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Jesus (The Road Man)

Well, now you can see my heart and soul! I love Jesus the road Man! As a world cross walker it is true to say that I am a road man too.

People often think of Jesus in a white flowing robe with well-groomed hair. You almost never see a drawing of Jesus in dirty clothes or sweating in the heat. In a crowd Jesus always stands out as the clean one in white with a fresh washed look. His hair always seems well groomed and His beard freshly trimmed. This is so far from reality that it is astounding that this portrayal makes itself into our Bibles, children’s books and movies. This appearance of His is so unrealistic that it creates a false idea of who Jesus is and was when He walked this earth. This is the look not of a road man but a man living in a palace like a king or prince. Time and again we read of Jesus being in the wilderness, or going away all night in prayer or traveling in the night. Seems most people never consider what a person looks like after staying up all night. Have you ever considered what Jesus must have looked like after fasting for 40 days in the wilderness? He was there with the wild animals and in the elements.

Jesus was a road man. I had better give you a few scriptures or I might lose some of you. I do want to shatter your preconceptions and open minds to the real Jesus. So please stay with me. Please read and consider the following scriptures.

Matthew 20:17 Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them,

Matthew 20:30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road , when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”

Matthew 21:7-8 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road ; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

Matthew 21:19 And seeing a fig tree by the road , He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” And immediately the fig tree withered away.

Mark 8:27 Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?”

Mark 9:33 Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road ?”

Mark 10:17 Now as He was going out on the road , one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”

Mark 10:32 Now they were on the road , going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid.
Then He took the twelve aside

Mark 10:46-47 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.
And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Mark 10:52 Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road .

Mark 11:8-9 And many spread their clothes on the road , and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

Luke 9:57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road , that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

Luke 24:32 And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road , and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”

Luke 24:35-36 And they told about the things that had happened on the road , and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread. Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.”

These are only a few that speak about Jesus on the road and traveling but it is sufficient to give you an idea that Jesus traveled on the roads. Jesus was not in a chariot or riding a horse but walking.

I have walked carrying a cross in almost every area that Jesus walked. I know the roads and valleys and mountains in the areas that He walked and talked and preached. It is tough country. It is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Even today there are no toilet facilities along most of the roads of that area. Where did He go to the toilet, in the bush or behind a tree or big rock? Where did He bathe? In a stream or river or did without. Where did Jesus sleep? There were few if any inns to rest in. He slept alongside the roads or under a tree our just in the sand. There were times when Jesus was welcomed into homes.

Let Jesus tell you Himself about His travels.

Luke 9:58 And Jesus said to him , “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His Head.”

I know this statement does not have an emotional effect upon many but for those who have been on the road and had no place to spend the night it is powerful and revealing. You look and there is the foxhole and there in the trees is the bird’s nest but Jesus had no place to lay His head. It could have been a cold rainy night. The ground was wet and cold and the wind blowing. Jesus huddling in a wet blanket as the night passed slowly. His body shaking in the chill’¦’nowhere to lay His Head’!

Jesus the road man walking with the dogs and donkeys. Jesus walked with the thieves and muggers. He must have sat around the fire with sinners, talking and sharing.

Think of Jesus and the disciples carrying their food and water and then resting under a tree to eat and drink. Hot and sweating they would pause and flies and gnats would swarm around. The summer heat can rise to over 130 degrees, which would have been almost suffocating.

They would arrive in a village or along the road and someone asks a question! That is in the scripture but the Holy Scripture does not go into detail about the life of Jesus along the way.

I am going to leave you to ponder these things in your heart and ask you to look carefully at Jesus as you read the stories of His life in the Holy Word.

As for me, I must go. Denise my wife and Sophia our daughter and I are off on the road again in just two hours! Ha.

God bless you and keep following Jesus! (Have you not been following Him then we welcome you to join us on the journey of believing in and following Jesus)

Pilgrim followers of Jesus,

Arthur and Denise Blessitt

Luke 18:1