This is an earlier version of this talk given to Casa De Cristo on Wednesday, December 15, 2004.

The name of Jesus is know by just about every one of the 6 billion people on the Earth today. They may not agree with him, or even understand what he stands for, but they know his name.

Jesus is "THE MAN". Have you ever seen the poster with all the names for Jesus -- Son of God, God with us, Prince of Peace, The Lamb of God, The Vine, Savior, The Lord of Glory, I am. ... Obviously he was pretty special.

Temples -- houses of worship -- have been built in His name on every corner of the Earth. There are millions of statues with his image, some in houses and churches, others 100' tall on mountain tops, and even one underwater in a lagoon in Cozumel, donated by Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

To put it another way: This Jesus guy is a pretty awesome dude, and must have been pretty special to get the recognition he gets today, 2000 years after his last public gig.

But things were a lot different 2,000 years ago. Jesus was not the "cool dude" we remember of today.

Jesus was Jewish, in a time when being Jewish was not cool.

Long gone were the days of King David and King Solomon, when the Jewish nation was feared far and wide. Their country was now occupied by Romans, and while there was apparently enough to eat, that was about it. The tax burden was heavy, with any surplus going to support the capital at Rome. There was little respect for Jews. The Jewish Temple leaders were corrupt and "good buddies" with the Romans occupying the area. Life was hard. About 34 years after Jesus' crucifixion, the Romans grew tired of all the uprisings and rebellions. They destroyed the Temple, disbursed the Jews, and eliminated their Jewish problem.

While there are differences between then and now, you could look at the life of Palestinians today to get an idea of what life was like for the Jews under occupation 2,000 years ago. Being Jewish was not cool.

He was born of very questionable circumstances.

His mom and dad were not married when Jesus was conceived, and Joseph (according to Matthew's gospel), had decided to break off the engagement quietly -- no need to disgrace the girl publicly just because she was fooling around _{(Matthew 1:18-19)}. After the visit from an angel, Joseph got straightened out. But everyone else in town could still count to 9, and they knew that Jesus was conceived out of wedlock -- a big no, no within the "righteous" Jewish community. For years and years afterwords, you could hear the neighbors talk and the kids whisper, "bastard".

Jesus was poor -- what today we might call "trailer trash".

While the Wise Men did give the family gold, incense and myrrh, it was probably spent to get out of town when King Herod decreed the death of all boys two years old and younger _{(Matthew 2:7-18)}. Oh well, easy come, easy go. Carpenters can usually find work, but they'll never get rich.

Earlier, when Jesus was presented at the Temple in accordance with Jewish law, they could not even afford the price of a lamb, the standard offering for a first born. They offered "a pair of doves, or two young pigeons", costing just a few pennies in the local currency -- the alternative offering for those who were "under funded" _{(Luke 2:24)(Matthew 10:30)(Leviticus 12:6)}. These were a couple of kids -- Joseph was probably 18 or maybe 19 years old and Mary no more than 15 or 16 -- broke and just trying to get by.

Jesus lost his dad.

While Mary and Joseph had many other children after Jesus was born, by the time Jesus was 30, his dad was long gone -- possibly due to a carpenter's accident. Some have said that Jesus waited until all his siblings had grown before starting his ministry. If so, and assuming Joseph and Mary kept "busy" having kids like most couples, Joseph probably died before Jesus was 16 years old. Jesus know personal loss.

Jesus was weird.

While we probably could not call him a "sissy boy", Jesus was definitely not "normal". I could see Jesus out with his friends, all about 13 or 14 years old, the hormones are kicking in and they are eying an older woman, saying "Hey, look at that hot babe. She's got a nice pair of....". And Jesus saying something like, "Oh please! She's a child of God and worthy of respect, not turned into some sex object." And his friends look at him funny, saying, "You're really weird, man." Jesus was different, and we all know how much people like and tolerate someone who is different. Jesus may not have had a lot of friends growing up.

Even after he started his ministry, the religious leaders of the day though he was possessed by Satan. They called him a glutton and a drunkard _{(Matthew 11:19)}. Even Jesus' own mother and brothers thought he had gone off the deep end and tried to get him to come home _{(Mark 3:20-21,31-35)}.

Then there was Jesus' relationship with John -- "the disciple whom Jesus loved" _{(John 21:7)}.

This guy was 30+ years old, never married, and hung around with guys. Jesus was defiantly not a "normal" guy.

So Jesus was oppressed, illegitimate, poor, an orphan, and weird. Oh boy! I want to be like that. Where do I sign up?

I don't think so! And why in the world did they build all those statues of him?

When you look at Jesus like this, you have to ask yourself why anyone would want to be like him. Being like Jesus would be nuts! Yes, he probably was a cute baby, and it's a nice story -- but I don't want to be like that guy. "It wouldn't be cool."

And then, as Paul Harvey would say, "This is the rest of the story..."

Jesus was God's answer.

Look thru the Old Testament and see how many times God had the people do foolish things that bought great rewards. God had Noah build a boat 100's of miles from the nearest ocean. Or to save a nation, a kid was sold into slavery in Egypt and tossed in jail. When the children of Israel were thirsty, God told Moses hit a rock with a stick. Or years later when they marched around the walls of Jericho for seven days... God delights in not doing things the way the world would do them. He wants to make sure you know it's him.

When it came time to save the world, God didn't set up a committee or start a fundraising drive. He sent a poor, misfit kid, born in a smelly stable, and said here is your Messiah. Paul says in Hebrews 11 that the patriarchs of the Old Testament were looking forward to this promise. And it was kept with Jesus.

While Jesus might have been weird, he always "knew who he was and were he was going".

Even at age 12, " they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers". When asked why he was there, Jesus answered, "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" _{(Luke 2:41-50)}.

And in reality, Jesus was God.

Isaiah 7:14 says, " Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Immanuel means "God with us". John 1 -- the other Nativity story -- says that "the Word was God ... [and] the Word became flesh and lived for a while among us."

On the radio a while back, they were reading letters from kids written to God. One eight-year-old wrote, "It's nice that Jesus was born, but couldn't you have gotten him hotel reservations or something?" God could have, but he did not.

Jesus wanted everyone to know that what he was doing was thru the power of God, not because he was rich, or well educated, or had influential friends. Jesus wanted to make sure there would be no question in anyone's mind. The only way he could do what he did, the only way he could have received the wisdom he possessed, the only way he could save the world, was thru God's power and grace. The world would never understand, but his children would understand and would follow him.

Jesus said, in John 14:10-12, "Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."

Jesus can relate to what you are going thru, having gone thru the same things we have. Jesus can truly relate to what we're going thru. He's been there himself. In Hebrews, Paul says that Jesus, our high priest, is not without mercy...

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. _{(Hebrews 2:18)}

So, the next time God asks you to do something, don't ask, "Who am I? How could I do something like that?" Think of what that poor Jewish kid did by just stepping out and relying on God. And know that, by relying on God and his power, you can do "all these things, and more" _{(John 14:12)}, too. When God asks you to do something "foolish", don't worry. Jesus did a lot of "foolish" things, too. And yet it all works out for the best.

The next time you sing "What Child Is This?", you'll know the answer.

Jesus was someone just like us.