I want to step back from politics and try to reground us. We've had several weeks of, well,

contentiousness in politics and squabbling on the right. And sometimes we lose sight of the bigger

picture. And so I want to tell you about a man. To tell you about that man, I want to actually read one of the most profound

verses in the entire Bible. That verse is Jude 5, and it really is one of the most profound

verses in the Bible, and I will explain to you why as we talk about this man. This is from Jude.

I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved the people

out of the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed those who did not believe.

This is Jude, who identifies himself as a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.

The early church would have known that this is Jude, the brother of Jesus.

Now, some Christian traditions believe that Mary and Joseph never had children. Maybe Joseph

had children by a prior marriage, so maybe they're first cousins. I would say I'm in the camp that says

they're half brothers and sisters of Jesus. He had half brothers and half sisters. The early church,

a lot of them seem to believe them to be the half brothers and sisters of Jesus. And I think that's

true. It's notable Jude says he's a servant of Jesus Christ

and brother of James. He doesn't identify himself as a brother of Jesus. Instead, he says Jesus saved

the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed, those who did not believe. It's probably

one of the most, if not the most profound verses in all of Scripture because he's talking about the man,

Jesus. We forget sometimes that the God Jesus, the one who spoke the world into being,

who was with the word and was with the Father and spoke creation. As James says in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God.

We forget he's a man.

That the God of the universe condescended to become born a baby in a manger and to go through life, we forget about the man Jesus.

And I think to really appreciate the God Jesus, sometimes we got to realize he was fully man.

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