The Jesus We Have Forgotten by Pastor Joseph Cortes There is a picture of Jesus that has been handed down through generations that simply does not capture the fullness of the Man revealed in Scripture. We have often been shown a Jesus who is always quiet, always soft-spoken, always passive, and seemingly unwilling to confront anyone. Certainly Jesus was compassionate. He was gentle with the brokenhearted. He welcomed children. He touched lepers. He had compassion on the hungry. He wept with those who grieved. He received sinners who came to Him. But gentleness is not weakness, compassion is not cowardice, and love does not mean refusing to confront evil. When you actually read the Gospels, you discover a Man of tremendous courage, strength, discipline, conviction, and purpose. Jesus Christ was not intimidated by anyone. He stood before religious authorities who controlled the spiritual life of the nation and openly exposed their hypocrisy. He looked directly at men who were misleading the people and told them the truth. In Matthew 23, He repeatedly said, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” He called them “blind guides,” “whited sepulchres,” and even a “generation of vipers.” Those are not the words of a frightened or timid Man. Jesus knew exactly who He was, exactly why He had come, and exactly what the Father had sent Him to accomplish. Yet this same Jesus could look upon a multitude and be “moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). That is something we desperately need to understand. Biblical strength and biblical compassion are not enemies. Jesus possessed both perfectly. He could comfort the broken and confront the proud. He could forgive a sinner while exposing the hypocrisy of the religious establishment. He could welcome the rejected while rebuking those who used religion to burden people. One of the clearest examples occurred at the Temple. Jesus entered the Temple and discovered that something intended for worship had been turned into a marketplace. John tells us that He “made a scourge of small cords” and drove the merchants and animals from the Temple, overturned the tables, and poured out the money changers’ coins. Then He said, “Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise” (John 2:15–16). His disciples remembered the Scripture, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” (John 2:17). That word, zeal, is important. Jesus cared deeply about the things of God. He was not indifferent when worship was corrupted. He did not shrug His shoulders and say that everyone had their own approach to ministry. When men turned something sacred into something self-serving, Jesus confronted it.

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A Strong Man Who Walked a Hard Road by Pastor Joseph Cortes Sometimes we forget that Jesus did not spend His earthly life inside comfortable religious surroundings. He knew what physical work felt like. Before His public ministry began, Jesus lived the ordinary life of a tradesman. Mark 6:3 records people asking, “Is not this the carpenter?” Think about that for a moment. The hands that would one day be pierced by nails were hands that had worked. Jesus knew what it was like to build, repair, lift, carry, shape, and construct. He knew what physical exhaustion felt like. He knew what sweat felt like. He understood a hard day's work because He had lived it. That alone should correct some of the unrealistic pictures people have formed of Him. Then His public ministry began, and immediately He was driven into circumstances most people would desperately try to avoid. Mark tells us, “And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts” (Mark 1:13). Jesus spent forty days alone in the wilderness, surrounded by the dangers of that wilderness while being tempted by Satan himself. He faced not only the physical hardship of the desert but the spiritual confrontation of the enemy. Satan came directly against Him, tempting Him again and again, yet Jesus stood firmly upon the Word of God. Again and again His answer was, “It is written.” Jesus did not defeat temptation through human philosophy, positive thinking, or motivational slogans. He stood upon the written Word of God. There is something there for every believer. Strength is not pretending temptation does not exist. Strength is standing on God's Word when temptation comes. Strength is not avoiding every difficult situation. Strength is knowing who you are in God when circumstances become difficult. After those forty days in the wilderness, Jesus did not begin living an easy life. His ministry required constant travel. He walked from town to town. He crossed mountains. He sailed across the Sea of Galilee. He slept outdoors. He spent entire nights praying. Jesus Himself said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). Think about that. The Creator of heaven and earth walked this earth without even claiming a permanent place to sleep, yet He never complained that His mission was too difficult.

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Look Up, Stand Firm, and Preach the Gospel by Pastor Joseph Cortes Understanding the times should never make us passive. Jesus did not leave His church here merely to watch prophecy unfold. He left us here with a message to proclaim. The most important thing we can tell a troubled world is not simply that difficult days are coming. The greatest message we carry is that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose again, and offers eternal life to everyone who believes in Him. Paul declared, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16). The answer to the darkness of this world is still the Gospel. The answer to man’s greatest problem is still Jesus Christ. Governments cannot save the human soul. Technology cannot remove sin. Education cannot make a person righteous before God. Religion cannot purchase eternal life. Salvation is found in Christ. The darker this world becomes, the brighter the Gospel should shine through us. We must be careful that we do not spend all of our time talking about what is happening in the world while forgetting why God has left us here. There are people around us who are afraid of the future. There are people who feel that everything familiar is disappearing. There are people searching for security in politics, money, religion, morality, or human achievement. They need to hear that eternal life is found in Jesus Christ. Scripture says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Salvation is a gift. We do not earn it by becoming religious enough, moral enough, disciplined enough, or good enough. We receive it by faith. That is the message a frightened and dying world desperately needs to hear. Peter reminds us that what sometimes appears to us as delay is actually an expression of God’s mercy. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9). Every additional day is another day in which the Gospel can be proclaimed. Every morning we wake up is another opportunity to tell someone about Jesus Christ.