With the last and final pick of the 2022 NFL draft, the San Francisco 49ers selected quarterback Brock Purdy, earning him the NFL traditional nickname, “Mr. Irrelevant.” Prior to the draft, Brock’s scouting report was nothing to rave about. Scouts critiqued his arm strength, accuracy and physical presence. Others questioned his leadership skills to be an NFL Quarterback. These scouting reports led to his fall on NFL team’s draft board.
On Sunday, December 11th, Brock Purdy was anything but irrelevant. Making his first career NFL start, he led the 49ers to a 35-7 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. What made this victory even sweeter? Brock did it against the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady. The wide aperture in their NFL experiences made for a great storyline: The rookie versus the GOAT. In comparison to Brock's first NFL start, Tom Brady was making his 330th start. In other words, Brady’s been playing quarterback longer than Brock’s been alive!
Since his first NFL start Brock Purdy has helped the 49ers to a 5-0 record, and a spot in the NFL playoffs. He’s completing 66% of his passes and has accounted for 13 touchdown passes in just 5 games. Everything NFL scouts said he wouldn’t be, he’s becoming. Proving that irrelevance lies in the eyes of the beholder.
Although Christmas is now behind us, I am reminded of another “Mr Irrelevant” born before Brock’s time—Jesus. Jesus’s coming was the most unexpected gift. The people of the Old Testament were expecting a king but instead they received a servant. Born in a stable by two lowly parents, he didn’t fit the mold of what we expected him to be. So we disqualified him. We despised and rejected him. Even before his coming the prophet Isaiah prophesied our attitude towards him:
“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. 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” (Isaiah 53:2-3).
During his time, Jesus was considered the modern day Mr.Irrelevant. But for anyone to say the sort of things he said and to do the sort of things he did, showed he was anything but irrelevant. Many claimed to have seen him heal the sick, walk on water and feed 5,000 people with just 2 loaves and 5 fish. And even after he died, many testified to having seen him. Demonstrating nothing short of relevance.
He walked around saying things that sounded like it would only come from a madman, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelations 3:20). An invitation to place our trust and faith in him, and in response he would be with us. Who would say such a thing except a man who is deranged?
We all have our opinion of who we think Jesus was because he was certainly an eccentric man. There is no doubt that he lived. Many historians, theologians and scientists have attested to Jesus’ life, but who he claimed to be is worth questioning. In his book Mere Christianity, C.S Lewis makes the argument that Jesus has to be one of three things: he was either who he claimed to be—the Son of God, a lunatic or a liar. We are caught in a trilemma: Lord, Lunatic or Liar. But perhaps this trilemma is worth exploring in the gospels to help make our decision about Jesus’ claim. Relevance is in the eyes of the beholder, so we must decide for ourselves, is he Mr. Irrelevant or Mr. Relevant?
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