Adrian Rodgers wrote, “Some years ago [1969], the United States sent a capsule [the Apollo 11] to the moon, and for the first time a man—Neil Armstrong—walked on the moon. The President at that time [Richard Nixon] said, ‘The planting of human feet upon the moon is the greatest event in human history.’ I mean no disrespect, but he was totally wrong. The greatest event in human history was not planting human feet upon the moon but when God came to a manger in Bethlehem and His feet were planted upon Earth. That’s the greatest event. We call that the incarnation.”
Jesus is, without question, the greatest hero of all time. He alone is perfect (Heb. 7:26). Napoleon Bonaparte said, “I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions would die for Him.” Historian Kenneth Scott LaTourette wrote, “As the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that, measured by His effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on this planet.”
Have you ever noticed that most superheroes have dual identities? They usually have a normal, human identity which is a disguise for a secret, superhuman identity. For instance, billionaire Bruce Wayne is a cover identity for Batman. Reporter Clark Kent doubles as Superman. Science whiz kid Peter Parker is the alter ego of Spider-Man. Diana Prince is Wonder Woman. Inventor Tony Stark is a human alias for Iron Man. Soldier Steve Rogers is Captain America. Scientist Bruce Banner is the Hulk and so on. Well, Jesus’ true identity was a constant source of confusion that caused fierce debates and divided opinions (Jn. 6:14-15, 42-44). He was 100% man and 100% God. His human identity was a common carpenter from Nazareth, but His spiritual identity was Christ, the King of Heaven. People finally asked Jesus to give it to them straight, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly” (Jn. 10:24). But they didn’t like His answer—“I and My Father are one”—so they tried to stone Him “for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God” (See Jn. 10:30-33). The skeptics thought He was too human to be superhuman. Believers recognize He was and is Emmanuel—God with us (Mt. 1:23).
What if Jesus had come as He deserved? Surely, He would have been born with all the pomp and prestige of royalty. Instead, he was born as a peasant in a smelly stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a crude cattle trough. The humble way in which He made His human debut defies reason. Consider how Christ was born in a borrowed stable, preached in a borrowed boat, rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, ate the Last Supper in a borrowed upper room, and was finally buried in a borrowed grave. But don’t be fooled by the simple scenery; it was all part of a divine disguise. How fitting that His birth was announced to shepherds and wise men since He was and is the Good Shepherd and the wisest man to ever live (even greater than Solomon—Mt. 12:42). Ironically, Jesus was born in Bethlehem which means “house of bread” and was laid in a manger (feed trough). Indeed, He is the Bread of Life whose words nourish the spiritual hunger of our souls.
It’s hard to fathom why Jesus lived most of His life in obscurity. After His supernatural conception and birth, there is only one brief, childhood glimpse of Him at His bar mitzvah at age twelve in the Temple (Lk. 2:40-51). Remarkably, for thirty years, the Son of God didn’t perform any miracles, preach any sermons, cast out demons, or do anything supernatural for the sacred record. We are left to wonder, “why?” Again, it was all part of the divine disguise. Jesus’ first thirty years were so ordinary that many people missed His coming altogether. The Jews expected a Messiah with the political power and the military might to run the Romans out of Israel. But Jesus didn’t come to save His people from the Romans, He came to “save His people from their sins” (Mt. 1:21).
To many, Jesus was too normal to be the Messiah. He stood in His hometown synagogue in Nazareth and declared His Messiahship in Luke 4:16-30. He deliberately located this prophetic, Messianic passage in the scroll of Isaiah and read it publicly: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Is. 61:1-2).
Then, He boldly proclaimed, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk. 4:21). Both the Greek term “Christ” and the Hebrew term “Messiah” mean “the anointed One.” So, Jesus basically said, “I am the Anointed One Isaiah prophesied would come to deliver Israel and establish God’s kingdom.” His own townsmen were outraged and said, “Is this not the carpenter?” (Mk. 6:3) Then, they accused Him of blasphemy and tried to throw Him over a cliff. During Jesus’ childhood, in 6 A.D., Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee, was destroyed by the Romans just four miles from Nazareth to crush a revolt instigated by a false messiah. No wonder the wary Nazarenes were skeptical of Jesus’ claims and reluctant to believe Him. After all, Messiahs don’t build furniture, do they?
The divine disguise worked to perfection. Many Jews rejected Jesus’ claims to Messiahship—“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (Jn. 1:10-11). First, there was the geographical problem. Three different prophets prophesied that the Christ would come from three different cities:
1. Hosea prophesied Christ would come from Egypt—Ho. 11:1.
2. Micah prophesied Christ would be born in Bethlehem—Mi. 5:2.
3. A third unnamed prophet predicted Christ would come from Nazareth and be called a Nazarene—Mt. 2:23.
Some religious leaders, who were nearly convinced He was the Christ, hit this little, geographical snag: Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes . . . from the town of Bethlehem . . . So there was a division among the people because of Him . . . Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee” (See John 7:40-53).
In retrospect, we now know Jesus was born in Bethlehem, fled to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath, and then was raised in Nazareth of Galilee to fulfill all three prophecies. It is both amazing and amusing that Jesus never bothered to set the record straight. He simply let His detractors speculate and argue. Then, there was the illegitimacy claim—“We were not born of fornication” (Jn. 8:41), charging that Jesus was a bastard. Yes, the recycled rumors of Mary’s pregnancy before she and Joseph were properly wed were still circulating years later. Again, Jesus didn’t defend Himself, or Mary’s virtue, or explain how His supernatural conception fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy of a virgin-born Messiah (Is. 7:14). He simply let the critics have their say.
The incarnation is unquestionably the greatest story ever told. So, why was it shrouded in such secrecy? Because, minus the mystery, the masses might have embraced Jesus as the Messiah thwarting the very reason He was born—to bleed and die. Jesus deliberately disguised Himself as a carpenter to be rejected and so His death could facilitate man’s redemption. As Billy Graham wrote, “Bethlehem’s manger crib became the link that bound a lost world to a loving God.” C. S. Lewis captured Christmas in a nutshell, “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” Think of it—the Messiah as a baby in a manger cradle, the Christ as a carpenter in a career, the King of Kings as a criminal on a cross. It was all part of the divine disguise. So, look beneath the surface, for behind His carpenter’s cloak, you’ll find God robed in human flesh. By the way, this “carpenter” is still making things, repairing broken lives, and building His kingdom in us.
Why are people still talking about Jesus 2,000 years later? In three short years, Jesus had more impact than anyone else, even those who lived much longer lives. An unknown author wrote, “Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only three. Yet the influence of Christ’s three-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity.”
In Tim LaHaye’s book JESUS, he recounts this story: “During a break from our TV interview on Larry King Live in March of 2006, Larry surprised me with this statement, ‘I am not a believer, but I have the utmost respect for Jesus Christ. I believe He was the most influential person who ever lived.’ Why would Larry King make such a statement? Because it’s true.”
LaHaye goes on to relay these facts: “[Jesus] has served as the inspiration for more literature, more music, and more works of art than any other person in history. Millions of churches have been built in His honor. Our calendar has been set according to His birth. The two biggest holidays celebrated worldwide each year, Christmas and Easter, commemorate His birth and resurrection. Nearly everyone who has lived on this planet during the last two millennia has heard of Him. Is there any other person who comes to mind for which the same can be said?”
Consider this: the date stamped on every product ever produced—the morning newspapers, publications, books, magazines, periodicals, checks written, digital music and movies, legal documents, invoices, and all patented products and copywritten material—testifies that Jesus lived the greatest life ever. How? Jesus split the time of world history in two. B.C. stands for “Before Christ” and A.D. stands for “Anno Domini,” a Latin term meaning “in the year of our Lord.” Every date ever written or printed points forward or backward to our greatest hero—Jesus Christ!
God only let a few people see through the disguise of Christ’s humanity and recognize His divinity when He walked the earth. Since His resurrection and ascension, the veil has been lifted, and the Holy Spirit has revealed His true identity to all who believe. Now we know who He is. The man who masqueraded as a carpenter from Nazareth is actually the architect of the universe. He was a Co-Creator with God the Father in the very beginning (Jn. 1:1-3, Col. 1:16-17). So, let’s see beyond the simplicity of the nativity and embrace our Redeemer’s divinity. He is no longer a kid in a cradle. He is no longer a carpenter in a career. He is no longer a wrongly condemned criminal on a cross. He is the resurrected and glorified King of all creation. He is the great I AM—God robed in human flesh. The disguise has been removed, and the truth has been revealed.