00:00You know, one of the things many people believe about Jesus without even realizing it is that
00:08Jesus looked like them, sounded like them, voted like them, dressed like them, belonged
00:16to their culture, and naturally fit inside their world.
00:21And for a lot of people in the West, that's a reality.
00:25It's not a creative writing thing, something like I do.
00:29They actually believe that Jesus was white, American-looking, European-looking, or almost
00:39like a gentle religious figure from an old painting.
00:43Light skin, soft brown flowing hair, blue or light-colored eyes, clean robe, calm face,
00:52a version of Jesus who feels familiar to Western imagination.
00:57But that picture is not the Jesus who walked the roads of Galilee.
01:04Jesus was not a white guy.
01:07He was not American.
01:09And he was not Western either.
01:12Jesus was a first-century Jewish man from the Middle East.
01:17He was born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, lived under Roman occupation, worshipped in
01:26Jewish settings, quoted Hebrew scripture, went to synagogue, celebrated Jewish feasts, and
01:34lived among people whose language, culture, food, clothing struggles, and daily life were
01:42very different from modern America.
01:45And that matters.
01:47Why?
01:48Well, not because the exact shade of his skin is the center of the gospel.
01:54It's obviously not.
01:55Jesus came to save the world, and his blood is enough for every nation, every tribe, every
02:05language, every people, every skin color, every background, every wounded soul, and every
02:17sinner who comes to him.
02:19But it still matters when we quietly remake Jesus in our own image, because when people
02:27make Jesus look exactly like their culture, they often begin making him think exactly like
02:34their culture, too.
02:36And that's where the danger comes in.
02:38The problem is not simply a painting.
02:42The problem is possession.
02:44When we turn Jesus into our Jesus, instead of the Lord of all creation, we start using
02:55him to bless whatever we already wanted to believe.
02:58We make him American when he is King of Kings.
03:03We make him Western when he is Lord of every nation.
03:08And we make him comfortable when he came calling people to repentance.
03:14We make him polite when he overturned tables.
03:18We make him tribal when he broke barriers.
03:22We make him safe when he came with truth, mercy, judgment, grace, and authority.
03:30And before long, we're not following Jesus anymore.
03:35We're following a version of Jesus that flatters us.
03:39And that is why this matters so much, I think.
03:42Because the real Jesus does not belong to just one nation.
03:47He didn't just come for Americans.
03:50He didn't just come for Israel.
03:52He does not belong to one political party.
03:56He doesn't belong to one race.
03:58And he does not belong to one denomination.
04:03We belong to him.
04:06And that is the order.
04:09You see, Jesus is not something we decorate with our identity.
04:14He is the one who gives us a new identity.
04:18And when we remember that Jesus was Jewish, it humbles us.
04:24It reminds us that Christianity did not begin as an American comfort system.
04:29It did not begin as a Western motivational brand.
04:34It did not begin in a clean, polished church building with perfect lighting and a coffee bar in the lobby.
04:41It began in the story of Israel.
04:45It began with covenant, prophets, promises, exile, longing, scriptures, sacrifice, exactly as God promised.
04:57And Jesus did not appear out of nowhere.
05:01He fulfilled the story God had been telling for generations.
05:05So, when people detach Jesus from his Jewishness, they often flatten the Bible.
05:13They lose the depth of the Old Testament.
05:16They miss the meaning of Messiah.
05:19And they forget that Jesus did not come to start a brand new religion disconnected from everything before him.
05:28He came as the fulfillment of God's promise.
05:32But there's another side as well.
05:36Remembering that Jesus was not white or American also protects us from pride.
05:42It reminds us that no group gets to stand over everyone else and say,
05:48Jesus is mainly ours.
05:51No, Jesus is the Savior of the world.
05:56The same Jesus who was born among the Jewish people,
06:00his disciples were sent to all nations.
06:04The gospel went beyond Jerusalem, beyond Judea, beyond Samaria, beyond Rome, beyond Europe,
06:13even beyond America, beyond every border human beings draw.
06:18And that means the person worshiping Jesus in Africa is not worshiping a foreign Savior.
06:27The person worshiping Jesus in Asia is not borrowing a Western God.
06:33The person worshiping Jesus in South America, the Middle East, Europe, Australia, or a small town in America is not
06:44reaching for someone else's Lord.
06:50He came through a particular people, a particular place, at a particular time, but his salvation was meant for the
06:59whole world.
06:59And you know what?
07:01That is so beautiful.
07:03Because God did not send an abstract Savior.
07:07He sent a real one.
07:09A real man.
07:11A real history.
07:12With real ancestry.
07:15In a real body.
07:17Among real people under real pressure.
07:21And that should make our faith stronger, not weaker.
07:26Jesus was not a myth floating above history.
07:30He entered history.
07:32He entered geography.
07:34He entered culture.
07:36He entered pain and oppression.
07:39He entered the ordinary human world.
07:44You know what?
07:45He had a mother.
07:47He had neighbors.
07:48He had a hometown.
07:50He knew hunger.
07:52He knew tired feet.
07:54He knew rejection.
07:56He knew what it meant to be judged by appearance.
08:01He knew what it meant for people to misunderstand him.
08:05So, when we talk about the real Jesus, we are not trying to win an argument about artwork.
08:12We are trying to recover reverence.
08:15We are trying to say, Lord, I do not want to reshape you into someone who makes me feel comfortable.
08:24I want to know you exactly as you are.
08:29And you know what?
08:30That is where humility begins.
08:33Because the more we see the real Jesus, the less we can use him.
08:38We cannot use him to worship nationalism.
08:42We cannot use him to excuse racism.
08:45We cannot use him to bless greed, support cruelty, or defend pride.
08:52We cannot use him to pretend our culture is always right.
08:58And everyone else is beneath us.
09:02The real Jesus stands above every culture and calls every culture to bow.
09:08He corrects America.
09:11He corrects Europe.
09:12He corrects the Middle East.
09:15He corrects Africa.
09:17He corrects Asia.
09:19He corrects every nation, every leader, every system, every church, every family, and every heart.
09:28And he does not do that because he hates the world.
09:32He does it because he loves the world enough to save it.
09:36So, maybe the question is not just, what did Jesus look like?
09:42Maybe the deeper question is, have I made Jesus look too much like me?
09:50Have I made him approve of what I already approve of?
09:54Have I made him angry at everyone I'm angry at?
09:59Have I made him silent about sins I want to keep?
10:04Have I made him loud about sins I do not like?
10:09Have I made him more American than holy?
10:12More cultural than biblical?
10:16More useful than worshipped?
10:19Because the real Jesus will not stay inside the frame we build for him.
10:24He steps out of our paintings.
10:27He steps out of our politics.
10:30He steps out of our religious comfort zones.
10:34He steps out of our cultural assumptions.
10:37And he says, follow me.
10:42Not follow the version of me you inherited without question.
10:46Not follow the version of me your culture edited.
10:51Not follow the version of me that never challenges you.
10:57Follow me, the Jewish Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world,
11:03the Lamb who was slain, the risen King,
11:08the one before whom every nation will bow.
11:12No, that is the Jesus we need.
11:16Not a Jesus made in our image.
11:19The Jesus who remakes us in His.
11:26My name is Douglas Vandergraaf, and I believe in Jesus Christ.
11:32God bless every single one of you.
11:36Every single one.
11:43God bless every single one of you.
11:43God bless every single one of you.
11:44God bless every single one of you.
11:45God bless every single one of you.
11:46God bless every single one of you.
11:46God bless every single one of you.
11:46God bless every single one of you.
11:46God bless every single one of you.
11:46God bless every single one of you.
11:46You
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