Searching for the real Jesus

Which version of Jesus are Christians following today?

Aug 02, 2024

“Many people are obsessed with the second coming, because deep down inside they were really disappointed with the first one.” - Fred Craddock

Photo by Mads Schmidt Rasmussen on Unsplash

I grew up learning about the Jesus of the Bible. Maybe I should clarify that by saying that I grew up learning about the Jesus of the gospels. The Jesus we heard stories about in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The one we sang about in Sunday School: “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” The Jesus who gave us the Beatitudes, aka, the Sermon on the Mount. In this beautiful sermon, Jesus names unfortunate or marginalized people and calls them “blessed.” I’ve heard it called the “great reversal.” I’m sure it left many in the crowd confused, but it made sense to me. The Jesus I knew was always the healer and the comforter to those who were in need. The Jesus I knew was inclusive, compassionate, merciful, non-violent, grace-filled, forgiving, kind, and I believe even had a good sense of humor! (C’mon… you can’t tell me that when Jesus told Peter to cast his net on the other side of the boat and suddenly Peter’s nets were so full he could barely pull it into the boat that Jesus wasn’t giggling at Peter’s amazement!)

I’ll admit there were a few things I learned about Jesus that were incorrect. Like the fact that in our church, the pictures of Jesus showed a long-haired blonde, light-skinned man with beautiful blue eyes. Now I know that couldn’t possibly be an accurate representation. Jesus was a middle eastern Jew. He most certainly didn’t resemble Brad Pitt… lol.

However, my point is that I learned about a Jesus that was easy to love. A Jesus that I felt safe with. A Jesus I knew always welcomed me with open arms, no matter how badly I felt about myself. And I was surrounded by many Christians who took on those same traits as Jesus followers. My Dad was one of those people. He was a man of deep integrity and was always, gracious, kind, forgiving, non-violent, compassionate and yes, very funny! He walked the walk and I was lucky to have him as a beautiful example of Christ in my home. Because of Dad’s example (and others around me as well), I never even thought about checking out any other religion. Christianity was all I felt I needed in order to have a healthy spiritual life.

This is why I was so confused as I grew up and started looking around at other Christians in the world. Sadly, I wasn’t always seeing the same attributes. In fact, in some instances, I was actually seeing the opposite of what I thought Jesus modeled for us to follow. I saw a lot of fear and hate towards anyone who wasn’t “one of us.” I saw piousness mixed with hypocrisy. I saw pride instead of humility. I saw aggression, entitlement and bullying. I saw them loving their religious beliefs more than they loved people. And it all started to bother me.

These Christians didn’t resemble the Jesus that I knew at all. Why were the characteristics of the Jesus I knew getting pushed aside? Some even viewed them as weaknesses. It almost seemed as if the Jesus I knew was getting absorbed by a new version of Jesus in many Christian circles. I was now seeing an angry Jesus, determined to “kill the enemy” and be victorious in changing the world to a “Christian” world. It’s as if the original Jesus wasn’t strong enough for us to worship. He was too weak and mild-mannered. We needed to focus on the Jesus that was coming back because THAT Jesus has our backs! He was coming again someday to “make things right” and when that happens, well, everyone who doesn’t believe like we do better LOOK OUT. The second Jesus wasn’t going to take any crap from jerks like the first Jesus did! This was a Jesus to get behind. This was a Jesus to fight for. This was a Jesus who would make things right, even if the first one couldn’t… or wouldn’t.

I was recently listening to a great sermon by Josh Scott, which was titled “The Metamorphosis of Jesus” — and it really brought some language into some of my own feelings and confusion when it comes to who Jesus really is.

The first Jesus was compassionate. The one that’s coming back is portrayed as vengeful.

The first Jesus was a healer. The one that’s coming back is a wounder.

The first Jesus was non-violent. The one that’s coming back is violent.

The first Jesus was a lamb. The one that’s coming back —- is a lion.1

Here is my question. Why would Jesus come back so differently?

I had someone try to explain this to me by saying that although the Jesus of the Bible was humble, gentle, kind, merciful and full of grace, the Jesus that comes in the Second Coming will finally show the world who He really is! In his first coming he endured the mockery of men who despised him for his goodness. Although he was the Son of God, he allowed them to put him to death, that he might thereby provide salvation for the world. When he comes again, all mockery will cease for he will rule the nations with a rod of iron. He came the first time as the Lamb of God; he comes again as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.2

Soooo… we didn’t get to see who he really was the first time? Was that all some act? Was he just tricking us into following him by pretending to be full of love and grace and mercy? So I guess when he comes back, we will see the REAL Jesus, who now rules with a rod of iron! Goodness. Sounds scary.

I’m not buying it. I believe in and follow the Jesus that I know from the first coming. I think he showed us who he really is the first time. Writing this I was reminded of a great quote by Maya Angelou:

Why would Jesus of the gospels completely change into a different Jesus with opposite characteristics in his second coming? Something about this just doesn’t add up to me at all.

In my own personal journey lately, I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what I believe to be true about Jesus. I’ve been working on this in depth with my spiritual director. Having two completely different Jesus’s now isn’t helping me AT ALL. Which one am I supposed to believe in, follow, emulate? Which one is the real Jesus?

I can’t say for sure, but TODAY, I believe in the first one. I believe that IS who God really is. God is LOVE. God is a spirit. As Christians, we are taught to believe that Jesus was God incarnate. “Incarnation” literally means “embodied in flesh.” So, we believe the Divine Spirit, which is God, entered the very real human body of Jesus to walk the earth, fully God and fully human. He came to show us a different way of loving one another and loving God. He changed people through loving them well. I believe that’s what we are called to do too. Change the world with love, not by violence, force, or other types of coercion.

I’m not quite sure yet what to do with this second coming Jesus, but he seems to be someone that many people are much more excited about following than the Jesus of the gospels. That makes me sad. I think the first one is pretty great!

Which Jesus do you see the most these days in Christianity? Jesus #1 or #2?

Searching for the real Jesus

Which version of Jesus are Christians following today?

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