
Photo: Twitter

Photo: Philly Jesus/Facebook
“Instead of me going up to people, pushing the Gospel on them, nonbelievers and believers come up to me and say, ‘Hey Philly Jesus, can we get a picture with you?’ because everyone wants a picture with Jesus. That’s a green light for me to share the Gospel with them.” Performing as Philly Jesus is what he does for a living now – he doesn’t exactly ask people for money, but people who believe in what he’s doing will give him cash, clothes and shelter. He stays with his friends and family these days, and has no desire to get a regular 9-to-5 job.
Photo: Philly Jesus/Facebook
Grant does have his share of haters. “When Jesus walked with the cross, people were throwing rocks at him and spitting on him and all types of stuff. I’m not surprised,” he said. “You’re always going to have your haters, you know what I’m saying?” But he doesn’t to take insults quietly. Instead he screams the scriptures back at people who offend him. He was even arrested last November and charged with disorderly conduct after ice-skating at the city’s Dilworth Park skating rink while wearing his trademark robes and carrying his staff. Grant later wrote on Twitter that the officer who arrested him had accused him of solicitation. The cop apparently told Grant to leave the area, and when he refused, he ended up in jail.
Photo: Imgur
“Those are charges that, in my experience, the government uses when you don’t do whatever the government wants you to do, or that the police officer wants you to do,” said Charles Gibbs, Grant’s lawyer. “He’s a very decent young man who is simply exercising his First Amendment right of speech. To have our local government try and crucify a guy who is standing in LOVE Park and spreading a message of hope and peace is reminiscent of what happened 2,000 years ago – and still patently disturbing.” But apart from the handful of haters, Philly Jesus mostly gets love from people who visit the park. “I saw Jesus and I got excited,” said Michell Heim, 45, who waded into a fountain at the park just to get a hug from Grant. “It’s definitely different than being baptized by a minister. It’s exciting to be baptised by Jesus.”
Photo: Philly.com
Grant regularly baptizes his ‘disciples’ at the fountain. In fact, he was in the news last December for baptizing a tourist visiting Philadelphia for the Made in America music festival. 30-year-old Dennis Herrera, of Staten Island, New York, said he spotted Grant dressed in a white robe and staff in hand while passing through the park. “He said to jump in the water,” Herrera said. “I said, ‘Hey, when in Rome…” “This is not the first baptism I did at the fountain,” Grant told reporters. “I do it every day. Like in a six-hour day in LOVE Park, I probably baptize six or seven people.” He explained that the public baptism shows one’s love of Jesus. “It is you making the conscious decision as an adult. Jesus said anyone who acknowledges me in public, I will also acknowledge before my father and the holy angels in heaven.”Interestingly, Grant says a part of him doesn’t want to be Jesus at all. “My old self wants to live a regular life, have a job and a normal life, meet a woman, have kids, settle down, but God has me doing this,” he explained. “When God calls you, you can try to run away from it but it always catches up with you.” Sources: Philly.com, NBC Philadelphia