"Ecce Homo"...behold the man... who he really was... as a "man"

I do not know why...I do not know how... but this God/man called Jesus Christ speaks to me and allows me to ask questions of him (most really dumb questions, yet in his kindness he answers them)... Most times though it is Him, who initiates the topics of conversation.... I will relate one such now...

Please be advised, that I do not come from a religious background, the altar that was worshipped in my home was education and academics. I being not so bright was never a star within the family... sort of the black sheep. So when these "things" started to happen I would ask "normal people" about their religion, etc...in an attempt to see what it was to be a "Christian"... For the most part the "Christians" that I spoke with told me that Jesus was a Christian, one even said that he was told that Jesus was converted on the Cross to Christianity.... Although I am very dumb this did not make sense, even to me...

So here is the conversation that I had with Jesus in regards to Him being a "Christian"...

Jesus was born a Jew, Jesus lived his whole life as a Jew and he died as a Jew.... That at the time of his living upon earth .. you were either a Jew or a gentile... Jesus was always a Jew. Jesus went on to speak about his humanity and his environment in which he lived, first he was 100% man as well as 100% God... As man you cannot separate the fact that he lived in a Jewish community, as well as Middle Eastern community, and in order to completely understand his humanity, to the best we can here on earth, you need to understand Judaism and Middle Eastern culture. You can not separate the man of Christ from who he was within his place in history and locale. Jesus came to experience humanity and to be offered as a sacrifice for sin, doing so within a specific faith and culture.

It is stated again and again in the Gospels by Jesus that he came to do his father's will... (the will of God the father)... yet that statement also mimics what a Middle Eastern man of the times (even now) and what a Jewish man would do as well... He would do what his father told him to do... Respect and honor for ones father in the Middle Eastern culture is very high... so within the humanity of Jesus, his culture, he was always doing his father's will on human level as well as on a spiritual level... that is what Middle Eastern men do, it is the honorable thing to do.

Also when Jesus was lost in the Temple, and his mother asked, why did you do this.... Jesus responded, "did you not know I would be doing my father's business"... this statement is a spiritual one but it is also a "Middle Eastern / Jewish one"... a "good son" to his father goes about doing his father's work within this culture...

Another passage within the Gospel, Jesus states that "no one can come to me unless the father invites him".... Jesus also calls himself the "bridegroom" in the Gospels.... these are spiritual statements to be sure, but they are also Middle Eastern /Jewish statements that could be applied to a man of Jesus' time in history. They are actually very beautiful statement of culture of his time.... first in reference to Jesus calling himself a "Bridegroom".... now back then, it was the Father who picked out the bride for his son and then the marriage occurred. So in Jesus saying you cannot come to him unless the Father sends you to... he speaks like a real bridegroom of the culture of his time... "dad gets to pick out my bride"...

Also Jesus speaks of preparing a "home" in heaven for all, a place in his father's house, that is a classic Middle Eastern/ Jewish statement of the time... the Bridegroom would first go and build a home for his bride to be and it would be in his father's house. The bride upon marriage leaves her home and becomes a member of her husband's household.... (his father's home)...

There are many other hints within the Gospels that actually shout Jesus' Middle Eastern /Jewish flare to his humanity... I invite you to study the culture of the Middle East and Judaism to know your Savior better, as to the "man" he was. Jesus is a really good guy, figuratively and literally, get to know him better... for you see he calls you, "friend" now and friends share things about each other and one of the best things to share with each other is our culture, our heritage... I love going to ethnic festivals of all types each one has a richness to them a celebration of life... learn more about Jesus, celebrate his life on earth as he experienced it...