Welcome to Tuesday!!! The best day of the week! Why you may ask? Why not? God made it so it must be good....why not the best. Let's get started!
Once upon a time, there were three brothers. They were raised in Jacksonville, Florida during the 1960s. All three of the brothers achieved success in the music industry. Ronnie, Donnie, and Johnny VanZant would share an intense love of the south and the music that was grown there. They would incorporate the spirit of the south in many of their songs. Mixing the blues with multiple guitar driven rock and roll would become the trademark for each of the brothers as they launched their individual enterprises. In 1964, Ronnie would form a band with friends Allen Collins and Gary Rossington called the "Noble Five". Ten years later, Donnie would join his friend Don Barnes in the band 38 Special. Johnny would follow in his brother's footsteps in more ways than one. In 1980, he would form the Johnny VanZant band and later take his brother Ronnie's place in a reformed band that continues to sell out concerts and inspire zippo lighters everywhere.
The band would take the name of a gym teacher who hated long hair. Leonard Skinner was the original name of the band that would provide the rock greats "Freebird" and "Sweet Home Alabama". The band would modify their name before the release of their first album, 1973s (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd), establishing Lynyrd Skynyrd as Southern Rock royalty and providing the storyline for one of the most overwhelming tragedies to be found in the annals of popular music history.
Pronounced would eventually go double platinum and reach as high as #27 on Billboard's Hot 100 Album chart. It would also be the vehicle to release the singles "Tuesday's Gone" (The Notes favorite Skynyrd song), "Gimme Three Steps", "Freebird"(the song that would gain Lynyrd Skynyrd national attention), and a song about the life that Marion VanZant had wanted for all of her boys......
"Simple Man" Lynyrd Skynyrd
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
This well known passage from Isaiah 53 has become one of the most well known of the prophecies of Jesus. While it speaks to the complexities that surround the Biblical account of the life of Jesus, it also purports the idea that he would have been a "Simple Man". Specifically the phrase from Isaiah, "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him",.. is supported by a fascinating 2002 article from Popular Mechanics. "The Real Face of Jesus" as proposed by forensic scientists can be seen here:
"The Real Face Of Jesus" Popular Mechanics December 2002
This article supports the notion that Jesus would have been considered quite ordinary for the residents of Nazareth. In fact, the trade of carpentry that he learned from his earthly father Joseph was seen in the Hebrew social ladder as 1 step above being a shepherd, the lowest rung on that ladder. The city of Nazareth was considered to be a lowly town in social circles as well. (John 1:46) From the time Jesus was 12 until He was about 30, the Bible is silent about the events that occured in His life. Most scholars agree that Joseph died during this time and according to the Hebrew tradition Jesus would have been about the life of an eldest son providing for His earthly family with His carpentry skills. It seems by Isaiah's prophecy and the Biblical narrative that we do have regarding the life of Hebrew sons that Jesus would have lived a simple life and been a simple man.
Praise God Jesus' life would change! In the coming weeks, the world will be looking at Christians and how they celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and King. What will the see as they look at our church? What will they see as they look at us? Will they see Jesus? Will they see the simplicity of the Gospel working in our daily lives as individuals and collectively as the church? Will they see joyous people waiting for the coming of their King? Easter is a special time in the life of any church. It is also a special time for families to come together and share their lives with each other. Both of those pale in comparison to the glory that will be our future when Jesus returns. As we celebrate this Easter, let us all keep the ENTIRE Easter story in mind. It doesn't end with the empty tomb of a ........"Simple Man".
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by loving you,
Randy
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