If someone were to describe a man with long hair and a beard who wears robes and carries a wooden cross, most would think that man is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, not Michael Grant of Philadelphia.
The confusion could be forgiven, as the 29-year-old Grant calls himself “Philly Jesus.” Though, he wants to make it clear he’s not the real deal, just an admirer.
“I’m not the real Jesus. I’m just a huge fan,” Grant told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I’m doing it as a walking billboard for the King of Kings.”
Much like in the story of Jesus, Grant has been arrested by authorities of the state. Only Grant was arrested by Philadelphia police at an Apple store on Monday.
After entering the store decked out in flowing robes, he was approached by a manager, who asked him to leave, according to the Associated Press. Grant’s large wooden cross was blocking an aisle, but he refused to move it or to vacate the store.
Staff then contacted the police, who arrested Grant, CBS reported.
Grant claims his civil rights have been violated, going so far as to liken his plight – and arrest – to the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s.
“This country was built on freedom of religion and I can go into a public place and be dressed as whoever I want and express myself however I want,” Grant told WCAU. “The same way an African American human being in the 1960s would be singled out in a white-only store and was asked to leave, I, Philly Jesus, was singled out in the Apple store because of my visual faith I portray.”
Grant was charged with defiant trespassing and disorderly conduct, WCAU reported. After spending the night in a holding cell, he was arraigned Tuesday and released. He is due back in court on May 17.
He tweeted, “i AM FREE! NOTHiN’ CAN STOP ME!! HATERS GON HATE-JOHN 15:18–i know my rights..I was persecuted for my faith yesterday in the apple store”
Grant has become a known figure around Philadelphia for his manner of dress and for his pilgrimages across the city. Every other Saturday, he walks fourteen miles across The City of Brotherly Love and back, dressed in robes and carrying a 12-foot long cross, which he made himself using wood and rope from Home Depot. Unlike crosses used by the Roman Empire to execute and torture prisoners, though, his has wheels.
“This is my way of letting my light shine, by carrying a cross in the ‘hood,'” Grant told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
His goal might seem obvious: to interest others in the teachings of Jesus Christ, but he said he hopes to do it in an unobtrusive way.
Instead of approaching others with pamphlets covered in scripture or proselytizing with speeches, he hopes that people come to him.
“This is my way of sharing Jesus without preaching with a blow horn and condemning people. It’s like making a statement,” he said. “When they look at me, I don’t want them to see Michael, I want them to see Jesus.”
In that way, he sees himself as a motion picture of sorts.
“I bring the story of Jesus, the same way they bring it to the movies, I bring it to the street,” he told NBC.
Like the original Jesus, he discusses the word of God with anyone who’s interested and goes so far as to baptize interested parties in the LOVE Park fountain. In fact, he told NBC that “in a 6-hour day in LOVE Park, I probably baptize six or seven people.”
But, unlike the original Jesus, he stokes his popularity with a social media presence on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And he seems to use them to proselytize.
He tweeted, “( Revelation 1:18 )I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;..”#PHiLLYJESUS pic.twitter.com/Smo6M2wRdJ”
His Twitter bio even links out to a quick 8-question test that tells users if they’re “good enough to go to heaven.”
Grant, whose Twitter profile claims that he’s also a rap artist, seems to have fervent followers. After his arrest Monday, many users tweeted in solidarity using the hashtag #FreePhillyJesus.
But how did he become Jesus?
It all began in 2005, when, following a fight, an ex-girlfriend allegedly ran him over with a minivan, the Inquirer reported. He had been trying to prevent her from leaving by barricading the car in the driveway with his body. She drove on anyway, crushing his knees and abdomen under the car’s weight.
He was given opiates to manage the pain, but that quickly turned into an addiction. Like many other prescription painkiller addicts, he soon turned to heroin, at one point consuming up to 20 bags a day. He lived on the streets, busking for money and stealing when that didn’t work. At the time, he was also trying to be a rapper under the stage name Opal Weaver.
One of his songs was poignantly titled, “White Boy Wasted.”
“I used to get mangled,” he told the Inquirer. “Anything that I ever did I put 100 percent in. When I was doing drugs, I went hard for my drugs, you know what I’m saying?”
In 2013, after violating parole terms stemming from several misdemeanors, a judge forced him into rehab. While getting clean, he began attending a weekly Bible class.
During this journey to sobriety, he found Jesus. And on June 4, 2013, Grant became sober, the Star-Ledger reported.
“I considered myself completely healed and cured when I surrendered my heart to Jesus Christ,” he told NBC.
At that that point, he followed Jesus, but he hadn’t yet begun portraying him. A few months later, after watching “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Grant was struck with an idea: what if he dressed as Jesus and preached on the streets of Philadelphia?
While he believes deeply in Jesus, he wants to make one thing clear, the Inquirer reported. Grant is passionately opposed to organized religion, which he calls a “bunch of man-made rules.”
“Make sure they know I’m not religious,” he told the Inquirer. “Tell them I hate [organized] religion. I do what I do for Jesus Christ alone.”
The opinion may be controversial, but Grant’s no stranger to controversy since donning the robes and bearing the cross. Following the Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage last year, Grant posted messages on his social media accounts in support of the ruling, Philadelphia magazine reported. He then deleted them and posted messages in opposition to the ruling. Following an online backlash, he then deleted those.
“The Supreme Court made a judgment on same-sex marriage, and I just had to preach the truth of God,” he told the magazine. “Marriage is between a man and a woman. Homosexuality demotes human production. It’s against God. Sin is sin.”
More controversial still are his run-ins with law enforcement. His arrest for refusing to leave the Apple store isn’t his first since becoming Philly Jesus. In Nov. 2014, after ice skating for fans in LOVE Park, Grant was arrested and faced charges of disorder conduct and failure to disperse after being ordered to leave the park, the Inquirer reported. Apparently, the order stemmed from complaints that he was accepting tips.
The charges were later dropped.
One way or another, he said dressing as Jesus keeps him thankful, and it keeps him sober.
“I’m using the talent God gave me to show him in a non-denominational way,” he told the Star-Ledger. “The last thing I ever thought I’d be doing in my life is this.”
He has no intention of stopping.
“I plan on doing this for the rest of my life. And, as I age, and probably when I start to get white hairs and start to get gray hairs on my face, I’ll morph into Philly Moses,” he told WCAU.
(c) 2016, The Washington Post ยท Travis M. Andrews
