This blog is all about the audacity of Jesus.

You could grab a Bible, flip it open to a random page of any of the four Gospels, place your finger on a random spot on that page, and you will almost certainly find that you have landed on a story of Jesus doing or saying something audacious:

He’s touching a leper.
He’s barking orders to a storm.
He’s poking powerful political and religious leaders.
He’s telling people they can’t follow him unless they hate their families.
He’s claiming the authority to forgive sin.
He’s re-defining sacred Scripture.
He’s saying that his words are the most permanent things in the universe.
He’s pointing to himself as the fulfillment of everything God has ever done since “Let there be light,” and as the center of everything on God’s to-do list for the future.

The guy had some serious nerve!

Each post will explore some things that Jesus said and did that made people say, “You have got to be kidding me! Who do you think you are!?” I hope the reflections will elevate your vision of Jesus. I hope they will obliterate the safe, tame Jesus we like to imagine and replace him with the Jesus we encounter in the Gospels. I hope they will remove “polite approval” from the list of options available to you as ways to respond to Jesus, and that you will never again be satisfied with giving Jesus a nice golf clap. As we look together at the outrageous things Jesus said and did, may we find ourselves inspired by his courage. May we find ourselves offended by his bluntness. May we encounter him in all of his audacious splendor!