ReclaimJesus.net

Twittering – it’s quite a phenomenon, isn’t it? For those of you who haven’t become addicted yet, here’s how it works. Twittering is a social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and receive text messages up to 140 characters in length. Created by Cornell student, Jack Dorsey, Twitter.com now enjoys 55 Million visits per month (that’s about 2 MM per day), and it continues to grow exponentially. When Congressmen and Senators are caught twittering during the President’s inaugural address, you know you’ve caught onto something big.

The idea of twittering is simply to communicate with a base of friends or followers (they are called “tweets”) about whatever you are doing at the time or whatever is on your mind. But just up to 140 characters in length. When Brian Williams, the anchorman for NBC news, was a recent guest on the Daily Show, John Stewart asked him if he twitters. Williams replied that he didn’t, because most of the time he wasn’t doing anything that would be of interest to anybody.

I got to thinking. What if there was twittering back in the time of Jesus? What if Jesus had a Blackberry? What if he was twittering his life’s experiences to his tweets from birth to death and beyond? What would it sound like? So, I thought I’d give it a try. In the next few blogs, we will set out the story of Jesus, in Jesus’ own words, 140 characters at a time.

Now keep in mind that, in the New Testament, there are actually four different stories of the life and death of Jesus – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each tell their own version, and while there is much overlap, there are also many differences. Today, Jesus will be twittering based primarily on the version presented in the Gospel of Matthew, with a smattering of Mark, a dash of Luke, and a twist of John all tossed in for extra flavoring.

To assist us in converting the written twittering into an oral delivery, I shall give each separate twitter a title. But those characters won’t count against my – I mean Jesus’ – 140 character limitation.

All set? Here we go? Twittering Jesus, 40 twitters in all, five at a time.

1. Arrival: Just arrived. Bumpy ride on a donkey in my mother’s womb. No room in the inn. Just Mom and Dad and some smelly animals to greet me. Oh, yeah, angels and shepherds and kings, too. Don’t know why. No big deal.

2. On the road: Just got here and we’re off to Egypt. Go figure. Something about King Herod wanting me dead. Silly king. I’m just hours old. Whatever!

3. Back Again: Mom and Dad got the all-clear sign the other day. Herod is no more. It’s good to be home. Long trip back from Egypt. Tired. Check with you later.

4. Freaky Lookin’ Dude: This guy – they call him John the B – tried to kill me today. They call it baptism. Three times he dunked me under water. But three times he brought me up again. Lucky for me. Now I’m supposed to baptize others with fire. Huh? And the Holy Spirit. What’s up with that?

5. A Sojourn with Satan: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse. 40 days & 40 nights of wandering in the wilderness. Three times Satan tried to tempt me, but three times I rejected him. Hard, though. He’s a convincing chap.

That’s all for now. More next time.

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