On Jesus: Who I never knew.

I started reading another Yancey book today, having finished the one about Prayer. "The Jesus I never knew" is now on the lunchtime agenda. I wanted to start personalising Jesus, since attention so far has been so focused on "figuring out" God and coming to terms with his existence. I realised that I had almost skipped over the topic of who Jesus is, and why he should be so important to me. I know roughly how he lived, what he did and the significance of his death, but I'm struggling to meaningfully connect that to my life.

Part of the issue was wanting to take my time working through the Bible, preferably no more than a chapter a day. It has meant that my understanding of Christianity as a whole has been increasing steadily, while my picture of Jesus has remained at best hazy, and at worst hollow. I decided the best way to start building up an image - and eventually, a relationship - with this currently distant being was to start investigating him proper.

I began the first chapter today in a small city centre cafe, the chaotic and bloody environment Jesus was born into seemed quite at odds with the whimsical holiday tunes that were apparently describing the same event. It's exactly what I wanted, a no nonsense approach to someone whos message has perhaps been diluted by centuries of mainstream acceptance.