The church I went to in New York was very large, so I suppose that it was inevitable that someone famous would eventually show up. In this case, the famous person was Ricky Martin. I believe he only came one time, and the fact that he was willing to attempt mixing with the masses for the name of God is to his credit. But sadly, his presence created too much of a stir, and as the staff tried to “encourage” everyone back to their seats, one girl simpered loudly, “But he’s my idol!”
Let me just hit the pause button here to say –
Really?
You’re fawning over an idol … in church?
And it’s Ricky Martin?
Okay . . . resume.
Why doesn’t Jesus have this rock star status? I mean, I know the image we often have of him is weak – too weak to get off the cross, for instance. Or he seems to be a pansy, painted with that lamb around his shoulders and a deer-in-headlights stare.
Religious leaders have, perhaps, not helped his cause by coloring his character out of balance – with a strong emphasis on his sympathy, kindness and compassion, and a dearth of inspiration regarding his power. So I’m going to give you four reasons why I think Jesus is something of a rock star.
He always knew The thing to say.
Sometimes he opened the dialogue, plunging headlong into the very thing that would offend his audience, even though it was no less than the truth. Without taking the other scriptures into account (which showed his deep love for the religious leaders, as well as the poor), one would think he simply had a death wish.
“Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
“Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”
One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”
Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them (…)”
Yeah. The expert in the law tried to instruct Jesus on social etiquette but he wasn’t having any of it. He refused to remain silent if its sole purpose was to placate people.
When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say.” (Luke 11:37-54)
Jesus was so divisive, he ended up unifying his enemies! The Pharisees were the highest religious leaders who followed the Jewish law to the letter. The Sadducees differed from the Pharisees in that they did not believe in the resurrection or in heaven. And the Herodians were Jews who thought they should work in sympathy with the secular leaders (at the time – King Herod), which made them politicians, and somewhat detestable to the other Jews. But these factions started working together against Jesus.
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. (Mt 22:34)
Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. (Mk 12:13)
And no matter what they said, what they asked, who was asking the question, what kind of trap they set, Jesus always knew how to answer them.
“Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
He saw through their duplicity and said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent. (Luke 20:20-26)
I don’t know about you, but coming from a girl who never knows what to say at exactly the right time, this is worthy of awe. And the people of his day felt the same way.
And they were amazed at him. (Mark 12:13-17)
When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching. (Mt 22:23-32)
No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Mt 22:46)
When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. (Luke 13:17)
Jesus is Raw Power
When we think of Jesus’ power, we think of walking on water, raising the dead, healing the sick. But we get immune to these things. They’re just stories – fairy tales – to us. (Even if we have faith, their impact can be dulled by overexposure). These events, however, were not dull to the men and women who experienced them firsthand.
“A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
(Let me just say here that these were veteran fishermen, and they thought it was all over for them – that’s how bad the storm was).
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.(…)
They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4: 37-41)
Yeah, they had seen him healing the sick and that was pretty amazing. But even that can be faked, right? Or if it’s not faked, maybe – possibly – someone else could do the same thing. But controlling the elements? Nobody can do that. This was a power they had not counted on, even in spending so much time with him.
Even in healing people … ‘people were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” (Mark 7:32-37)
And when he freed the demon-possessed, he did not have to wrestle with it to his death like the priest did in The Exorcist. (Please excuse the cheesy cultural reference). He flung the demon out with words, and he – himself – remained standing.
“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. (Mark 1:23-27)
Jesus was enough of a rock star in his day. He was constantly surrounded by people so that he had to go up to a mountain by himself in the middle of the night to be able to pray – and he had to stand in a boat some ways from the water because too many people crowded around.
But when he started getting mobbed, he didn’t need highly-paid bodyguards to get him out of the situation. He just … walked out.
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. (Luke 4:28-30)
Jesus Confounds Expectations
Jesus refused to buckle to authority. We all know that the religious leaders would not likely have let Jesus escape being crucified, since they were whispering to the crowd to demand Pilate for his execution. But still, when they hurled their accusations and insults (all of which were false or distorted truths) he didn’t try to defend himself. And before Pilate, the representative of the government who could have – at least legally – pardoned him (probably causing the crowds to murder him in some other way), Jesus did not plead his innocence.
Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent. (Mt 26:62-63)
That’s one thing. It’s one thing to stand firm against your enemies, but Jesus also stood firm against his own family! Oh, it’s so hard to resist family pressure, isn’t it? But look here –
Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” (…)
Uh yeah. They thought he was crazy.
Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:21 and 31-35)
So even though he kept them out, we later see that James and Jude (two writers of the New Testament, who are generally agreed to be Jesus’ brothers) eventually became his disciples. And his mom was supporting him at the foot of the cross.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Mt 16:21-23)
It’s as hard to resist your friends as it is your family – maybe harder. But he recognised Satan’s voice in trying to deter him from going to the cross and he would have none of it.
Jesus reminds me of Mont St Michel – a city built on a large rock that is completely surrounded by water when it is high tide. If you leave your car in the parking lot overnight, it will be ruined forever – or you’ll never see it again. Sometimes the water comes rushing in at the speed of galloping horses, but the city remains firm. And Jesus is even more firm than that. In the face of societal, cultural and familial pressure, he remains unmoved.
Jesus is a common man – The Son of Man
Being common may not seem that rock-starish to you, but it is, in a way. Those of us who are old enough – remember when Bruce Springsteen’s video came out – Dancing in the Dark? And he pulled a random girl on stage to dance with him, and she was so excited and we were so jealous? (Only it wasn’t a random girl, but Courtney Cox – and it was staged).
But everyone wants to be the fan that the rock star recognises. Everyone wants to be the one singled out. And Jesus does that. He singles you out, no matter how unremarkable you think you are.
As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
“Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. (Mt 20:29-34)
Everyone else wanted to shut them up – the way the crowds tried to do with the lepers, and the disciples tried to do with the little children, and the way the laws of cleanliness tried to keep the bleeding woman isolated and unhealed. But Jesus reached through those barriers.
He is approachable. He will accept no fame if it’s for the sole purpose of puffing himself up. He will stay common so that we can become a royal priesthood together. (referencing 1 Peter 2) Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. (John 6:15) He would not bypass the laws of heaven in order to inflate his personal status.
And there is no experience common to mankind that Jesus will not share – even when that means a religious ritual, such as being baptised for repentance (though he had no need to repent).
But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” (Mt 3:13-15)
There is no common element of life that Jesus was willing to forego if it was something that we also had to go through – whether that was being born and relying on a mother’s care, or suffering physically, or weeping, or loving, or even dying. Except he took it one step further and conquered death, paving the way to eternity.
And doesn’t that just spike him into stardom in your eyes?
I know I’ve got stars in mine.
Droit d’auteur: niserin / 123RF Banque d’images
* Some of my thoughts and observations in here were inspired by the book Jesus the Same, by Charles Edward Jefferson
I was speaking on a similar line to my children this morning, how amazing Jesus is. If you know Him and you understand what He has done and continues to do for you, you cannot help but have stars in your eyes. It’s a love like you have never known.
My dad often quotes the verse when Jesus calms the storm, and the disciples murmur together in awe and some fear. I also love when He heals the woman with the blood disorder. As for the lesson about the tax, it was yesterday’s Gospel reading in Mass, and we all laughed with the priest when he reflected on how these groups banded together to trick Jesus, but He always foiled them in astonishing ways. He’s the Man, the Son of Man. 🙂
Hillary recently posted…Birthday Attitude, Spoiled and Sweet Romance
He’s the Man! You got that right. 😀
Once again, a great post. Rock on!!
Rod jetton recently posted…MBCExtream offers LOGOS Bible Study Software 50% Off
Thanks Rod. I know I always say this, but you are awesome.
I would rather sit and talk with you like this all day long than see Ricky Martin.
You rock pretty hard, too, Jennie.
XO
julie gardner recently posted…The Heavy Bag
I love this comment. As I always do with yours. PS Dog update coming up on my blog later and it’s GOOD news!
–as much as I love Madonna, Gaga, Oliver, Adam Levine, & Angelou, Gilbert, & Strayed…
Jesus will ALWAYS be my ultimate ROCK STAR.
And you’re pretty cool, too, Jennie! xx
My Inner chick recently posted…10 Things That Effing Electrify Me
You said it! Thanks for reading Kim (whom I always want to call “Kimmie” but you would probably kill me).
NO!
Kimmie is quite endearing. This is what Kay called me. xxx
have a great weekend, Dear.
My Inner Chick recently posted…13 Reasons NOT To Friend Your Mama On Facebook
Really??? Okay in that case, I most certainly will. 😀