SUNDAY SERMON: JESUS CHRIST: The First Superstar!

Being in the film and entertainment business, I clearly understand how it works. As a celebrity, you become a staple diet in the gossip and talk consumption of people all over your space. Your life comes under scrutiny and everywhere you go, you are watched, hailed or crowded by fans who wish to have a feel of you or just to snap pictures as a form of identification with you. The celebrity loses all his or her privacy, moreso when the press and gossip magazines are on his case daily with stories which might be fabricated or embellished just to sell more! Musing over this, my mind went to Jesus this morning and the popular question,' What would Jesus do?' came to my mind. And then it hit me! Jesus was actually the world's first superstar! Given the mind-blowing miracles he performed, the raising of the dead, the healing of the sick, the open forgiveness of sins and more, it was no wonder he had never-before-seen crowds of people after him whenever he went. Everyone wanted a piece of him, only this time, for spiritual succor. But he had his share of his loss of privacy too. That's why the Bible says that most times, he had to move away from the crowd to rest when he felt tired. But even at that, he had a listening ear for everyone and treated every problem attentively. In my analogy, I can liken the huge crowds always following Jesus as the fans, the Pharisees and Sadducees who sneered at him and told exaggerated tales about him as the gossip mags, the preachings he gave at every town and village as His music concerts, the disciples he had with him as his management team, the questions he was asked as his interviews and many more. Indeed, Jesus is the world's first superstar, while on earth and even after his resurrection. And in accepting him and believing in him, we all have a piece of that superstardom. We all are celebrities in our own way, in Christ. Shalom.