Lately I have been thinking about the person of Jesus. I’m taking a class called Life of Jesus, which started some of my more in depth thinking about Jesus, and through conversations with friends I’ve further developed these thoughts. The reason I am blogging about this topic is because I think many people have an inaccurate view of Jesus and the time in which he lived. I must say, for many years I was one of those people who thought of Jesus from my cultural lens. I do not have it all figured out, I’m still learning so much about Jesus everything, but I’m thankful for the things I have learned recently. Here are the highlights of what I’ve been thinking about in relation to Jesus. I’m sure I’ve borrowed some of this insight from those I have chatted with about this topic.
#1: Jesus was not a good moral teacher.
The following quote brought this point home for me this week:
“…Quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips… I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to… Jesus was never regarded as a mere moral teacher. He did not produce that effect on any of the people who actually met Him. He produced three effects — Hatred, Terror, and Adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild approval. “
--C.S. Lewis
Lewis reminds us that regardless if you accept Jesus as the redeemer of the world, he was not a moral teacher. Jesus did many things that were shocking and did not sit well with his contemporaries. I think we have two options: except Jesus as our savior or write him off as an out there kind of fellow. I’ll take the first.
#2: Jesus is big enough to save the world.
This next quote reminded me that often we do not realize he is big enough to save, and we cannot half heartily believe in Jesus. We either believe in him fully or we don’t. The Bible does not offer a pick and choose option.
“A recent survey of the Church of England, discussing the manifold reasons why people do not go to church, comments, wryly: Part of the reason is simply a lack of belief that the death of Christ was turning-point of history.”
--N.T. Wright
This quote struck me because even though I am a professing Christian, and intellectually know that Jesus is big enough to save the world, I do not always remember this when life gets tough. Most people would agree that Jesus lived and is a historical person, but do you believe he was a mighty savior who rose from the dead?
#3: I cannot earn Jesus’ love…I am saved by grace, yet I should strive to live a life pleasing to God.
Anyone who is reading this and is at familiar with the Christian faith has probably heard that Christians cannot earn their way to heaven. The Bible makes it very clear that we are saved by grace. One passage that states this point is below.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Holy Bible, ESV).
I have known that I am saved by grace for years, yet for many of them, I do not think I realized I was still trying to work my way into Jesus’ good graces by performing. This is a tiring way to live because no one can ever do enough. It’s so logical to think, I can never do enough and therefore I do not need to perform, yet it’s so much more comfortable to try to perform because then we have more control of the situation. However, I do want to live a life pleasing to God out of my deep love for him. I am trying to step back ever so often and look at where I am trying to perform without realizing it. How freeing to know that the law cannot save me. I sin so often and am in desperate need of God’s grace.
#4: Jesus was part human and part God. This is important. He understands our suffering—he was human and went through suffering. Jesus is available in the highs and the lows. The people in the Old Testament had God and many prophets to direct them. Some of them were filled with the Holy Spirit (ex: King David), and God appears to them in more outright ways (ex: appeared to Moses in a burning bush). However, we now have a savior who has been through human suffering—this is huge. Life goes through up and down, and as I experience these different aspects of life, I’m so grateful to have a savior who went through a human life. All Christians now have the Holy Spirit in us as well. God is not some distant, far off being. He’s so real and personal to me. The more time I spend talking to God, the more time I feel the strength of that personal relationship he offers all me.
Thank you for reading this long blog. I have so much more to say about Jesus, but my other thoughts will have to wait until another time. I encourage everyone reading this to give Jesus an honest look. Many TV programs will tell you about all the flawed evidence about Jesus’ life, however, there is actually more evidence for Jesus resurrection that many of things we believe. On top of the evidence that exists, my personal conversations with God have assured me of his real presence in my life.
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