Jesus defies explanation. You can’t just put him in a category and then say you have him figured out. Nearly every conventional idea of Jesus is contradicted by the basic source documents—the four gospels of your New Testament.

On the one hand, you have the gentleness of Jesus, meek and mild. On the other hand, you have Jesus kicking over the money-changers’ tables in the temple and driving them out. You have Jesus who wouldn’t break a bruised reed or raise his voice in the streets. On the other hand, you have a vengeful Christ returning to make war and to destroy his enemies in Revelation.

John, in his gospel, is at some pains to recall and present those sayings of Jesus that identify him as God—the Son of God, even the God of Abraham. And then he turns right around and presents a Jesus so human that he is overcome with grief and weeps, along with Mary and Martha, over the death of Lazarus. We’ll find this revealing episode in John, chapter 11.