Jesus the Outlaw

I can still remember anticipating the response of the listeners. I knew I would have their attention as soon as I announced the title: Jesus the Outlaw. I must admit that, although I sincerely believed the message was true, and I sincerely wanted the listeners to hear it and to believe it, I also enjoyed (even back then) irritating religious people. As you can imagine, the looks on the faces of the listeners revealed their concern. What man in his right mind would accuse Jesus of being and outlaw? I had their attention and the religious were irritated!

The truth is I was thoroughly convinced that Jesus was an outlaw; after all, He intentionally violated so many of the laws the Jews held sacred. He refused, at least in the minds of the Jews, to keep the Sabbath Day holy; He had the audacity to heal the sick on the Sabbath; He touched the unclean, even lepers; He forgave sinners, even adulterers and encouraged others to do the same. There is no wonder that the Sanhedrin was out to get this outlaw. He simply did not conform to the cultural norms of the Jewish community. It was obvious that He was a renegade. He was marching to the beat of a different drummer. To use the words of Brennan Manning, He lived in wild abandon to His Father, His Abba.

Although the Pharisees made it clear that Messiahs do not break laws concerning the Sabbath, touch lepers, or forgive adulterers, Jesus made it just as clear that this Messiah does WHATEVER He pleases, WHENEVER He pleases, AS LONG AS it pleases His Abba. After all, He is Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of healing, and Lord of forgiveness. In fact, He is Lord—PERIOD! Whatever He does is precisely that in which His Father delights. He always knows which rules are for following and which rules are for breaking. He knew then, and He knows now!

The truth is, Jesus was (and still is) too bizarre for most people. His behavior is too radical. Following Him is too dangerous. Following Him can lead only to what appears to be a premature death. There is no wonder that most of those who were following Him left Him. Who would want to follow an outlaw? Who would want to follow a man who always marched to the beat of a different drummer? Who would want to follow a renegade?

To be honest, I believe there is a remnant, a group of believers who, like Paul, sincerely want to continue with Him. I believe that God has a people who are far more interested in experiencing Jesus than they are in understanding Jesus. I truly believe that God has a people who are far more interested in following Jesus than they are in following the religious rules of our culture.

Has it dawned on you that, although Jesus repeatedly told us to follow Him, He never once told us to follow His rules? He did say this: If you love Me you will keep My commandments (John 14:15). You see, loving God and loving one another are the fruit of being His children; they are not rules we must learn to obey. His call is to follow Him, not His rules!

I really do believe that God has a people who truly desire to live in wild abandon to Jesus. Are you one of them? I can tell you one of the true indications that you are: you are struggling to abandon something. What are you afraid to abandon? Your comfort? Your religion? Your riches? Your career? Your reputation? Your theology? Your parent’s expectations? Your security? Be honest!

Remember this: The rich, young ruler could not abandon his riches and he, therefore, missed out on knowing the true riches of living in wild abandon to Jesus. The Pharisees could not abandon their religion and they, therefore, missed out on knowing the joy of living in intimate relationship with Jesus, an intimacy that only wild abandon could produce.

By the way, this was Jesus’ prayer: And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent (John 17:3). Did you notice how clearly He stated that eternal life has to do with knowing Him rather than understanding Him? Did you notice that for Jesus, relationships were far more important than doctrine?

Until we are willing to live in wild abandon to Jesus, we will never truly know Him; instead, we will spend our lives trying to understand Him. To say that another way, until we choose to live in wild abandon to Jesus, we will be nothing more or less than modern-day Pharisees—hypocrites. Rules will be far more important than relationships and doctrine will always take precedence over relationships. Unfortunately, most of us have spent our Christian lives learning what we cannot do (the rules of our religious culture) instead of celebrating who we are in Jesus. Come on! Take the leap into wild abandon to Jesus--the Outlaw!