Remember the messianic chapter in Isaiah (53)
We focused on it a bit in last week's SS lesson.

"3": He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

I was studying the SS lesson this week and meditating on the themes and another light bulb came on.
The verse is still true and it applies to the church.

Matt 24
"24": For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

The deception IN the church is regarding who Jesus is and what He expects. It also encroaches on the fiction that one thinks that they love Jesus.
Jesus seems to be a wonderful adorable savior...that is until he comes and stays at your house for more than a week.
It is fairly easy to tolerate a guest for a couple hours a week.

Think of family or relatives visiting...ya know how it is when they are there for extended stays??

What are the hints that reveal the hostility, animosity, and recoiling toward the person of Jesus?

JimBob,

At first I felt inclined to approach this by challenging you with whether you meant to imply that if one's Jesus is not a jerk, one is not worshipping the "right" Jesus. That if one is not encountering a harsh, exacting taskmaster -- or a rude, intrusive "jerk" -- they are not encountering the Living God.

Then I paused (or maybe the Spirit of God paused me) and realized that would be jumping to conclusions, so I have decided instead to ASK you -- would you like to share what you meant by those statements? What kind of Jesus do you think people should be encountering on that more-than-a-few-hours-weekly basis? What kind of Jesus is this not-so-adorable wonderful savior? What do you think makes Jesus "hard to live with" as you hinted (regarding prolonged guest stays & getting on with relatives, etc.)?

When I read Isaiah 53:3 and apply it to today, I tend to think of the popular cliques and their expectations that Jesus would be one of them. I'd like to shove it in their faces that Jesus could just as easily have been physically unattractive, a "nerd", a "goody two shoes", or in some other way one of the "outcast" group instead of the in-group. I think it's important for ALL of us to know that Jesus doesn't come with the coin of man's realm, so to speak, to recommend Him, but with the coin of the Heavenly, if you get my drift. His is the REAL mintage of the heart, of the interior substance of His Being, not how good He looked or how witty He could be or how far He could kick a ball or how much He could show off to the lads. Y'know?

Nico,

I need to run to SS

Thanks for the reply and your post was a good elaboration..
Look at the latter part of the verse where Isaiah..says "we".
Then refer to Rom 8:7 Jer 17:9..

Think of why a prophet is slain and the reaction to a prophet in the bible.
Think of the doctrinal controversies in the church..not just SDA.

Think of my homiletic tirade/rant on this site.
Think of the reverence issues I bring up (cellphones , noise in the church)..
Look atTuesday's lesson for today and the contoversy regarding the theme.
Think of what Satan claims regarding the law of God
Clues..

Think about Jesus more as your beloved: I could spend all day, every day, 24/7/365/three-score-and-ten-plus-another-two-score, with my Suzie and enjoy every moment. And Jesus is more loving than that. He (and she) encourages me to become more than I am and do better, but I want to, I'm not nagged to.

Bravus have you ever seen As Good as it Gets with Jack Nicholson playing the OCD guy? When he tells Helen Hunt's character, "You make me want to be a better man," to me that sums up the essence of Love -- especially in light of what a completely difficult life this man leads and how his condition so completely isolates him from successfully interfacing with "normal" society, etc. Well, love, to me, is what makes me want to be a better whatever -- person, woman, wife, girlfriend, friend, helper, mother, sister, daughter -- you name it. Love is what makes me want to be better than I am, and not a bit because I "have to". It's because I WANT to.

That's what I'm looking for in a God -- Someone who can put that Want To in my heart. Do you think that's how Jesus works with us? By putting the "Want To" there?

p.s. your love for your wife really shines in your posts whenever you mention her! it's nice to see a man still "delighting himself in the wife of his youth" at our age. ... restores one's faith in human nature (at least, as intended by God to be, that is).

Thanx, Nico - it rocks to be crazy in love with my wife!

JimBob, it's a great concept though: "If Jesus came to stay at my house". (No! NO reality TV show!)

I think, simply put, he'd surprise and challenge any one of us by the things He's comfortable with and the things he challenges us to change. There'd definitely be times when he'd be surprisingly hardline around us liberal relativists. And there'd be times when some of the more hardline humans would call *Him* a liberal relativist! He'd be comfortable with things that make us uncomfortable - remember, this is the guy who partied with the whores and drunks, and I guarantee you those parties didn't turn all G-rated just because He was there.

I suspect we'd turn off the TV, not so much because we were ashamed of what was on, but because it was more interesting and more fun to talk to Him.

I'm not sure where this 'prickly, hard to live with' notion of Jesus comes from - yes, He always challenged people to grow, learn, choose life, be saved. But remember He was always surrounded by a crowd of people who had dropped what they were doing and just couldn't stand to not be with Him. He was surrounded by kids playing and just enjoying being with Him. People were sending messengers across the country to get Him to come to their village. Doesn't seem to me like he was all prickly and censorious and a pain to be around ...

Does anyone here remember the old poem/record of "If Jesus Came to Your House" ? It asks about all the changes "you" would have to make before you would be comfortable with Him there - the magazines and books to be put some place else, etc. Obviously "you" would be feeling you had to be on your best behaviour and that is hard for an hour, let alone a week. So the problem is not that Jesus would be prickly or whatever, but on what standards "you" felt you had to keep up while He was there. And that would make "you" very prickly indeed.

On the other hand, when the feeling for Jesus is as Bravus describes - a bit like the joy in the presence of a loved spouse - those perceived necessary standards are not the driving force. They are overridden by the continual delight in His presence.

That is how I read this topic anyway.

Hey Nan isn't that kind of like the Mary/Martha split? Martha thinking she had to be the perfect hostess, show the best courtesy and impeccable manners not to mention diligence, etc. -- while Mary just wants to hang out and listen to the cascading waters of life flowing from the Master's lips, tasting the joy of His presence.

Refer to SSL #5 Monday for additional insight.

I used Jer 17:9 and Rom 8:7 in yesterday's SS class

Yes Nico that is a good way of putting it. And on a personal level I always felt more like a Martha than a Mary - which lesson is not lost on me.