Understanding Jesus: Part 1
Would the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?
Have you ever wondered what Jesus was really like? I’m not talking about the Jesus that has been packaged and presented to us by Hollywood, I mean the real historical Jesus of Nazareth. They’re not the same person. The westernized version has blonde hair, blue eyes and a British accent. That’s a far cry from the Jesus I discovered in Israel. I’ll never forget the first time I went to the Holy Land. It was 2002, and there was an all-out assault in Jerusalem. I landed at a time called the “Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising”. There were suicide bombings on an almost daily basis. The Land was empty, and it afforded me the opportunity to travel very quickly to many sites across the country.
Before I went to Israel, I had been a Christian for more than two decades and thought I knew Jesus. I had graduated from Bible College and has spent many years in full-time ministry. Little did I realize the shock I was in for when I boarded that flight to Tel Aviv. The more I traveled around the Land, the more I realized how little I actually knew about the historical Jesus. The people, the food, and the culture began to heavily impact me.
I get goosebumps as I begin reliving the first time I ever stood on Mount Carmel and looked out across the Valley of Armageddon. I can still remember the exact moment when God first spoke to me about the significance and importance of Israel. I knew that if I wanted to understand God and His Word, then I needed to understand this Land, and the people who lived in it.
I went to Israel with a base knowledge of Jesus, but I returned home with a passion and love for Yeshua—the real, historical, Jewish Jesus. That first trip motivated and launched me on a journey of rediscovery. I have dedicated my life and ministry to discovering and sharing about the biblical and historical Jesus. I wrote about this journey in my first book “Understanding Jesus: Cultural Insights into the Words and Deeds of Christ”. As you read the pages of this book, my prayer and desire, is that the Jesus of history would leap off the pages, and into your heart. That you would know Him in a new and exciting way, and that you would share His incredible and exciting message with as many people as you can.