MORE ABOUT JESUS?

An old Christian hymn begins with these words, "More about Jesus would I know, 
More of His grace to others show; More of His saving fullness see, More of His 
love who died for me."  Do these words 
express your sentiments about Jesus?  Do you long to "know" him more?

Most of us would probably be surprised at how little we actually know about 
Jesus of Nazareth.  By the way, why was he called Jesus of Nazareth?  Was he 
born there?  What connection did he have with 
Nazareth?  Also, where in the world (or where in Israel) was Nazareth?

Surveys have shown that a majority of Americans believe that Jesus Christ is the 
Son of God.  In fact, a majority of Americans have pledged some type of loyalty 
or following to him.  But how much do we really know about him?

A brief test would expose the lack of knowledge that most of us have of Joshua, 
son of Joseph (Joshua is the Old Testament name for Jesus, while Joseph was his 
adoptive-father's name).  For example, how many of the following questions could 
you answer?

1.	Name at least three of Jesus' half-brothers.

2.	What was Jesus' occupation before starting his ministry?

3.	How old was Jesus when he began his ministry?

4.	What relationship was Jesus to John the Baptist?

5.	What was Jesus' grandfather's name?

6.	Who prophesied that Jesus would bring his mother grief?

7.	What were Jesus' devotional habits?

8.	What was included in the only recorded meal that Jesus himself cooked?

9.	At what time of year was Jesus crucified?

10.	How long did Jesus remain on the cross (i.e., his body)?

Obviously, one can "know" Jesus as his Lord and Savior without knowing all the 
answers to these questions and a host of others.  But Americans do tend to 
"know" a lot of trivia about their heroes.  If Jesus is the Lord of Lords and 
King of Kings, wouldn't it reason that we would want to "know" all that we can 
about him?  Take some time to learn about Jesus.  Spend some time in one of the 
four books written about him-Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  Let the refrain of 
that old hymn be the motto of your life:

More, more about Jesus,
More, more about Jesus;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love who died for me.