Hearing the authentic Jesus

Scripture Verses that Caught My Attention today: Mark 1:14-15 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Observation: I wonder if it seemed odd in those days for Jesus to say such things.

Application: Earlier this morning I logged onto the internet to check on the weather conditions, school cancellations, etc. While doing so an advertising window popped up proclaiming that something big was going to happen in 2011 that would change my life forever, thus the advertisement beckoned me to “click here” to watch the “shocking video.” Rather than accept the invitation I chose to simply close the window and go on with my life. I had no time or interest in following what to me appeared to be nothing more than another internet scheme.

Yet the message of Jesus may well have seemed similar to the Internet advertisement. Jesus more or less indicated that this is the time, this is the year, God is here…NOW. Instead of “clicking,” Jesus asked the people of his day to take another kind of action (repent) and still more action (believe).

I wonder how many of them wrote him off as just another schemer. And I wonder if I would have done the same thing.

Still, my impression of Jesus is that he said such things in a way that was different from other claims. I don’t sense that he said things with a sense of panic, but rather with a sense almost calm authenticity. But I have no proof of that other than a Scripture passage or two indicating that he “taught with authority and not like the Scribes.”

Prayer: Lord, it’s not easy in our “gotta grab your attention” world to separate the authentic from the hype. Help us to hear and respond to the authentic you and not be distracted by others who might endeavor to make such claims for themselves. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Scripture readings today included: Numbers 10-11, Psalm 27 and Mark 1)