by Ben Hughes

Created on: May 15, 2009

The strange thing about thinking how Jesus would be treated if he were born in our modern era is thinking of the parallel to his life two thousand years ago.

The Bible tells us he was man rejected, a man of wonder and awe to those who really knew him, but considered dangerous and "magical" by many other people. Yet Jesus was - and would be today - just an ordinary many in many ways. The amazing thing about Him was that he was born a lowly carpenter and if he were born into the 21st century he would still humble Himself in the same way. There would be no royalty, no wealthy lifestyle or privileged background; Jesus is who he is partly because of meekness.

Josephus, the ancient Jewish historian, supposedly quoted a wanted notice signed by Pontius Pilate, which described the Jesus he was looking for. This notice said Jesus was 'a man of simple appearance, mature age, dark skin, small stature, three cubits high (about 5 feet), hunchbacked, with a long face, long nose and meeting eyebrows, so that they who see him might be affrighted, with scanty hair with a parting in the middle of the head, after the manner of the Nairites and an undeveloped beard' [quoted in Colin Wilson's A Criminal History of Mankind]. Why would we assume He would be any different now?

The world is still filled with death and disease, corruption and sinfulness. Jesus would fit into this world as well as He did two thousand years ago but perhaps would face more competition from modern technology: the internet, Nintendo Wii and breaking through the earphones of the dreaded iPod or shouting over the mobile phone and competing with the beeps of incoming text messages.

Perhaps the only thing which would be different from two millennia ago would be the attention of the media and the global skepticism which goes with it. Stories of the 21st century spread manically around the world and those which don't fit in with popular belief are quickly rejected and unfortunately Jesus would struggle to maintain worldly credibility with the 24-hour paparazzi.

The media, especially in the UK, take pleasure in destroying the lives of those who don't fit in with worldly expectations and gladly hold them up to ridicule. Unfortunately Jesus still fits into this 'unexplainable,' 'dangerous' category for too many people and although mass media can be useful, it can also be destructive. Just as Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, there would be many people willing to make a name for themselves and far more powerful and determined weapons to help them do so.

Yet Jesus wouldn't mind. His life two thousand years ago ended in death and resurrection and so would his life today, because that is why God came to Earth; that was His purpose. The story would still be the same, just more intense and powerful. Then maybe the after affects would be more intense and powerful too.

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