Jesus Is... (Entry #2)

For those who may have not read previous posts, I am going through traits or characteristics of Jesus that I found while reading through the book of John recently.  I will recap each week so you can see the complete list, but would also encourage you to read past entries as well if any or all of these interest you.  I figured that if the Bible calls us to be life Christ, then we should understand what He was truly like when he was on Earth.Trait #1 & 2: He is the Word (John 1:1-2) & He is All Accepting (John 1:12)See the full list of the series by clicking here.This week I am focusing on two that I can relate to directly.Trait #3: JESUS LOVES THE CHURCHJohn 2:17 - "His disciples remembered that it is written: 'Zeal for your house will consume me.'"Is there a place that you just love going?  As place that makes you happy when you are there or that gives you a comfort.  Maybe you want to protect it from being hurt.  Sometimes that's a place like the beach, or the home you grew up in.  Maybe its a place that you remember as a child that brings back fond memories.  For Jesus, that place was the Church, or His Fathers House.  This verse where the disciples remember this, comes right after Jesus turned over tables and kicked people out of the church that were turning it into a market.  Jesus knew the church was, and is, an integral piece of spreading the Truth both during His time on earth and after he left.  That's why He protected it as much as possible.Even as a young boy you could find Jesus at church.  In Luke 2:41-52, you can read about how Jesus stayed behind after His parents left the area to be in the church and teach the Truth to those gathered around.  He was drawn to the church at a young age, and since that time every church in the world should now be drawn to HIM!TRAIT #4: JESUS IS A TEACHERJohn 3:1-21 - Jesus Teaches NicodemusPer the earlier note about Jesus being in the temple as a young boy, He was there listening to the teachers and teaching them through the understanding He had of the Word of God.  But now in John 3, Nicodemus (a teacher of the Word) comes to Jesus at night to ask questions that he doesn't know the answer to.  Jesus spent time with him to teach him.  Jesus did a lot of what we will call "mass teachings" whether it was the sermon on the mount, or prior to feeding of the 5,000, or even teaching the disciples (12).  But what I love about Jesus was His care and ability to take time for the individual to teach one-on-one.  I honestly believe that He loved teaching so much because it was one of many ways that He showed love.Just think about this, for a minute.  The most popular verse in the Bible (John 3:16) is in this conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus.  Imagine how many people have been spoken life and encouragement into through this verse.  While it has made an impact on countless numbers of people, Jesus was simply trying to teach Nicodemus one-on-one about the love of God, and how to be "born again."  Some of the most impactful words ever spoken were done so in a one-on-one conversation, not in front of hundreds of people.That's all for this week.  Two take-aways here are that we should always strive to be part of the church body, and not just learn from the body, but teach others what we know (both in group and individual settings).