Jesus is not our boy

The longer Christians stay in the church, the more I think we need to be reminded that Jesus never quite fits the boxes we try to build for him. Michael Spencer expressed this aspect of Jesus recently while teaching Mark 4. Jesus, Michael pointed out, could be a frustrating teacher:

I told them that Jesus is a SUBVERSIVE teacher. He has a big picture agenda, and he knows the whole picture is coming with death/rez/ascension/Holy Spirit. For now, he is overturning their concept of the Kingdom of God. Showing that it isn't what they thought it was. Showing that it is a mystery...a secret....until you know who Jesus is and what he is doing. If you want an outline, a math problem or all the answers for the test, Jesus isn't your guy. He's like John Keating in Dead Poet's Society. He is subverting the establishment. Letting loose a kind of "new wine" that can't be contained in the old wineskins. He has a "secret," a "mystery" that he gives to those who come the risky route of faith.

I like the energy of Michael's writing here---it reminds me of Conrad Gempf.

In a similar vein, Christianity Today has a review of The Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth. Reviewer Jeremy Lott suggests that some of the mystery of the person of Jesus was intentionally cultivated by the Gospel writers.