Son of Blessing (Bowie)

Who is the person of Jesus to us? A guy that always took short cuts across the water? Oft times, we hear the story of Him, but we keep him at a distance, like he is a divine robot. We tend to think of Jesus as 98% God and 2% human. But Jesus was a supernaturally HUMAN BEING. Johnson Bowie at http://www.fusionatl.org/p/12081/Default.aspxdelivers a POWERFUL message about Jesus and His relationship to His Father. I was weeping over this one! He knew He was God, but Hebrews 2:14-18 clearly outlines the human side of God. He "took on him the seed of Abraham", not the "nature of angels". Being part man and part God is as hard for us to understand as the Trinity. Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. These two natures are united without mixture. So, Jesus was God, but he was hungry, tempted and thirsty. Jesus aged. He felt rejected. He felt loved and betrayed. He felt every single emotion that we've ever been through. It is very difficult to understand how our God could die in our world! But because of this, Jesus can identify with us. Bowie asks us to take a look at Jesus' early days, his fully God, fully human experience. Mary was pregnant when she and Joseph traveled 60 to 80 miles to Bethlehem. She was probably in pain, uncomfortable and they were likely fearful of what was to come. Can you imagine what Joseph must have gone through when he learns Mary was pregnant? What a heartbreak and a confusing experience! It also had to be humbling because everyone knew she had gotten pregnant. He likely got to the point where he didn't judge others or care what others thought. This view on life was likely passed on to Jesus. After his birth in the desert in a barn, it was likely uncomfortable. Shepherds, who were "ceremonially unclean" because of their occupations were the first to visit Jesus. The wise men brought gold which is what you usually brought a king, frakencense which is what you typically would burn to a deity and myrrh, which was a spice you would embalm a body with. It was honoring and strangely foreshadowing Jesus' death. Isn't it amazing that 25 years goes by and very little is mentioned in between? What is that about? Wouldn't you think that there would be regular recordings of the life of the Messiah? In retrospect, its easy to ask, but JESUS WAS LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE. Bowie is funny and starts talking about all the things that were probably different from what we think today because of historical evidence. Jesus probably had short hair and he was probably a stone worker, not a carpenter. Interesting stuff. If Jesus had been born today, he would probably be the guy who looks like everyone else and works everyday and goes home. He experienced cuts, hurts and disappointments. At this point, Bowie goes into this long explanation of the Barmizpah of Jesus. We don't know if Joseph was alive or not because he had died sometime before Jesus was 30. But Joseph could not have genuinely proclaimed Jesus his son or as a man because he wasn't truly the father. The other children of Joesph had the privilege of knowing Joseph was their dad, but not Jesus. He certainly knew degrees of rejection. Can you imagine Jesus, when it took Mary and Joseph 3 days to find him? He was in His "Father's House" and it had to be emotional for Him because He longed for His Father's presence. He longed for His Father's approval. The first time Jesus probably heard directly from His Father was when He was baptized by John the Baptist when God said, "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased." It had to be an amazing moment: an amazing affirmation. Bowie closes by talking about how we can relate to our Heavenly Father the way Jesus grew up truly knowing God was Divinely Dad.

Created over 4 years ago