Bread. Water. Life. Peace. These are words Jesus used to describe himself during the three years of his public presence. But this man, Jesus, was no ordinary man. In fact he was a radical of his time, attracting so much attention for his outspokenness that it finally culminated in his death. And yet the kingdom Jesus said was and is coming was not an overthrow of Roman rule, as some suspected, but a much larger scandal, including His claim as the Son of God the Father, and His constant urging for people to love. God? A man? Love? This indeed caused a stir in Israel at the time and has continued to ever since.

The simple life Jesus led was marked by his teachings and his actions. Jesus was irresistibly drawn to the outcast, the leper, the sick, the dying, the lonely, the rejected, and especially to children. Where Jesus went, life happened; life in the form of bodily restoration, emotional restoration and spiritual transformation.

Jesus began His teachings claiming to be the Son of God, died a gruesome death three years later still speaking the same radical words, and with unwavering urgency, asked people to just believe. His words were bold and dangerously threatening to religion at the time, calling religious leaders hypocrites for the way they honored God with their mouths but defied Him in their hearts, valuing legalistic rules over more important matters, like justice, love and mercy.

Jesus asked simply for people to follow Him, to learn Him, and through following, to begin to know Him. Jesus, in explaining His life, said simply, "the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured and the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the good news is preached to the poor" (Matt 11:5). This good news He speaks of? He speaks of His Father, and He speaks of Himself, giving glimpse into a reality where mourners are comforted, the poor in spirit are actually exalted, and those who are meek are given much.

During Jesus' life, lepers lived in entirely separate leper colonies, completely removed from the rest of society, branded with rejection and ridiculed for a sickness they could not cure. When society responded with complete alienation, Jesus responded with physical touch. Jesus physically touching and even healing lepers was not only taboo and was received with both awe and disdain, but also proclaimed a love for others that shadowed His own self. And Jesus lived this way constantly.

Jesus walked miles and miles to tell others about God, His Father. Jesus said Himself and the Father are actually One. He went without sleep, suffered ridicule, false words, rejection, betrayal and minimization in response to His proclamation as the Son of God. And yet Jesus continued to pour out His life and heart, through tender touch, patient listening, sound wisdom, time, love, energy, and friendship.

Jesus asked for all people to love God, love Him and love others. And to display His love, Jesus was killed on a criminal's plank of a wooden cross, ruthlessly hung by nails for crimes He did not commit. Jesus did not utter one word in self-defense, but instead went willingly, for the joy set before Him of people knowing Him and knowing the Father was worth the cost.

And after three days in a dark tomb, Jesus was raised to life, displaying the power of God, was seen by over 500 people, and shocked the world. He said, "because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed" (John 20:27).

We are the ones who have not seen Him. Can we believe?