Back in the day, the "cool" people (A.K.A., the Pharisees) didn't think much of Jesus. In fact, they completely hated Him. But I think Jesus was (and is!) pretty cool and here's why:
1. He performed awesome miracles.
Even people who don't know much about Jesus know that he performed miracles. And they were awesome miracles. Like raising people from the dead and healing people. But His very first miracle was turning water into wine - who wouldn't want that guy at a party?
2. He didn't discriminate against anyone.
A crazy thought in this day and age, right? It seems like all we do today is discriminate against others for a multitude of reasons - race, gender, sexual orientation, economic standing - but Jesus didn't hate people like we do today. He loved. He hung out with the tax collectors and the prostitutes - he made fishermen into disciples. He lived his life with the outcasts, explaining that the healthy don't need a doctor - the sick do. So he loved all people, even the people others disliked.
3. He broke the rules... a lot.
People think that Christianity is stuffy and boring because we have to follow all of these rules. But haven't you read anything about Jesus? He broke all the rules! He ate with outcasts, cared about the people everyone else saw as worthless. His values and the Pharisees' values never matched up and it caused a lot of problems. Jesus lived a backwards life, telling people that by being less, they would become more. He preached riches in heaven, not riches on earth. In fact, following Jesus meant casting off all worldly things, dropping your whole life, and leaving it all behind for Jesus. And it was worth it. Jesus was a rebel. People seem to always picture him as a lamb, but he was a lion! He turned five loaves of bread and two fish into a meal to feed thousands. He healed on the Sabbath. Oh, that reminds me...
4. He healed — physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Jesus was so great that He could make the blind see with a little bit of dirt and spit. He made a paralyzed man walk with just a single command. A woman who bled for years was healed by just touching His cloak. And remember that time he brought Lazarus back to life? Talk about healing! And it wasn't just physical. He eased minds. He calmed anxious spirits. And the crazy thing is that He still does these miracle. He heals physical ailments, depression, and anxiety. Someone in your life has been miraculously healed in some way - ask them about it sometime. Because once it happens to you, you can't go back.
5. He spent the first 30 years of his life doing nothing special.
God came down to earth and was born by the virgin Mary and while people knew this baby called Jesus was special, we sometimes forget the gap the Bible doesn't really talk about. Jesus — God — was a baby, dependent on parents, a toddler learning to walk and talk, an awkward teenager trying to transition to adulthood. He spent his adult life as a carpenter, a lowly position, working a job with his hands. Eventually, He healed bodies and minds, cast out demons, ate with outcasts - but He began as a man.
6. While fully God, Jesus was also fully human.
We remember the Jesus of healing and miracles, but I think the reason Jesus waited so long to start His ministry is because He had to learn how to just be human. The point of Jesus coming to earth was so that God could empathize with us. I know it's hard to believe, but Jesus was a baby Who probably soiled Himself more than once. He had to crawl before he could walk. He was completely dependent on His parents. Jesus had to eat to stay nourished and when He walked all those miles, His feet hurt, just like us. He did back-breaking work and though it's hard to believe, his body ached like ours does after a long day on the job. And he got dirty - he had to take baths just like us. Jesus was human. He knew hunger pangs and back aches and dirty feet.
7. He had doubts.
Maybe this shouldn't be so relieving to me, but to know that Jesus doubted God makes it easier to accept that sometimes, you do just doubt God's plan. In the garden the night that Judas would betray him, Jesus felt intense fear. He didn't want to die. Remember, Jesus was human — no one wants to die, especially not in such a horrible way. It was brief, but Jesus doubted God's plan.
8. But He didn't run when He could have - when we most likely would have.
He's God — He didn't have to let the guards take him. He could have leveled the entire world if He wanted to. But He didn't. He obeyed God and allowed Himself to be taken into custody even knowing how it would end. Which took a lot of guts.
9. He suffered a horrendous death... for us.
He was beaten, whipped, humiliated, and hung on a cross to die. It wasn't just physical torture, but mental anguish. Hung next to two thieves, nails embedded in his palms and feet, Jesus died a wicked death. And He did it for a wicked people.
And if He had to, He'd do it again.
10. At the very end, He asked God to forgive those who put Him on that cross.
That, my friends, is love. In the midst of death, He asked God to forgive "them" - His persecutors and later on, us, because let's face it, we put Jesus back on that cross all the time. He doesn't condemn them or us, but forgives. And when He died, Jesus took the weight of the entire world's sin on Him. His death assured us that we can have life - because of the Giver of Life, Jesus Christ.
11. Death couldn't hold Him.
Jesus died on the cross, but death didn't get to keep hHm. He rose again, which was proof that Jesus was the living God. His life, death, and resurrection means that Satan and death cannot conquer us. Because of Jesus, no matter what we face and what pain we feel, we take comfort in knowing that God is already victorious. Death couldn't hold Jesus, which means death can't hold you. Jesus guaranteed us our eternity — pretty cool, right?
Whether you believe in God and Jesus or not, there's a lot of research out there that proves Jesus was a real person who lived once. And He was pretty cool - even though a lot of people didn't like him then, and a lot of people don't like Him now. Plus, He loves you! No matter what. That counts for something, right?
