If we had the opportunity to go back to 1st century Palestine and observe Jesus, what would we notice about Him? How would we describe Him? Would we believe He is the Messiah? How about God? In his book, the Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey poses this general question: “What Would I Have Noticed?”

Maybe we can’t go back to 1st Century Palestine, but we can certainly observe Jesus through the eyes of the Gospels’ authors. But first, let’s talk about the Gospels.

THE GOSPELS

The Gospels provide us with a record of what Jesus said and did. They tell the story of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the synoptic gospels because of their similarity in content. The Gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew, a tax collector, and disciple of Jesus. Matthew knew Jesus intimately and was an eye-witness to the ministry of Jesus. The Gospel of Mark was written by Mark, a close companion of the disciple Peter. Peter knew Jesus personally, was an eye-witness to the ministry of Jesus, and it is commonly believed that Mark’s Gospel is Peter’s memoir of Jesus. The Gospel of Luke was written by Luke, thought through tradition to be a Gentile, the only Gentile author in the New Testament. Luke was a physician and a frequent companion to the Apostle Paul. Finally, the Gospel of John was written by John, Jesus’ disciple and one of His most intimate friends. John gives us another look at the life of Jesus. With all four Gospels as our source of information, we can find out a lot about Jesus.

FINDING JESUS

If we were to be transported back to first-century Palestine, how would we find Jesus? We couldn’t hold up a picture of Jesus and ask if anyone recognized Him because the Gospels don’t describe His physical appearance. A credible description of Jesus has not been found. The images of Jesus that exist are created on assumptions; every culture tends to have its ideas about Jesus’ physical appearance grounded in their religious backgrounds and cultural norms. Here are some images of Jesus from around the world:.

Some of us may find these depictions offensive because we tend to picture Jesus differently based on our own culture and beliefs. The truth is that we don’t know what Jesus looks like. Yancey says, “that is a good thing…our glamorized representation of Jesus says more about us than about him.” (p. 87)

If we don’t have a physical description of Jesus, how do we find Him? We know that large crowds flocked to Jesus wherever He went from the Gospel writers. According to Mark, “Jesus went out to the lake with his disciples, and a large crowd followed him. They came from all over Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, from east of the Jordan River, and even from as far north as Tyre and Sidon. The news about his miracles had spread far and wide, and vast numbers of people came to see him”( Mark 3:7-8 NLT). Matthew says that on one occasion, “large crowds followed Jesus as He came down from the mountainside” (Matthew 8:1) and Mark says that on another occasion there was a “crowd sitting around Jesus” (Mark 3:32). Although we won’t be able to find Jesus through a physical description, we can be assured that with the large crowds He attracts, someone will be able to tell us where He is. 

THE MAGNETISM OF JESUS

We know from the Gospels’ accounts, that Jesus was magnetic, drawing crowds to Him by His teaching and His miracles. We know that as His popularity grew among the people, He also attracted increasing resistance from those in power. When we find Jesus in 1st century Palestine, how will we react? Will He amaze, astound, and surprise us like He did so many, or will He offend us as He did the Pharisees and the teachers of religious law? 

Stories found in the Gospels describe Jesus’ magnetic personality drawing various reactions from people He encountered as He traveled from place to place in the Palestinian countryside. Matthew describes people who listened to Jesus’ teaching as being amazed and astounded “for he taught with real authority – quite unlike their teachers of the religious law” (Matthew 7:28-29 NLT, Matthew 22:33 ). He says that on one occasion, “everyone was amazed and asked, ‘Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?'” (Matthew 13:54). Luke tells us that “everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips” (Luke 4:22). John says people were “surprised when they heard him.” ‘How does he know so much when he hasn’t been trained?’ they asked” (John 7:15). 

With Jesus’ growing popularity and His outspokenness came resistance. Jesus was not afraid to confront those He disagreed with, and eventually, His unrelenting stand would result in His death on the cross. Luke informs us that after one such confrontation, the enemies of Jesus “were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him” (Luke 6:11). Matthew tells us that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law argued with Jesus and tried to test Him and trap Him (Matthew 16:1-4, Matthew 19:3-9, Matthew 22:15-22, Matthew 22:34-40). Mark describes the time when Jesus entered the Temple and drove out those buying and selling there and overturned the money changer’s tables. He goes on to say that “when the leading priests and teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill him. But they were afraid of him because the people were so amazed at his teaching” (Mark 11:15-19). 

Jesus’ magnetism either drew people in or offended them. Some drawn to Jesus became true disciples of Christ because they held to his teaching (John 8:31). Others who were drawn to Him “turned back and no longer followed him” because His teaching was “hard” and offended them (John 6:60-66 NIV). Still, others like the Pharisees and the teachers of the law actively worked against Him from the beginning. As Jesus said in Matthew 12:30 NLT, “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.”

THE OVERWHELMING LOVE OF JESUS

When we find Jesus, regardless of whether we are drawn to Him or offended by Him, it will be impossible to ignore His overwhelming love for people. The Gospels are chocked-full of accounts of the kindness and love Jesus displayed to those He encountered: Jesus healing the Centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:5-13), bringing a dead girl to life (Matthew 9:25), and feeding 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish (Matthew 14:13-21); Jesus driving out evil spirits (Mark 1:23-27, 9:14-28) and healing the blind (Mark 10:46-52); add to that Jesus’ displays of kindness to tax collectors (Luke 19:1-9), Samaritans (John 4:1-26), His own disciples (John 13:1-17) and the disreputable in general (Mark 2:15-16, The Message).

The Jesus we encounter will no doubt overwhelm us. He will no doubt amaze us with His ability to draw so many to His side and, at the same time, make us uncomfortable with His difficult teachings and His ability to draw the ire of those in power. When we encounter Jesus, we must choose whether we will allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by His teachings, His miracles, and His love or whether we will choose to be offended by Him and the truth He offers.