Jesus came into the world to save it, but the world was taken by storm with Jesus’ knowledge and practice of the law. To the people of His day, He was a radical. We may need a little history here…
The Pharisees had taken every Jewish law and defined, refined and distorted the law until what a lot of people were following was just interpretations of the law and not the actual law itself. Jesus came along and said NO. This is not what My Father said. This was radical.
Jesus tried to explain it to them in His first two parables. Listen to Jesus in Mark 2:21-22: “Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; for the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.”
Jesus was trying to explain that HE couldn’t be fit into the mold they were used to using. He came to burst not only the wineskin and tear the veil, but to overcome death. He did not just come to modify the old law, but to redefine love and law. Jesus seemed to pass this passion and love and zeal on to his followers of the day. They seemed to get into more trouble, because they didn’t fit the mold. While in Thessalonica they are welcomed with this from Acts 17:6: "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.”
What would people say if we came to their town, would they see something fresh and new and loving? Would they say we are turning the world upside down like they did of Paul, Silas and the disciples of Jesus day? Would they be able to tell we have been with Jesus, or would we fit in just fine? I don’t know about you, but I want to be radical for Jesus.
God Bless!
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