western Christian circles.
What were some of their proclamations that I considered strange. Let’s take a peek at just a few. Now don’t stone me quite yet, and please give this missive a chance, OK? Here goes:
“To speak into a person’s life, you need to build a 25 ton bridge.”
“The gospel is not propositional, it has no conditions.”
“Jesus was really gentle, humble, nice, and kind, not what we’d consider bold.”
“Jesus had deep relationships with people when he spoke into their lives.”
Sounds really good, doesn’t it? Sounds like what we hear from any Christian radio and TV station. Sounds like what we’d hear at any conference, from any book, CD, etc. Sounds like what we believe ourselves, right?
Well, how did Jesus act in the gospels? There could be considered 251 recorded events of the life of Christ when the four gospels are harmonized, meaning to put in sequence. What’s the scoop on what we’ve found so far?
Below are the findings of the major sections for all 252 events, and you may view and download them here. Here’s a picture of the document template the Holy Spirit directed me to create. Click on it for a larger and clearer look. Download at the link right above.
Part A. Pre-Birth, Birth, Infancy, and Adolescence of Jesus, and John the Baptizer: 17 events, 1-17
Part B. Preparation for Ministry: 15 events, 18-32
Part C. Galilean Ministry: 17 events, 33-49
Part D. Choosing the Twelve & Teaching on the Mount: 20 events, 50-70
Part E. More Galilean Ministry and Parables, 15 events, 71-87
Part F. Ministry of Miracles, 13 events, 88-101
Part G. Ministry Beyond Galilee, 17 events, 102-118
Part H. Last Feast of Tabernacles. 15 events, 119-133
Part I. Later Judean Ministry, 16 events, 134-150
Part J. Perean Ministry and Raising of Lazarus, 18 events, 151-168
Part K. Last Trip to Jerusalem, 14 events, 169-182
Part L. Last Jerusalem Ministry, 16 events, 183-199
Part M. Predicting the Future, 8 events, 200-207
Part N. Last Supper and Gethsemane, 16 events, 208-224
Part O. Trials, Death, and Burial, 15 events, 225-239
Part P. Resurrection, Appearances, and Ascension, 13 events, 240-252
What do they reveal about Jesus and how He acted out the life the Father preordained for His time on earth? Would they support the strange statements made above that has puzzled me and others from the start of our walk with Him?
First, let’s look at the RELATIONSHIP the characters in the gospels, including Jesus, had with their audience. Of the 100 events, less than a third had a known relationship, and that includes the main disciples. Wow. Over 65-70% reflect the fact that NONE CERTAIN was the most used term to describe this critical interaction of a relationship.
Second, was the MESSAGE given by the characters mostly gentle, humble, kind, nice? Or was it more BOLD like a rebuke, admonishment, defense, exhortation, or a prophesy? Of the 100 events, only 7 (yes, only 7) could be even closely considered to be gentle as our modern culture defines it. And in 4-5 cases, I placed a question mark for it was not entirely clear if it fit in that category. The overwhelming percentage, or over 90%, were BOLD in content and style. Remarkable it seems.
Third, and lastly, was the reflection needed to review if the message itself was PROPOSITIONAL AND/OR CONDITIONAL. That is, did the message REQUIRE SOMETHING SPECIFIC from the hearer? Did the messenger expect an action from his audience? Yes, he did. About 75% of the events have propositional and conditional requirements. And most of the other events that did not were events dealing with the messenger rejoicing, prophesying, doing a miracle, or explaining a plain narrative relating basic information to the reader.
The results of the data surprised us here, although we had surmised the trend was overwhelmingly in favor against what we had been hearing over the years. Jesus Himself shows up big time in Part B Preparation for Ministry. But his fellow messengers and those preparing His way in Part A also followed the same trend: the gospel so far proved to be very non-relational (in a very relational in-group/out-group mid-east culture), bold (where saving face is everything like we see in Iraq today), and propositional with conditions (which is very provocative in a in-group relational society).
What about the strange statements stated above earlier on? How often have we all heard about these as being true and representative of the gospel of the kingdom, the gospel of the life of Jesus our Lord?
How did Jesus act in the gospels? What is the true Truth, and what is the urban legend? Only one summation can be correct. Only one can we literally stake our eternal soul upon. It’s not all the same to God, our Omnipotent Ruler and Helper.
You must be the judge.
I have made my own conclusions thus far, and have studied the other 151 events over the years. It should be an interesting journey as we explore what really happened in the gospels with Jesus. Stay tuned, if you would.
You may view and download the Gospel Events PDF chart here.
Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.
Your friend and brother in fighting the good fight,
Marc
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Saints, we’re one day closer to Home, and Him! Love Him wholeheartedly!
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Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.
Marc White, Director, Walk Worthy Ministries, www.WalkWorthy.org
