(Oct 8, 2009)

Hey Y'all, This week we'll begin our new sermon series from the Gospel of John.

JESUS: Bigger, Better and Uncut.

Why would anyone want to "cut" Jesus, edit Jesus or censor Jesus ...especially if He's better than we thought? Well, perhaps better than we thought is also bigger than we thought, and we thought that we'd like Jesus to fit into our thoughts... but then He's not bigger than we thought; not better than we thought, and we had to cut Him down to size to fit Him into our heads.

Why would someone want to censor Jesus? Well imagine if you thought your job was to explain God. Imagine if you were a religious leader from a first century synagogue, or even a 21st century church, and you thought your job was to fit God into your head, market the concept to others, and then tell people how to make the whole God thing "work" in their daily lives. What if you thought your job was to be an expert on God? Then Jesus comes along... or just someone quoting Jesus or talking about Jesus... like, John.

Take a gander at some of these verses from the Gospel of John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God;all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it... The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not.  He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.  - John 1:1-5, 9-11

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn (Greek - "judge") the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.Whoever believes in him is not condemned ("judged"), but whoever does not believe is condemned ("judged") already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God...The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life...You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me."  ...Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind...If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day." - John 3:17-18; 5:22-24; 8:15-16; 9:39; 12:47-48

"Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live...Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment."- John 5: 25, 28-29

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life."- John 5:39-40

"Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.... After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" - John 6:54, 66-67

 Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil."  - John 7:6-7

"Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw (romance) all people to myself."He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die." - John 12:31-33

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.  - John 14:5-6

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. - John 19:30

Do you see what I mean? How do you explain that? How do you market that? How do you turn that into an easy formula for mass consumption? How do you control that? Gosh, you might want to censor that; cut Jesus down to size: "Well He couldn't actually mean ______!" "Well certainly He's not saying _______!" "He can't really mean 'now' or 'all' or 'finished'!"

It's tempting to censor Jesus, so that the Word will fit into your head and surrender to your control... so He'll be just what you thought. But then, He's never better than you thought, He's just what you think... an idol - dead, as your head or my head.

However, if what John says is true, Jesus wants to be so much more than a concept in our head. He is the Life in our blood and the Lord of all things. And if we're saved by Him rather than our comprehension of Him, perhaps we can trust Jesus enough to see Him as He is: Bigger, Better and Uncut. Perhaps we can trust Him enough to let Him out of that box we call our brain; let Him off of that tree to which we pinned Him with our "knowledge of good and evil;" perhaps we can trust Him enough to let Him be Lord - Bigger, Better and Uncut.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is Bigger, Better and pretty darn Uncut.

It appears that the Gospel of John was the last gospel written. I believe that it was written by John,

    * The beloved disciple;
    * Whom Jesus nicknamed the Son of Thunder;
    * Who was not martyred like the rest, but exiled on Patmos;
    * Who lived out his days reflecting on his incredible encounters with Jesus as a young man,
    * Who saw the ancient stone temple destroyed and the living one born in the flesh of Greeks as well as Jews;
    * Who wrote three epistles;
    * And John, who was transported into the heavenly places with Jesus, where he received The Revelation of Jesus - Bigger, Better and Uncut.

Perhaps more than any of the other disciples, John had the experiences, visions and time to begin to see just how immense, powerful, beautiful, extravagant and Good his old friend Jesus really is. More than perhaps any other, John was least censored by thousands of years of religious tradition and the pressures of the establishment. He was least censored and most liberated by his vision on Patmos. John knew Jesus, the Word through whom all things are created and sustained. And John knew Jesus, on whom he rested his head in grief at the last supper.

And John wants you to know Jesus as well. Jesus is bigger than you thought, better than you thought, and although we crucified Him and cut Him down to size - He's risen.

This week we'll begin preaching through the Gospel of John. I hope that you would open your mind and surrender your heart. If you get a chance, read chapter one. No matter what, ask Jesus to show us Himself. He's not a gimmick, a self help program, or a church growth strategy. He's the Way, the Truth and the Life - your life.

And would you invite friends, family and even enemies (especially enemies)? Jesus is better than you thought. He's also better than your neighbor thinks. Tell 'em: "He's Bigger, Better, and in Love with you!"

See You Sunday,

Peter