Simple as that.
The real Jesus of the Bible was and is strong. He is bold, fearless, and unapologetic for what he says and does.
He spoke with authority, still does, not for people's approval. He flipped tables over so the sinning would stop. He can't stand sin inside his house or outside His house.
He rebuked all corruption. He regenerated those who would repent of the corruption. He lived it, and preached the truth without any spiritual compromise. He called men everywhere to repent and get right, to deny themselves, to pick up their cross, and follow Him — not to be all smug and comfortable, but to be changed, totally transformed. Christ was not weak. He didn’t beg for acceptance. He didn’t silence truth anywhere.. just to keep the peace. The milktoast West didn’t lose Jesus; they walked off from Him. If you feel like you are far from God, then guess who moved away? All have sinned!
Westerners.. us sinners.. are loved and challenged by Him — the West simply watered Him down to justify cowardice and compromise.
Yet that Jesus is as imaginary and innocuous as a cardboard cutout. If your version of Jesus never convicts most of you, never offends your pride, and never demands your full obedience — it’s not Jesus who many of you think is Jesus. Get back to the Bible.
Man, why does it seem like a whole generation in Western Lands has rebranded Jesus into something beyond meek and mild.. so soft, so effeminate, so silent, and socially acceptable — a sweet li'l spiritual mascot of sorts, who never confronts sinful wrongdoings, never commands or decisively leads like a man for the good of many, never contradicts our old fleshly desires here. Men, act like men, please!
A.W. Tozer warned, “The idolater simply imagines things about God and acts as if they were true.”
The real Christ of Scripture is no watered-down, confused girly-like figure.
He is called the Lion of Judah. His manly voice shook real men's men like fishermen, Pharisees, kings, and demons alike. Sure, He carried gentle tenderness, yes indeed — but He never carried a weak timidity. Jesus warmly welcomed children and yet shattered all hypocrisy. He healed the hurting-broken and exposed the religious and other criminally corrupt. He comforted sinners clinging to their sin, and confronted all kinds of sin. He hates sin because it destroys who He loves. He lived it and spoke truth even when it cost Him His life.
"He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." Isaiah 53:3
Many of us were taught that tears threaten masculinity. But Scripture gives a gentle, liberating correction in two simple words: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).
There has never walked on earth a man more courageous, more steady, more self-giving than Jesus of Nazareth. As John Stott once wrote, “The authenticity of His manhood is seen in the depth of His compassion.” Even hardened Pontius Pilate—after witnessing the brutality Christ endured—could only say, “Behold the Man!” (John 19:5). Look at Him: scourged, beaten, torn by a Roman whip, yet still pushing forward under the crushing weight of the cross. He staggered and rose again. That is strength—sacrificial, steady, holy strength.
And yet this same Jesus allowed tears to fall. He entered Mary and Martha’s grief with a heart that felt every tremor of their sorrow. Hebrews 4:15 says He is our High Priest who is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” What burdens us touches Him. What breaks us moves Him.
Scripture keeps reminding us that God is not distant from our tears. “He hears the cry of the afflicted” (Job 34:28). “He does not forget the cry of the humble” (Psalm 9:12). “His ears are open to their cry” (Psalm 34:15). Charles Spurgeon captured it beautifully: “Tears are liquid prayers.”
Isaiah paints the tenderest portrait of all: “A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). He carried our weaknesses. He shouldered our sorrows. He steps into every valley we walk through, not as a distant deity, but as the Savior who knows what it is to hurt.
If it weighs on your heart, it matters to Him. If you cry, He counts every tear (Psalm 56:8). True strength isn’t the absence of emotion—it’s the courage to bring that emotion to the Savior who cares.
He didn’t negotiate with darkness. He overturned it.
Tables in the temple weren’t the only things He flipped (John 2:15–17). He turned the whole world right-side up.
So why have so many in the modern West rejected Him?
Because the biblical Jesus refuses to be domesticated.
He demands repentance (Luke 13:3), calls us to deny ourselves (Luke 9:23), and commands total allegiance (Matthew 10:38). And human pride bristles at all three.
Barna’s research notes that most Americans admire Jesus culturally but avoid Him personally. Many like His compassion but not His authority. They want His comfort without His cross, His blessings without His Lordship.
G. K. Chesterton once said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”
And so, a safer Jesus was invented — one who never challenges, never corrects, never convicts.
But if your Jesus never disrupts your life, He isn’t the Christ of the Bible. He’s an idol dressed in spiritual clothing.
The True Son of Man—Human, Humble, Divine, and King
Jesus chose Son of Man as His favorite self-description.
Eighty-two times in the Gospels, He reached for this title—not because it lowered Him, but because it revealed Him. It’s a name of profound layers:
1. A Title of Humanity.
Like Ezekiel, called “son of man” ninety-three times, Jesus was truly human—flesh, bone, heartbeat, hunger (1 John 4:2). He walked dusty roads, felt exhaustion, laughed with friends, and wept at graves. He is the God who stepped into our skin.
2. A Title of Humility.
He traded heaven’s throne for a manger (Isaiah 53:3).
He lived without a permanent home (Luke 9:58).
He ate with tax collectors, sat with outcasts, and suffered at men’s hands (Matthew 17:12).
Philippians 2:6–8 sums it up: the King knelt lower than any man so He could lift us higher than any angel.
3. A Title of Deity.
This Son of Man forgives sins (Matthew 9:6), rules the Sabbath (Mark 2:28), raises the dead (Mark 9:9), seeks the lost (Luke 19:10), and executes judgment (John 5:27).
When He declared to the high priest that they would see Him “coming on the clouds” (Matthew 26:64), He wasn’t being poetic—He was quoting Daniel 7:13–14. He claimed the throne the Father promised: dominion, glory, everlasting rule.
4. A Fulfillment of Prophecy.
Hebrews 2 and Psalm 8 reveal Him as the true Son of Man who will rule all things. Daniel foresaw His kingdom. Jesus confirmed it. And history will bow to it.
This is no fragile figurine.
This is Christ the King — fully God, fully man, deserving of every title Scripture gives Him (John 1:1, 14).
Our World Likes One of Two Portraits of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ
Imagine walking into a gallery.
On the left wall hangs a pastel portrait of a smiling Jesus who never raises His voice and never raises a table or the dead. He carries no scars, no authority, no crown. He’s harmless—and useless.
On the right wall hangs another portrait:
Jesus with dust on His feet, fire in His eyes, a lamb on His shoulders, and a cross on His back. He is tender enough to forgive a woman in pain with tears, strong enough to protect the innocent or silence a storm, bold enough to rebuke a king, and mighty enough to once and for all time.. break open the grave. This Jesus is no myth. He’s the Savior--God the Son. Risen from the dead!
Western culture and this corrupt World System chose the first painting.
The Bible presents the second. Let's stick with the Bible Jesus. Act like a man, men.
A hiker once ignored the trail guide’s clear warnings.
He preferred a gentler version of the truth—a path he imagined was easier. Moments later, he found himself on loose gravel, one wrong step from disaster. The real guide arrived, firm but gracious, and led him back to safety.
Our culture likes the imagery of an easy-Jesus trail.
But only the real Jesus can save and sanctify.
Why This Matters
A Christ who never confronts sinners in their sinning cannot convert.
A Christ who never commands as a King cannot lead.
A Christ who never calls for repentance cannot redeem.
The true Jesus wounds, a.k.a. hits us in the ego cuz that blocks His good grace--He deals with our hindering pride but heals our souls.
What does it mean that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6)?
He Jesus confronts our sin (this is Cross-talk here) but carries our shame. We are to deny ourselves and die to our own way. Not always comfortable.
He demands of us ..our very lives but gives us His own.
“He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free.” Lyrics
Hey men. Never be ashamed of how God has made you. He created you for Himself, for His Kingdom and His worldwide soul-winning purpose!
- Be watchful: Be alert and aware, like a guard watching for danger.
- Stand firm in the faith: Have backbone and conviction, holding to your beliefs.
- Act like men, never don't act like the man God has called you to be: This is a call for courage, BOLDNESS, strength, and adult responsibility, especially in the face of fear or difficulty. It's about putting aside childish ways and acting with fortitude.
- Be strong: Be resolute and courageous in your actions and convictions.
- Let all that you do be done in love: This final command balances the call for strength, emphasizing that all actions, especially those that require courage, should ultimately be motivated by love and compassion.
- Courage, real masculinity in men only - both are so needed in these end times: The phrase is often seen as an idiom that means "be courageous" or "man up," rather than an instruction to act in a specific, gendered way. It's a call for bravery that relies on a common cultural association between manliness and strength in the ancient world.
- Fulfilling duties: It's about faithfully carrying out your responsibilities, even when it's hard or scary.
Though the Old Testament doesn’t use the phrase “childlike faith,” it celebrates the same spirit: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). The New Testament deepens it—faith is essential (Hebrews 11:6), it is a gift (Ephesians 2:8–9), and it is armor strong enough to extinguish every flaming arrow of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16). When Jesus placed a child in the midst of His status-seeking disciples, He was teaching them that greatness begins where self-reliance ends (Luke 9:46–48; Matthew 18:3).
Childlike faith is not about a naïve belief in fairytales; NOPE, it is courageous dependence on a God who never lies (Titus 1:2). It is the freedom to ask boldly because we know our Father gives good gifts (Matthew 7:11).
Childlike faith anchors siblical salvation from Christ, and this connection sustains daily life. It calls us to trust God for forgiveness, guidance, and provision—just as naturally as a child reaches for a parent’s hand. When life’s storms rise, we either grasp for control or look to Christ. One path sinks; the other steadies. Faith grows as we lean harder on Him, remembering Jesus’ words: “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
In the end, childlike faith is simply this: a heart that chooses trust over self-sufficiency, surrender over striving, and Jesus over every other place to stand.
C. S. Lewis said, “Relying on God has to begin all over again every day, as if nothing had yet been done.” That’s the rhythm of childlike trust—daily and deliberate dependence on the Father.Come to this Lion, men, or come back to Jesus. Yes, return to this Lion even now - Christ is no sweet li'l mascot.
To the Son of Man, not the caricature of Him, sin is serious.
Let Him confront and convict you if needed.. unto true repentance. That means change. Let Him convince, convict to the bones, regenerate, and cleanse you from the inside out. Let Him reshape you, and rule you.
C. T. Studd said it best:
“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”
And the real Jesus—the biblical Jesus—is the Son of Man, and The Sinless Son of God. He hates sin, but loves you the sinner. He did die for you, He did rise again, and He will return on the clouds of heaven as King.
- That Jesus of the Bible is worth following 24/7/365. He's not a one-day-a-week Sunday Lord of your life.
- That Jesus is worth completely surrendering to once.. and then daily.
- And that Jesus is the only One who saves anyone anywhere.
