A man of mystery: Jesus Christ

Christ is God’s ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one.
—Paul’s description of the mysterious man who transformed his life
(1 Corinthians 1:24 Message)
I used to think I knew Jesus because I knew about him. But knowing someone’s resume and being someone’s brother are two completely different things. I found that out after I met Jesus for myself.

If you can make sense of Jesus, explain him, define him, or make him sound reasonable, my guess is you’ve never actually met him. After all, his closest friends didn’t understand him, the religious rulers thought he was possessed by demons, and his own family thought he’d gone insane. No one knew what to make of this man of mystery. I guess that’s what happens when God dresses in skin, when heaven’s wisdom speaks human words.

The greatest mystery of Christianity isn’t that God loves us; nearly every religion would tell you that much. The greatest mystery is that God actually became one of us: “Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ appeared in the flesh and was shown to be righteous by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and was announced to the nations. He was believed on in the world and was taken up into heaven” (1 Timothy 3:16).

In Colossians 2:2–3 Paul calls Jesus, “the mystery of God...in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (NIV).

Jesus is a holy conundrum. A living enigma. A mystery. He was born helpless and yet almighty, temporal and yet eternal, human and yet divine. He grew to become a carpenter who was wildly meek, quietly loud, furiously patient, humbly proud. He was the bringer of both peace and a sword, of both clarity and confusion, of both judgment and pardon.


Jesus was too normal–looking to arouse suspicion. He didn’t stick out in a crowd. In fact, Judas had to point him out to the soldiers so they could identify him when they arrested him. He was that forgettable. And yet he’s the most memorable and influential man in the history of the world.

He spoke in the riddles of a mystic, yet with the authority of a God. He was both humble and audacious, both soft–spoken and fiery, full of both sorrow and joy. No one has ever been meeker. No one has ever been bolder.

Jesus, the real Jesus, is earthshaking. He will both calm your soul and send a tidal wave of truth crashing through your spirit. As soon as you try to figure him out or wrap your mind around him, you’ll get lost in the mystery of this man.

He is the mystic, majestic, mysterious Jesus. Holiness wrapped in humanity. He sneezed, coughed, yawned, burped, and got the hiccups, and yet he could walk on water, step through walls, and raise the dead.

When you try to prod at him, he prods at you. And when you finally meet him face–to–face, he’ll shake your world—hardened criminals have been known to fall to their knees, shield their eyes, tremble, and weep at his feet. That’s what happens when the veil is lifted and you finally glimpse his terrible, irresistible, glorious, soul–consuming love.