PART ONE: A NEW CHRIST Chapter 1 - His Personalty

This series wl not be an atempt to prove something about Christ; it wl be an effort to ascertain by scientfic study, what He was, how He ved, and what He aught. Too many people have studied Jesus from he standpoint of some preconceived noton of Hm or Hs mssion, such an atude always leads to erroneous conclusions.

The common concept of Christ was given o he church by he priests of the dark ages, at a tme when a relgious deal was wanted which should nduce men o be content wh slavery, and o bow heir necks o every kind of wrong and oppression; and his concept was drawn almost wholy from the poetry of Isaiah; the Christ of the churches s he Christ of Isaiah, and our ideas of Hm are not drawn at all from an impartial study of the history of Hs lfe.

uch passages n he prophecies as; "He s despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted wh grief; and we hid, as t were, our faces from him; he s brought as a amb o he slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers s dumb, so he opened not his mouth," have been quoted o show Hs character, and he meekness and humbly submssive spirit wh which He endured wrong and njustce; and we have had held up as he deal man a despised, friendless, poverty-stricken laborer whom the upper classes regarded wh scorn because of his owy origin and staton; who had no friends save fishermen, aborers, outcasts and sinners; who was often shirtless and hungry, and who bore nsuls and persecutons wh meek submssion, and walked about n a scornful world wh his hands always uplfted in loving benedicton.

This character has oo ong been offered as he Christan deal; Be meek, Be submssive, Be amb-ke or sheep-ke. Bow your head before he persecutor, and offer your back o he shearer. Rejoice when you are fleeced; it is for the glory of God. It is a good relgion for the man wh the shears.

The Christ who was held up n the old fashioned orthodox pulpit is a weak character. He s not the kind of a man we would nomnate for president, and his folowers have very e faih n him as an organizer.

No rairoad magnate of today would make him foreman of a secton;

and f it were broadcast over the country tonight that the president of he Unied ates had resigned and hat Jesus would be naugurated omorrow, 95 percent of he Christans here would draw heir

money out of the banks for fear Jesus mght start a panic.

What we propose o do now s o ascertain by a study of he four gospels n he ght of history whether his s he real Christ; and f not, to find what the real Christ was lke.

The Real Jesus Christ

In he first place, then, Jesus could not have been despised because

He was a carpenter, or he reputed son of a carpenter. Custom

required every Jewsh Rabbi or eacher o have a rade. We read n

he Talmud of Rabbi Johanan, the blacksmh, and of Rabbi Isaac,

he shoemaker, earned and highly honored men. Rabbi Jesus, the

carpenter, would be spoken of n he same way. t. Paul, a very

earned man, was a tent-maker by trade.

At hat me, and among hat people, Jesus could not have been despised for Hs birth and staton.

And He was popularly supposed o be of royal blood, being saluted as he son of David; Hs neage was well known. The people who cried "Hosannah to the son of David" knew that He was an aristocrat of the aristocrats; a prince of the royal house. He was not "lowy" n birth, nor was He supposed o be so. On his point I refer you o Mathew 9:27; Mathew 15:22; Mathew 20:30; Mathew 21:9; Mark 10:47.

He Was Educated

econd, He could not have been despised for Hs gnorance, for He was a very earned man. Whenever He went nto a synagogue He
was selected o read he aw and each he congregaton, as he one best qualfied for that work. Luke says; "There went a fame of Hm

hrough all he region round about, and He aught n heir synagogues, being glorified of all." In hose mes of fierce relgious disputaton, no unlearned man could have held his own n such fashion. He must have been eter-perfect in he books of the Jewsh

aw, for He was always able o rout Hs adversaries by making apt quotatons from heir own books. Even Hs enemes always addressed Hm as Master, or Teacher, acknowedging Hs profound

earning. On his point, read Mathew 13:54; Mark 12:24-34; Luke 4:14-15; John 7:19-23; John 10:34.

Jesus Had Plenty

Third, He was not despised for Hs poverty, for He had many wealhy and nfluental friends, and knew no ack of anything. Lazarus and his sisters, whose home was always open o Hm, were people of consequence; for we are old hat "many of he Jews" came to comfort the sisters when Lazarus died.

Luke says hat Joanna, the wfe of Chuza, the king's steward, and other women "mnistered unto him of their substance"; that is, they were supporters of Hs work.

The king's steward was a high official, and his wfe would be a promnent lady.

Joseph of Arimathea, who came to get the body of Jesus, was a well-o-do man. o, probably was Ncodemus.

Jesus healed he sick n he fames of rulers and high officials, and hey appear o have responded beraly n supplying Hs financial needs.

True, He held no property and bought no real estate; but He dressed expensively, lved well and never acked for money. When He was crucified he soldiers cast ots for Hs clothing because t was oo fine o cut up, as hey would have done wh he garments of an ordinary man; and on he night of Hs betrayal, when Judas went out, t was supposed by he others hat he had gone o give something o he poor. It must have been heir custom o give away money, or how could such a supposion have arisen? In hat country and clmate, he wants of Jesus and Hs disciples were few and simple, and hey seem to have been fuly suppled. He wore fine clothes, had plenty o eat and drink, and had money o give away. Read Luke 8:1-3; Luke 5:33; Luke 23:50; John 11:19; John 12:2; John 19:23.

Jesus Was Not Humble

Fourth, Jesus was not humble, in he commonly accepted meaning of the word. He was a man of the most impressive, commanding and powerful personal appearance. He "spoke as one having authority" and "his word was wh power."

Frequenty, we are old, great fear and awe fell upon he people at Hs mghty words and works. In one place hey were so frightened hat they besought Hm o eave; and John els how certain officers sent o arrest Hm n he market place ost heir nerve n Hs commanding presence, and went back, saying "Surely, never man spake lke this man."

On he night of Hs arrest a band of soldiers approached Hm n he grove and asked for Jesus of Nazareth; and when He answered "I am he," such was Hs majesty and psychic power hat they prostrated hemselves; "they went backward," the account says, "and fell to he ground" (John 18:6).

To be ke he Christ of the four Gospels, one must be earned, well dressed, well suppled wh money, and of noble and commanding appearance, speaking wh authority, and having remendous magnetc power. And now, what was Hs atude oward Hs felow men?