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What’s the big deal about Jesus?
It’s an honest question.
Most people already carry some idea of who Jesus is, even if they didn’t choose it. For some, he’s tied to religion, rules, or disappointment. For others, he’s a historical figure they vaguely remember learning about. And for many, he’s someone they’ve quietly wondered about but never felt sure how to approach.
What’s interesting is that the way Jesus is often talked about today doesn’t always match how he shows up in the stories about him.
In those stories, Jesus spends most of his time with people who are worn down, stressed, or quietly overwhelmed. People carrying too much. People anxious about money, health, belonging, or whether they’re getting life right. He notices the ones others overlook. He challenges systems that add pressure instead of relief, especially for people already living close to burnout.
Jesus lived in a world where most people had very little margin. Power sat at the top. Daily life felt uncertain. Security was fragile, and many people lived one setback away from falling behind. Stress wasn’t abstract. It shaped everyday decisions and relationships.
Jesus was a real person. His life and execution are recorded not only by his followers, but by non-Christian historians as well. But what keeps people returning to Jesus isn’t only that he existed. It’s how people describe encountering him.
Instead of offering easy answers, Jesus often asked better questions. Questions that made people stop and reconsider what they assumed was true about God, about themselves, and about what actually leads to a good life. He told simple stories that disrupted tradition and invited people to see familiar things in new ways.
People didn’t follow Jesus because he was safe or predictable. Following him could cost them their reputation, their standing, or their place in the community. Some lost relationships. Some lost security. And still, they followed him, because he named what they were carrying and offered a different way to live with it.
Maybe that’s why Jesus keeps showing up in conversation, art, and moments of cultural tension. It&#8217;s clear that people don&#8217;t always agree about him, but for some reason, they keep coming back.
This is simply an invitation to look more closely. To notice how Jesus treated people. To listen to the questions he asked. To consider why a first-century figure is still at the center of the world’s most talked-about love story.
Maybe the better question isn’t just who Jesus was — but why, after all this time, we’re still talking about him.

Jesus 101

There’s a very particular set of verses in the Bible that are commonly known as The Beatitudes, which could be simply called the Blessings. Basically, Jesus was speaking to a crowd on top of a mountain and he started his message with eight statements that follow the format of: “Blessed are the [blank] for they will [blank].” It’s really straightforward stuff, until you start looking at the things that Jesus calls “blessed” and what he means by it. 
A big part of what Jesus seems to be really getting at is what it looks like to live a fulfilled life—a thriving life. When he calls a bunch of different character traits blessed he’s saying that the people that embody these traits are people that are flourishing. Well that makes things easy—we just follow a checklist and we’re living our life to the full, right? Well let’s look at the list first. Jesus tells us that those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, those who are merciful, and those who are persecuted are all people who are flourishing. At first glance that sounds a bit backwards. How could it be that mourning equates to flourishing? Or meekness? Or persecution? Well it’s not incredibly obvious at first, but let’s try to unpack it. 
First, these traits are hard—whether they are traits we choose to embody, or experiences we go through, they’re just plain difficult. Mourning is a devastating process. Forgiveness and mercy are incredibly difficult to give out. Meekness and humility make us feel weak. These things often feel unnatural and uncomfortable. As we learn to live through these experiences and live out these traits, we frequently fall flat on our faces. And hear this: that’s totally okay. They are really difficult—so difficult that culture often counsels us to avoid them. 
But Jesus says these traits are blessed and valuable—AKA living these traits out is worth it. When is mourning the hardest? For many of us, it’s when we’ve lost someone we’ve loved with everything in us. Those who mourn are flourishing because they are the ones approaching relationships the right way—the all-in, selfless, unconditional, Jesus-like way. What about forgiveness? That one is notoriously hard, but when you bring yourself to forgive, you free yourself from having to carry around burdens of hurt and hate. Humility can feel humiliating, but it isn’t an expression of weakness. On the contrary, it’s the strongest and bravest people that are able to freely admit when they are wrong. 
You see the traits Jesus valued—mercy, humility, mourning, integrity, peacemaking, to name a few—are all incredibly difficult to live out, but they result in a richness and fullness of life that can’t be found or faked elsewhere. Learning these traits and even learning how to say simple phrases like “I forgive you,” “I love you,” or “I was wrong,” open up a whole new world and way of living. How would we approach these hard things if we believed Jesus when he said they produce growth and flourishing?

Why it’s worth it to do hard things

Does our world reward volume? 
It seems like the loudest opinions, the fastest reactions, and the strongest takes tend to shape the moment — and quietly add to our stress and mental load. And without meaning to, we start absorbing whatever is most amplified around us. They shape how we see ourselves before we ever stop to question them, often showing up as pressure, anxiety, or a constant sense of being overwhelmed. 
There’s an idea in psychology that our environment forms us slowly, over time. It’s not the big moments that form who we become, but the repeated messages — the things we see and hear repeatedly over time. If that’s true, it’s worth asking what our surroundings are training us to become right now. 
Always be something. 
Always do more. 
Don’t mess up. 
And whatever you have, more is enough. 
Words like be, do, don’t, and more don’t announce themselves as powerful. They feel ordinary. Familiar. But over time, they begin to carry expectations. They shape how we see ourselves before we ever stop to question them. 
One thing about Jesus that often gets overlooked is how much he valued noticing. He stepped away from the crowds. He asked questions that slowed people down. He told stories that helped them see the patterns they were living inside of. His way wasn’t loud, but it was clarifying. 
The things you see here on this site are intended to help you take a break from the noise — a chance to look at the words shaping our lives and ask what they’ve been doing to us and whether Jesus might be offering a different way to understand them. 
Because not everything true is loud. 
Some things only surface when we finally stop and pay attention. 
Think about it … 
Jesus asked more questions than he answered. If Jesus invited you to rethink just one of these words — Be, Do — which one would you question? 
Let’s take 30 seconds. 
Little words can be really heavy. Choose the word that feels heaviest. 
What if Jesus invited you to let go of these expectations? What might he be offering in their place?

Not everything true is loud. Not everything loud is true.

From the time we’re young, we learn the unspoken rules — what to do to fit in, what not to do if we want to belong. Performance becomes a survival skill, especially when pressure and anxiety start to shape how we measure our worth. And even as adults, that pressure follows us into our relationships, our work, and the way we talk to ourselves. 
For many people, faith has felt like more of the same, another place where expectations stack up. It’s easy to assume Jesus is just another voice saying, “Do this, don’t do that.” But when you look closely at the stories told about him, the picture is more surprising. 
When Jesus visits the home of two sisters, Mary and Martha, Martha is overwhelmed by everything she thinks she has to manage, while her sister sits near Jesus doing no work at all. Martha isn’t doing the wrong thing — she’s simply distracted, trying to earn approval instead of receiving it. And in that distraction, she nearly misses the connection her work was meant to create. When frustration finally spills out, Jesus doesn’t scold Martha or praise Mary. He speaks gently: 
“Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential.” (Luke 10:41-42) 
Instead of more rules, he offers relief. 
That moment reflects something else Jesus said when asked what mattered most. Out of all the commands and expectations, he named just two as the most important of all: 
Love God. Love people. 
Everything else, he said, grows from there. 
It’s simple … and somehow incredibly hard in a world built on pressure and fear of falling short. 
Think about it … 
If love, not performance, really is the center of what Jesus teaches, how did it become so difficult to live that way? 
Let’s take 30 seconds. 
Think of a place where you feel pressure to prove yourself. 
Now imagine Jesus stepping into that moment and starting with love instead. 
What might soften if love, not effort, set the tone?

What if the only expectation wasn’t performance, but love?

Being human right now can feel like a constant stretch in every way — emotionally, physically, and mentally. Everywhere you turn, there’s another message about what the good life looks like and how close or far away you are from it. 
Be healthier. Be more productive. Be happier. Be content … but also want more. The contradiction alone is exhausting, the kind of exhaustion that looks like burnout. Conversations about mental health often name this feeling, but don’t always tell us where to set the weight down. 
Contentment is hard in a world designed to keep us reaching. And for many people, the good life doesn’t just feel elusive; it feels out of reach. So many of us are trying so hard, but it just seems like systems keep shifting. So, we adapt. We learn what works. We pick up habits and beliefs that help us survive, even when they quietly wear us down. 
Many of Jesus’ closest followers lived this reality. They didn’t have access to what their world called the good life. They were worn out by economic pressure, social limits, and religious expectations layered onto everyday survival. Jesus didn’t start by telling them who they should become. He started by naming what was already true: 
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out?” (Matthew 11:28) 
Then, he said something unexpected: 
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.” 
A yoke was a common tool in Jesus’ time, a wooden beam used to help two animals pull a load together. It didn’t remove the work. It shaped how the weight was carried. A good yoke made the load steadier and shared; a bad one left you worn down. 
In this teaching, Jesus isn’t offering escape, but a different way to carry what life demands by walking with him, learning his pace, and letting the weight be shared. 
Maybe that’s the beginning of a new way to be — not doing less, but carrying life in a way that doesn’t wear you down. But, how? 
Think about it … 
What have you learned about success, worth, or the good life that might be shaping you in ways that feel unsustainable? 
Let’s take 30 seconds. 
Think of one belief or habit that’s been quietly shaping. Now imagine Jesus inviting you not to fix it — but to learn a different way. 
Is there anything you might need to unlearn before something new can begin?

Being human shouldn’t be this hard.

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Everywhere we turn, there’s noise…bad news, endless opinions, and pressure to keep up. It leaves many of us anxious, restless, or simply worn down. But what if the way forward isn’t just found in self-help or quick fixes? What if both science and the teachings of Jesus point to practices, like rest, connection, and forgiveness, that can actually quiet the chaos and strengthen our mental health?
</div>

Jesus, Science and Mental Health

Yeah. He really did.
We don’t always use the word “struggle” to describe Jesus. But maybe we should.
Because his life wasn’t just about sermons and miracles. It was also about pressures and pain. Grief. Exhaustion. Being pulled in every direction. Sound familiar? 
Jesus didn’t live in a peaceful, easy world. He lived under a powerful empire that watched and controlled everything. A society that misunderstood him. Friends who didn’t always show up. Systems that didn’t bend for anyone, especially a working-class carpenter from the sticks (Nazareth wasn’t exactly a booming metropolis).
Jesus knew burnout. Anxiety. Loneliness. Seen as a threat for challenging the existing social and political order, Jesus experienced government oppression. He lived under Roman occupation—a regime that taxed the poor into deeper poverty, silenced protest with violence, and used public executions to keep people in line. It was a system that protected the powerful and punished those who called for justice. He faced betrayal from friends and suffered sleepless nights and the crushing burden of carrying other people’s pain as well as his own.
He got tired. 
He got overwhelmed with emotion. 
He wept. 
He asked God hard questions.
Jesus knew the crushing weight of everyone’s expectations… and he knew what it was like to feel completely alone. He knew what it meant to care deeply in a world that didn’t always care back. But he didn’t numb out. He didn’t self-medicate. He didn’t shut down. He stayed present. Jesus kept pursuing and practicing compassion.
But, so what? Is any of this relevant thousands of years later? Well, consider this: so many of us today are dealing with similar issues. Inflation and an uncertain job market may have you feeling burned out. Perhaps you are one of many Americans working multiple jobs to keep your family afloat. The aftermath of social distancing, coupled with social media, has radically changed our interactions, leaving some to feel more disconnected and alone than ever.
Some of us feel that politics aren’t fair, while others still feel hurt about things that happened in the past. So, what’s the solution? We won’t pretend we have the answers, but Jesus left clues about how we might manage. If you could simplify his teachings and methods to a singular idea, it would be this: that everyone deserves to live good, full lives.
He didn’t want to see others struggle and barely scrape by, he wanted everyone to thrive. He desired a world that was just and equitable for all. He dedicated his life to this idea. With that in mind, maybe his way of handling life’s hardships can help us deal with ours.

Did Jesus struggle?

We’re taught that greatness is defined by our status, achievements, and the amount of recognition we receive. But Jesus had a different idea. He exemplified and taught others that greatness was beneath the surface. That true greatness is defined by the content of our character, hearts, and willingness to serve others.
What does it mean to be great? We spend so much of our lives chasing greatness—trying to be successful, admired, or the best at what we do. But does that kind of greatness ever truly satisfy? Jesus showed us a different way. He didn’t seek status or power. Instead, he measured greatness by love, humility, and sacrifice. He cared for the overlooked, served those in need, and willingly put others before himself. He showed us that the greatest thing we can be is a humble servant—willing to give, to sacrifice, and to lift others up. 
What if we pursued that kind of greatness? What if we measured our lives by how we care for others rather than what we achieve? In this video, we explore what true greatness looks like—and why it might just change everything.

Do we have greatness all wrong?

Our friends at the Bible Project put together a 9 part video series designed to introduce the main beliefs of what it means to be a follower of Jesus through a study of the overarching storyline and themes of the Bible.
While He Gets Us focuses on the story of Jesus’ life on Earth, this series explores the basics of the Christian faith. There are videos clarifying what Christians mean when they use terms like God, Heaven and Earth, Gospel, sacrifice and atonement, salvation, and the Holy Spirit. It explores the origins of the Bible too.
We like this series because it explains basic Christian beliefs in a self-paced journey that clarifies Christianity for skeptics, Jesus followers, and everybody in between.
For more information on Bible Project, please visit: <a href="https://bibleproject.com">https://bibleproject.com</a>

The Bible is a collection of books, all of which emerged from the history of ancient Israel. It is the most influential book in the history of Western and much of Eastern civilization. People have a lot of opinions about the Bible’s message, but let&#8217;s just start with what it is. In this video, you&#8217;ll get a condensed history of how the Bible came into existence and the different forms of the Bible in the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christian traditions.
We’ll also look at what the Bible says about the Bible. In 2 Timothy 3:15-17, the author Paul describes the entirety of Scripture (which, at the time of writing, would have referred to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible) as being “breathed out by God” (verse 16). Your translation may say “inspired by God.” The Greek word used here is theopneustos, which literally means “God-breathed.” This is how the biblical authors viewed the Hebrew Scriptures—as God-breathed. And the apostle Paul believed that within this divinely-inspired literature, we can find the salvation that comes through Jesus (verse 15).
Though the Bible includes many different books, it is one unified story. The Hebrew Bible tells one story that leads to Jesus (Luke 24:27), and the New Testament continues that story and describes Jesus and his followers advancing his Kingdom on Earth. And this compelling story has transformed the lives of millions of people, transcending time, age, gender, and culture.
So what is this story? We’ll take a look at that next!

Part 1: What is the Bible? A brief history of one of the most influential books in history

“In the beginning, God…” (Genesis 1:1)
Both the prelude and beginning to the story of the Bible begin with God.
The God portrayed in the Bible isn’t always easy to understand. No matter how good it might sound, there isn’t an analogy that works perfectly. (Sorry, “sun,” “water,” and “three-leaf clovers”!) But what if we could better understand what it is that we can’t understand?
In this video, we will explore the complex identity of the God of the Bible and see how it all leads to Jesus.
In this reading, you’ll look at several different verses in the Bible describing God (the Father), Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Part 2: God What do Christians mean when they say “God?”

The story of the Bible begins with God creating the Heavens and the Earth (Genesis 1:1).
What comes to your mind when you think about Heaven? Clouds, angels, eternal singing, and pearly gates? Maybe a place where all of your dreams come true or you live in a mansion on a street paved with gold?
What comes to our minds when we think about Heaven is oftentimes largely influenced by culture and the popular imagination. But what does the Bible actually teach about Heaven? And what is Heaven’s relationship to Earth? Understanding the biblical view of Heaven and Earth is incredibly important in grasping the story of the Bible.
In this video, we explore the surprising biblical view that Heaven and Earth are meant to overlap and see how Jesus is on a mission to bring them together once and for all.

Part 3: Heaven and Earth Most of what we think about heaven is not actually in the Bible.

As we continue in the story of the Bible, an important theme shows up on the first page. The Bible teaches that humanity was created in the “image of God” (Genesis 1:26-27). But what does that mean?
This video on the image of God traces the idea of humans as co-rulers alongside God, commissioned to develop the world and its resources. How has this human vocation been compromised by our selfishness and evil, and how did Jesus open up a new way of being human through his life, death, and resurrection?
Let’s take a look!

Part 4: Image of God Did you know the Bible says God looks like you… or vice versa?

Humanity was created in the image of God, and God tasked humanity with using their own creative power and imagination to spread order and beauty into all of creation. But they rebelled against God and chose to define good and bad for themselves, spreading chaos and disorder throughout creation.
But there is hope. In chapter 3 of Genesis, we read about a mysterious promise of a future deliverer who would one day come to confront evil and rescue humanity.
The story continues, and in this video on the Messiah, we trace this promised “snake-crusher” (Genesis 3:15) through the family of Abraham, the messianic lineage of David, and ultimately to Jesus, the Messiah who defeated evil by first letting it defeat him.

Part 5: Messiah The Bible follows the story of a promise made and the man Christians believe fulfilled it.

At last the story reaches its climax. And in his Gospel account, Matthew introduces Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah—the “snake-crusher” promised in the early pages of the story.
But Jesus wasn’t what the people were expecting.
In this video, we trace the origins of the word “gospel” and see how it ties the story of the Hebrew Bible together with Jesus and his announcement of God’s Kingdom. The Gospel is the declaration of a new kind of king who has come to usher in God’s Kingdom rule on Earth. Jesus brought God’s rule and reign to the world in a very upside-down way, which is the best news humanity could ask for.
As part of the Scripture references, you’ll find Matthew chapter 5. This chapter is part of what is commonly known as the “Sermon on the Mount.” In Jesus’ most famous sermon, he speaks about life in his upside-down Kingdom. As you read, consider the ways Jesus’ Kingdom is different from the kingdoms of this world.

Part 6: Gospel of the Kingdom What is the good news, and why do Christians believe it?

In what might seem like a surprising twist in the story, Jesus is killed. (Spoiler alert: he comes back to life!)
But why did Jesus have to die? God is on a mission to remove evil from his good world, along with all of its corrosive effects. And he wants to do it in a way that does not involve removing humans.
In this video, we’ll explore the theme of sacrifice and atonement. We’ll look at how God “covers” over human evil through animal sacrifices and see how that ancient ritual ultimately points to Jesus and his death and resurrection.
In the Scripture References below, you’ll read through several passages written by New Testament authors about the meaning of Jesus’ death.

Part 7: Sacrifice and Atonement The story of Jesus includes his death, but it doesn’t end there.

As the biblical story continues, the book of Acts tells the story of the earliest followers of Jesus. Throughout the book, we see the Spirit of God guiding and directing Jesus’ followers.
But remember, this is not the first time God’s Spirit appears in the Bible.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” (Genesis 1:1-2)
Throughout the Bible, the Spirit of God is described as animating, sustaining, empowering, and transforming. 
In this video, we’ll explore the original meaning of the biblical concept of “spirit” and what it means for God’s Spirit to be personally present in all of creation.
Ultimately, the Holy Spirit was revealed through Jesus and sent out into the lives of his followers to bring about the new creation. And when the biblical authors look forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises in the new creation, they envision a world permeated with the Spirit of God.

Part 8: Holy Spirit What do Christians mean when they talk about the Holy Spirit?

At the beginning of the story, humans are presented as creatures of Earth and of Heaven. God makes humanity from the dirt, but then he exhales his divine breath (Spirit) to bring the creatures to life (Genesis 2:7). God also appoints humanity to rule over all creation as his image (Genesis 1:26-28) and even invites them to share in his eternal life by eating from the tree of life (Genesis 2:16).
But of course, that’s not what happens. Humanity joins in a cosmic rebellion and forfeits their access to eternal life (Genesis 3), and they become corrupt and violent (Genesis 4, 6, 11). So the biblical story doesn’t begin with humanity falling from perfection. Rather, it begins with a lost opportunity, or as the apostle Paul puts it, “humanity falls short of the glorious status God purposed for them” (Romans 1:23 and 3:23).
From this angle, the rest of the biblical story is about God raising up a new human who will be his eternally faithful partner in ruling the world. And this is fulfilled in Jesus. This is why the apostle Paul calls Jesus the true “image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4) and “the last Adam&#8221; (1 Corinthians 15:45). His death and resurrection established him as “the new humanity” who rules with God over Heaven and Earth (Ephesians 1:19-21).
And those who trust in Jesus are invited to share in his new humanity through the Spirit that he is breathing upon his people still today (Romans 8:9-11). This is what it means to live as followers of Jesus in the world today: advancing the upside-down Kingdom and spreading the new creation throughout the world through the power of the Spirit.
And our hope is in the future day when the new humanity will join Jesus in the new creation and God’s ultimate purposes for creation will be fulfilled.
The end of the story is only the beginning.

Part 9: The New Humanity We conclude by unpacking one of the most challenging concepts in the Bible

A unified story that leads to Jesus

It’s probably not a stretch to say we all want to be happy. But right now, it seems most of us aren’t. At least not totally. To be precise, 97% of the thousands we asked across America are sick of something.
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He Gets Us spent weeks traveling across the country trying to find out why — why we’re so divided, anxious, isolated, and frustrated. We don’t have all the answers, but we started to suspect that our discontent could be tied to the fact that so many of us pursue fulfillment and flourishing by pursuing greatness. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise. This country was built on the pursuit of greatness. The American dream is all about bootstrapping your way to success and happiness and fulfillment. We want to build successful businesses, pad our reputations and our bank accounts, and make it to the top. That’s the proven recipe that will make us happy and content, right?
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But the dream isn’t panning out. We talked to people all across the country from every walk of life. We sat down with people who have made it to the top and people who are climbing back from rock bottom — and we’re pretty much all sick, at least a little. So, are we aiming at the wrong thing? Jesus seemed to think so.
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If you rewind the clock to 2,000 years ago, you start to see that, like us, people carried all sorts of discontent around with them, and, like us, they desired greatness. There’s this moment in the Bible where Jesus’ disciples were arguing about which of them was the greatest, and when they asked Jesus to settle the argument, he flipped the definition of greatness on its head. He said the greatest is the one who is humble — the one who serves. For Jesus, it wasn’t about getting to the top; it was about lifting others up. And this humble service that Jesus was talking about? It was also his response to the discontent he saw all around him.
So, what’s at stake here? If Jesus is right about this, following him in pursuing his version of greatness, there’s a potential that not only will we help other people overcome their discontent, but we also might find we’re pursuing something that doesn’t come up empty — a greatness that actually leads to fulfillment.
DIVE DEEPER: 
<a style="text-decoration: underline;" href="https://hegetsus.com/en/articles/discontent-by-the-numbers-are-we-all-sick-of-the-same-things"> 
97% of us are sick of something. Are we sick of the same things?</a> 
<a style="text-decoration: underline;" href="https://hegetsus.com/en/sick#home-videos"> 
Jesus went searching for the dissatisfied. What if we did the same? 
</a>