14. …yet the world did not know him.

After two thousand years of Christian history, Jesus has become probably the most famous person who ever lived. Whatever people believe about him, there can be very few who have never heard of him at all. We often have a very distinctive mental picture of him too, complete with white robe, which would be unlikely for an ordinary Galilean carpenter, and a shining halo, which he definitely didn’t have! We think he must have been unmissable. And yet, “the world did not know him”, says John.
In reality that is not surprising. He was, after all, just a Galilean carpenter, one tradesman among many, from one small village among many, in a backwater province of the Roman Empire. He didn’t have any special religious training.  He wasn’t from a leading family, and had no powerful political backers. To the Roman and the Jewish authorities he was just another troublemaker – and they had plenty of those to deal with.
Jesus’ story spread across the world and across history  solely because of the transforming effect he had on the lives of those who knew him.

REFLECTION POINTS
• Think about famous people today. What makes them famous? Would you like to be famous?
• What would you like to be remembered for, by whom, and why?
• How did you first come to hear about Jesus?

ALL AGE IDEA

• Notice the people around you today. Silently pray for someone you see who you don’t know, remembering that God knows and loves them.