Why Jesus? Why all the controversy?

Why is XYZ LMNOPQ okay, but not Jesus?

When the topic of Jesus Christ comes up, people be freakin’ out, and all hell breaks loose!
Why?!

Is it because people are afraid? If so, afraid of what?

Perhaps they’re afraid the one to whom we refer to as Jesus was, in fact, real, not just a story in a book; the one who taught and showed, through example, how to be as he was and do what he did.

 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” 
 John 14:12

Maybe people freak out because they believe they could never live up to the life that Jesus lived, or if they were to try, something nefarious will happen to them as well. I don’t know, but it’s not our job to be flawless. Humans will never be flawless; it’s not in our nature, nor is it very realistic. It’s our job to do the best we can to emulate Jesus; all-the-while, learning through our mistakes and relying on the Holy One to be there with us, helping us through it all.

Perhaps people have fallen victim to peer pressure - being made fun of, persecuted, or killed, due to their faith?

Hmmm…. could be.

Are people afraid if they aren’t as holy as Jesus, they’re doomed to an eternity of separation and damnation? (That’s dogma, people, not God.)

It could be that a lot of humans think Jesus was a great teacher or Sage, but not really the "Son of God."
Ok, I get that. It can be confusing. Hey, even the Council of Nicaea had to grapple with that one in AD 325! Perhaps we'll dive into that one in a future post.

Maybe it’s due to the fact that we’ve been slowly brainwashed, or coerced, into NOT believing in God; that somehow, humanity is the pinnacle of all life, and we’re a result of billions of years of “evolution,” beginning with a single-celled organism, within the great primordial ooze, developing into multi-complex organisms over billions of years.

Seriously?! Again, that may have to be a topic for another post. There are just too many things to cover within that train of thought.

For all one knows, people might freak out about Jesus because his short life was full of amazing events, and in today’s world many of those events would be considered unnatural, magic, or metaphysical. Let’s face it, Jesus was all about metaphysics, as metaphysics has to do with that which is not of the physical. Ok, so he was also about being in the physical world, but he did some amazingly impressive feats that would be considered “out of this world” or “not of this world.” The gospels record at least 37 detailed miracles of Jesus, but the apostle, John, wrote this of Jesus:

“Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” John 21:25

For now, let’s look at the 37, shall we?

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s beyond impressive! Greater works than these shall we do? Who "we"?? Not me, at least not yet. I’ve done some cool stuff in my life, and I’ve witnessed others do amazing things as well, but seriously, I don’t believe any of them would say they did those things without the power of God working through them, and if they were to say that, I think they’d be lying. We are the vessels through which God works. Overall, I guess my faith isn’t even that of a mustard seed, since I’m not out doing any of the miraculous things that were recorded by eye witnesses during the time of Jesus. As he said in Matthew 17:20 -

“… you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

How about you? Are you moving mountains or walking on water yet? Are you feeding thousands of people from only 2 fish and a few loaves of bread? How about healing people’s afflictions (without the aide of medicine or machines), but rather through the power and grace of God - and perhaps some mud? Yeah, look that one up in the Bible! How’s that raising people from the dead thing working for you? Is that why people freak out when we talk of Jesus?! I know it’s really “out there,” but who are we to say it didn’t happen, when there are multiple witnesses from the time of Jesus who say it did? This is an age-old debate, and not one I’m attempting to settle here. I just want people to return to my original question:

Why Jesus? Why all the controversy?

Why is XYZ LMNOPQ okay, but NOT Jesus?

When the topic of Jesus Christ comes up, people be freakin’ out, and all hell breaks loose!
Why?! Is it so terrible to have faith that a Holy Being came to show us how to reestablish our lost relationship with God and that we, too, could do the same amazing things, and more, were it not for a lack of faith?

Asking for a friend… 😉