Christmas is here—“A most wonderful time of the year!”

Many greetings sent and received remind us that “Jesus is the reason for the season.”

How well do you know Him?  The Bible teaches us that it is all-important to know Him.  Jesus said in his prayer recorded in John 17:  “Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent.”

Let me tell you the story of one man’s fascinating journey into a fuller knowledge of the Man whose birth we are in the midst of celebrating. 

Bruce Barton was born in Robbins, Tennessee, August 5, 1886, the son of a Congregationalist minister.  He described his attendance in the weekly Sunday school class as his “weekly hour of revolt.”  He felt that his kindly Sunday school teacher would have been shocked had she known what his thoughts were during class.  He was turned off by the picture on the wall of Jesus, “a pale young man with no muscle and a sad expression.”

He liked the picture of Daniel on the other wall—standing off the lions.  He much preferred hearing about the exploits of David, Moses, and Samson than hearing about Jesus, the “Lamb of God.”  He did not know what that meant, but it reminded him of Mary’s little lamb, “something for girls—sissified.”  His concept of Jesus was of one going around for three years “telling people not to do things.”  He was glad when the superintendent rang the bell and announced that it was time to sing the closing hymn. 

He left class and “left Jesus behind.”

As he grew older, he was mystified at the powerful influence Jesus had on the world.  He came

to realize that Jesus had literally changed the world, and that he must have missed something in his early training.  

It was then that he decided to wipe his mind clean of what he had heard and read up to that point.  He said, “I will read what the men who knew Jesus personally said about Him.  I will read about Him as though He were a character in history, new to men, about whom I had never heard anything at all.” He was amazed at what he learned from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 

Where did people get the idea that Jesus was a physical weakling?  “Jesus pushed a plane and swung an adz; He was a good carpenter.  He slept outdoors and spent His days walking around His favorite lake.  His muscles were so strong that when He drove the moneychangers out (of the Temple), nobody dared to oppose Him!  “A kill-joy!  He was the most popular dinner guest in Jerusalem! The criticism which proper people made was that He spent too much time with publicans and sinners and enjoyed society too much.  They called Him a ‘wine bibber and a gluttonous man.’  A failure!  He picked up twelve humble men and created an organization that won the world.”

When Barton finished his studies, his little boy notions and prejudices vanished.  He felt that someone should write a book about the dynamic discoveries that he had made.  And he did.  It was first published in 1924 and remained on the bestseller list for a number of years.

As I began my life as a minister, a friend recommended that I get a copy of Bruce Barton’s book, The Man Nobody Knows.  And I did.  And it opened my eyes and heart to a Jesus I had not previously seen—a Jesus that was already truly portrayed in the pages of Holy Writ. I have tucked away in my worn copy of Barton’s book, an obituary I clipped from the Washington Star dated July 6, 1967, announcing his death.   He had headed the largest advertising firm in New York and served two terms in the U. S. Congress, but to me, the greatest thing Bruce Barton did was to help countless folks get better acquainted with our Savior.

Merry Christmas!

“I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection.”  - Phil. 3:10

Joe Baisden

Belton, Texas