Jesus was a trouble maker
We think we know Jesus.
We think of him as that hometown boy that everyone loves, you know like Tim Tebow in sandals. The kind of guy that all the Grandmas loved and the little boys looked up to. He was nice…right?
The religious leaders didn’t think he was nice, he made it tough on them. He caused a lot of trouble, so much that they wanted to kill him.
The money changers in the church didn’t think he was nice. He marched in, turned their tables over, scattered their money and called them names.
Nice guys usually don’t make trouble.
Jesus did.
He wasn’t the hometown hero! People in his hometown had a problem seeing him for who he was. They looked at him and saw Joseph and Mary’s boy, nothing more than a carpenter.
Mark 6.3 says: “they tripped over what little they knew about him and fell sprawling. And they never got any further.”
We trip over what we think we know.
We have to get to know Jesus…the real Jesus. Strip away the preconceived notions and nice sentiment and see what you find.
Be warned, it might get you into trouble!
Jesus redefined the rules. He turned law into love.
“I lay down my life for you because I love you, so love me and love each other.”
That kind of thinking stirs up trouble!
Then he actually, in true trouble maker form, did what he said.
He laid down his life.
The trouble maker became the trouble taker.
“Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.” (Isaiah 53.4)
Get to know Jesus, not just know about him, but truly know him.
The Son of God came to make and take trouble.
My rebel heart likes that.
carbonated joy 