What if Jesus Was Here Today?
So what about it? What if Jesus was here today living among us?
Well, if Jesus were here today, He might have been born and raised in a poor part of town. His father probably would work with his hands, maybe construction, and his mother would be a housewife.
As a youth He would have been at the main churches talking to pastors and preachers about their beliefs.
As a young man in His 30s, He might be a homeless wanderer, that is to say, with little money and no place to rest His head probably sleeping in the park or on the streets and having meals with whomever invited him.
Some might see him as a rough character with long hair, an unshaven face and dressed in street clothes. Maybe he would look like just a regular Joe, a hood or maybe even a bum. The difference being the glow around Him, His comforting smile, the authority in His voice, the warmth of His hands and His eyes that can see into your soul. He is like no one you have ever met.
And He would be followed by a rough bunch of regular guys. Probably guys who never finished school and worked hard for little money. Guys who everyone thinks they are better than. As a group, Jesus and His friends might look like an assorted gang of nobodies.
Where would we find him? Would He be in a beautiful ornate church in a well-to-do neighborhood talking with leaders, politicians and business entrepreneurs or in “dangerous and shady” neighborhoods among the "low class" ordinary folks who struggled the most?
So what would Jesus do? Well, there are a few things for certain.
He would be in the public places telling the people how much God loves them and how they can live a life of goodness and love.
He would go to the big fancy powerful churches and confront them about their hypocrisy, double standards, self-righteous prejudice and love of power and money, especially the clergy and the leaders who were teaching that God hates those who don't meet their standards.
He would stand up for people as He did back then. He would help those who messed up their own lives. He would help the homeless man who everyone scorned. He would help the gay man with AIDS and would be labeled as gay Himself because it. He would protect the local transgender from those who harassed her. He would have dinner with a gang member and his friends. He would forgive a juvenile delinquent who was convicted of ransacking a house.
And He would tell the people to live exactly as He was living: doing good, giving and forgiving, healing and loving - to bring God's Kingdom back to this world.
And what about Jesus’ miracles?
Well, if Jesus were to do miracles, those who wanted to defame Him would proclaim that Jesus had accomplices to perform His hoaxes and dismiss His acts as “slight of hand.” No one would believe in any of His healings except of course those who were healed themselves. And Jesus raising someone from the dead would definitely make the news, but many of us would still say, “I don’t believe that for a minute.” We would find a way to dismiss His miracles scientifically and only credit Jesus for being the new David Blaine seeking His 15 minutes of fame.
Because Jesus points out the hypocrisy, pride, self-righteousness and greed of the Church Big Wigs, they seek to shut Him up through their connections with friends in high places, who would discredit Him using newspapers, media, the internet, and social network, to make Him look like a liar, con artist, fraud, charlatan, mental case or whatever they wanted.
Of course the local papers hype up the drama between Him and the church authorities, creating division and a mob against Jesus. “Son of a Construction Worker accuses Highest Church of Hypocrisy and Corruption, claims to be God's Son.”
Jesus would be arrested and sentenced for some charge: disturbing the peace, insurrection, destroying church property, practicing unlicensed medical procedures, conspiring with known criminals, junkies, sexual deviants and who knows what else, because in these dangerous times, we need to protect ourselves from evil doers and terrorists. Of course, the entire incident is corrupted and illegal on many levels but it is all done out of the public view. So if there are closed-door meetings with judges and quiet sentencing, well they must be justified and for good reason. He would be tried and sentenced for some sort of crime, which would quickly lead to His public humiliation and ultimately, His death.
The whole incident would make the papers and opinions would be divided across the board. “Well, He shouldn’t have made waves in the church or government, He brought it upon Himself”.
When rumor spreads that Jesus had risen from the dead 3 days later, the public would scoff at the idea as ridiculous and a Tabloid Conspiracy Concoction run amok, spread by His gang members who stole His body. Most of us probably wouldn’t believe it and just return to our old way of life, on to the next bizarre news gossip item.
If Jesus came back today, it would be exactly as it was back then, those who didn’t believe in Him, still wouldn’t believe in Him. And those who truly know God would see that He was indeed the Son of God.
So what about it? Would you believe an idealistic liberal street-talking homeless retro-hippie who spoke like He knew everything, forgave sinners, challenged the major religion and does questionable healings claiming to be the Son of God and who has now supposedly risen from the dead and will come back soon?
Hmm…I wonder.
©2014 Edrick
| Main Menu | Back to Articles |
n