Jesus said, “Come to Me, all of you who are loaded down with the burdens of life. Come to Me and I will give you rest for your souls.”
Who does that? What kind of a person would make that kind of a claim about h/herself? Oh sure, people like myself or doctors and such, work in the field of helping people. But none of us would hold ourselves out as the cure for the deepest ills afflicting humans. All but the most deluded would actually believe that WE hold the answers to humanity’s problems. Jesus said that He alone held the solution to the problems of the world. Jesus said that He was God’s representative on earth. The Gospel writers, those who had come to know Jesus best, either through close personal contact or through interviewing those who knew Him best, described Jesus as God in human form.
If these people are correct, then it would seem foolish beyond compare to ignore Jesus. But why would He be described this way? Well, there are five main reasons. In the Gospel of Mark we are told:
1) Jesus proved His claim to be God through His teaching. He taught in a manner that was unlike anyone else. His authority was inherent. “The people were amazed,” was a common sentiment from those who heard Him.
There are those who walk among us (they call themselves Brights) who believe that people who lived two thousand years ago were not as intelligent as the ones making this claim. Of course, the people who make this claim think they are more intelligent than anyone living today as well, so . . .
Regardless, this is simply not the case. People of Jesus' day may have lacked the knowledge that we have today but a lack of knowledge is not a lack of intelligence. In fact much of society still functions on principles that were developed by the people of Jesus' day. Very intelligent people were amazed at the teaching of Jesus. He was above and beyond anyone they had ever heard.
The main reason though, that people were amazed at what and how Jesus taught is that He lived what He taught.
Unlike you and I who don’t even live up to our own moral standard, let alone that of our Creator, Jesus loved His enemies. He forgave those who persecuted Him. He asked God to help those who hated Him.
C. S. Lewis once said, “No one knows how bad he is until he tries really hard to be good. A good man knows something of the evil still left in him. A thoroughly bad man thinks that he is good.”
Jesus preached love and He lived love. No other "human" has done or ever will do that. It was as unique then as it is today. It provoked a response of “Who is this man?”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1) Jesus proved His claim to be God through His teaching. He taught in a manner that was unlike anyone else. His authority was inherent. "The people were amazed," was a common sentiment from those who heard Him.
ReplyDeleteIs the Sermon on the Mount a good example of such teaching skills?
I don't know. Out of three years of teaching, we only have recorded enough of what Jesus said to read it in less than two hours. While it may or may not be an example of His teaching skills, this section is certainly the central message of His teaching.
ReplyDelete