Jesus -- the "Nice Guy"

I was listening to the radio the other day (yes, I'm addicted to Air1) and Brant was talking about Jesus. You're probably thinking, "Well duhh! It's a Christian radio station. Who else would they be talking about?" and you're right. Christian radio stations tend to talk about Jesus a lot. I'm rambling. To get back to the point: Brant was saying how Jesus couldn't be described as a nice guy. That's about all I heard before I had to go to work, but it got me thinking.

Of course Jesus was a "nice guy." He was the nicest guy in the world. Right?

And then I decided to look up the word "nice" in the dictionary. Did you know to be nice means to be agreeable?

Let me see . . . Agreeable Jesus. No, no, I don't think that quite fits.

You see, Jesus wasn't born to be agreeable. He wasn't born to follow; he was born to lead and to save. A savior can't be agreeable. You don't want someone who is trying to save you to be agreeable! I think that would go something like this:

Agreeable Savior: Hey! I'm going to save you, okay?
You: What? Save me from what? I'm not in trouble. Nope. Perfectly fine.
Agreeable Savior: Ohh, okay. Sorry. My mistake. You're right. The knife you're about to stab through your heart won't cause any pain. I'll just let you be.

Agreeable savior? I think not! (Kind of extreme conversation but you get my point.)

So we have established that Jesus isn't a nice guy. Then who is he?

Jesus came to save the world. He came to save your soul. He was a pretty radical guy! I mean, he walked into the temple and started overturning tables (Matthew 21:12). I bet that gave the religious leaders a little heart attack.

Speaking of radical, I looked up that word too, just to make sure I had the right definition. It means thoroughgoing or extreme in regard to change from respected and traditional forms of, in this case, religion. Radical also means forming a basis or tradition. I'd say that Jesus formed the basis for Christianity, don't you think?

So Jesus was radical. Was he compassionate (which means a feeling of great sorrow or sympathy for another who is stricken with misfortune and a desire to relieve the suffering)?

In Luke 7:11-17, Jesus enters a town called Nain. As he is entering the city gates he passes a funeral procession, a young man, the only son of a widow, was being carried out to be buried. Verse 13-15: When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry." Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

After this happened the funeral-goers were "filled with awe and praised God."

Let us praise God today for sending his radical, compassionate Son, who changed the world and became our Savior.