Page Title
| A Touch of Comfort Cheer and Consolation from the Bible |
Who IsJesus?
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Everyone can answer that question: he’s the son of God. But
how does Jesus’ personality shine through to you in the
stories and incidents in the gospels? How does he interact
with people? How does he respond to certain incidents in his
life? If you listen to him talk, and imagine the tone of voice he
is using, you get a feeling for Jesus’ character and
personality. For example, Jesus speaks differently to his
disciples than to the Pharisees. Listen closely to his words,
slip into his sandals, and your picture of him will expand. You
will learn to know a man happy doing what he is doing. This
page will help you do that.
how does Jesus’ personality shine through to you in the
stories and incidents in the gospels? How does he interact
with people? How does he respond to certain incidents in his
life? If you listen to him talk, and imagine the tone of voice he
is using, you get a feeling for Jesus’ character and
personality. For example, Jesus speaks differently to his
disciples than to the Pharisees. Listen closely to his words,
slip into his sandals, and your picture of him will expand. You
will learn to know a man happy doing what he is doing. This
page will help you do that.
"Take a look at what you see."The blind receive sight, the lame
walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor"
(Luke 7:22). If that was good advice in Jesus’ day, should we
not judge his claims by the promises he made against the
results he achieved? It would be foolish not to.
When his disciples were caught in a storm on the Lake of
Galilee, he awoke from a sleep and stilled the wind and waves
and calmed his trembling disciples. That got them into some
serious thinking. “Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey
him” (Mark 4:41). He attended a wedding and made water into
wine; fed the 5000 with a few loaves of bread and two fish,
took a dead man from his funeral bier and restored him to his
mother, brought a twelve year old girl back to life, and called
his good friend Lazarus from his tomb.
Stories like these make skeptical people wrinkle their noses,
raise their eyes to heaven and plead for clear thinking and
sweet reasonableness. The big problem, however, is the sheer
number of such miracles and the complete agreement of the
gospel writers in describing the incidents in Jesus’ life that
demonstrate his power.
Then there's the greatest miracle of all: Jesus’ own
resurrection. Three times he told his disciples that he would be
rejected by the elders of the nation, suffer punishment, die on
a cross and then rise from the grave on the third day. Perhaps
I’m just a sucker for what the Bible says but when a man
describes in detail something that will happen and then it
happens just as he predicted, I’ve got to pay attention. All four
gospel writers agree on the details of Jesus’ resurrection: his
disciples saw and spoke to him on several occasions after his
resurrection. According to St. Paul 500 people saw him alive
and well in his resurrected body. If you like eye witnesses to
back up a story, you’ve got to love the story of Jesus’
resurrection.
Another clincher for me is not what people said about the
resurrection of Jesus, but what wasn’t said. Jesus’ enemies
never denied the empty tomb. Wouldn’t you expect that?
Besides, what they didn’t dois was the most telling blow. They
didn't go to the cemetery, roll away the stone and point out
Jesus’ dead body. To this day no written account has been
found giving the Jewish side of the story. Curious.
This reminds me of a perceptive remark by Joseph Conrad
who suggests a standard by which a controversial figure may
be judged. In Lord Jim, he points out that “You shall judge a
man by his foes as well as by his friends.”8 Except for
political campaigns, that’s sound advice. Truth is often
ferreted out by the attacks of one’s enemies rather than by the
glowing testimony of friends.
Jesus was rejected by the religious leaders of the Jews
not because he did not show his power as the Son of God, or
because they had no reliable eye witness accounts of his
miracles, but because he did not measure up to their messianic
standards. After 2000 years, the world regards the good news
of salvation as a foolish concoction of naïve minds, not for
lack of proof, but for lack of expectation. "Jesus is not what
we think he should be." While the world searches after God,
strives for peace and happiness, and yearns for an assurance
that there is a life after death, it seeks such treasures on its
own terms.
Topic for next time: Is there another reason Jesus was right?
walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor"
(Luke 7:22). If that was good advice in Jesus’ day, should we
not judge his claims by the promises he made against the
results he achieved? It would be foolish not to.
When his disciples were caught in a storm on the Lake of
Galilee, he awoke from a sleep and stilled the wind and waves
and calmed his trembling disciples. That got them into some
serious thinking. “Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey
him” (Mark 4:41). He attended a wedding and made water into
wine; fed the 5000 with a few loaves of bread and two fish,
took a dead man from his funeral bier and restored him to his
mother, brought a twelve year old girl back to life, and called
his good friend Lazarus from his tomb.
Stories like these make skeptical people wrinkle their noses,
raise their eyes to heaven and plead for clear thinking and
sweet reasonableness. The big problem, however, is the sheer
number of such miracles and the complete agreement of the
gospel writers in describing the incidents in Jesus’ life that
demonstrate his power.
Then there's the greatest miracle of all: Jesus’ own
resurrection. Three times he told his disciples that he would be
rejected by the elders of the nation, suffer punishment, die on
a cross and then rise from the grave on the third day. Perhaps
I’m just a sucker for what the Bible says but when a man
describes in detail something that will happen and then it
happens just as he predicted, I’ve got to pay attention. All four
gospel writers agree on the details of Jesus’ resurrection: his
disciples saw and spoke to him on several occasions after his
resurrection. According to St. Paul 500 people saw him alive
and well in his resurrected body. If you like eye witnesses to
back up a story, you’ve got to love the story of Jesus’
resurrection.
Another clincher for me is not what people said about the
resurrection of Jesus, but what wasn’t said. Jesus’ enemies
never denied the empty tomb. Wouldn’t you expect that?
Besides, what they didn’t dois was the most telling blow. They
didn't go to the cemetery, roll away the stone and point out
Jesus’ dead body. To this day no written account has been
found giving the Jewish side of the story. Curious.
This reminds me of a perceptive remark by Joseph Conrad
who suggests a standard by which a controversial figure may
be judged. In Lord Jim, he points out that “You shall judge a
man by his foes as well as by his friends.”8 Except for
political campaigns, that’s sound advice. Truth is often
ferreted out by the attacks of one’s enemies rather than by the
glowing testimony of friends.
Jesus was rejected by the religious leaders of the Jews
not because he did not show his power as the Son of God, or
because they had no reliable eye witness accounts of his
miracles, but because he did not measure up to their messianic
standards. After 2000 years, the world regards the good news
of salvation as a foolish concoction of naïve minds, not for
lack of proof, but for lack of expectation. "Jesus is not what
we think he should be." While the world searches after God,
strives for peace and happiness, and yearns for an assurance
that there is a life after death, it seeks such treasures on its
own terms.
Topic for next time: Is there another reason Jesus was right?
Your COMMENTS are welcome
| WHAT IF JESUS WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG? |
Doubts. Everyone has them. Some people don’t believe the
astronauts landed on the moon in 1968; the whole show
was rigged on a Hollywood sound stage. The legend of Big
Foot has swept through the Pacific Northwest with
believers and non-believers arguing over size, sightings and
genetics. What about the Shroud of Turin , the Loch Ness
monster or whether the Chicago Cubs will ever make it to
the World Series.
With skepticism rampant across the whole spectrum of
human knowledge, no wonder so many have doubts about
the Bible. Everyone has an opinion, a pet theory or a guess
about the creation of the world, or the birth, life, and death
of Jesus Christ—or all of the above. Given the right
intellectual mix, the proper stimuli, and the lack of good TV
programming, a religious discussion can break out among
believers and doubters with claims and counter claims
zipping in all directions.
I don’t have a problem with people who have doubts and I
don’t believe God does either, though I wouldn’t blame
him. After so meticulously preparing the world for mankind’
s habitation, then seeing it smashed by sin, he might have
shrugged his shoulders and decided to start over again on
another planet. And why not; all that real estate belongs to
him. I wouldn’t have blamed God if he would have lit a fuse
and launched planet earth and its inhabitants into some far
away galaxy, or further— never to be heard from again.
Instead, he was already preparing a blazing star to shine
over Bethlehem and practicing a hymn of joy with an angel
choir to accompany his son’s birth.
Doubting is not a sin. In fact, dealing with doubts often
strengthens faith. I intended to prove that some years ago
when Jim, a friend of mine, revealed his doubts about
creation, Jesus' birth and death, the resurrection and
everything else biblical. I can’t make up my mind whether
Jim was sincerely wrestling with his doubts or afraid to
give them up simply because then he wouldn't have
anything religious to talk about.
Raised in a non-practicing Jewish home, he has the idea of
Jewishness, but not the conviction. His two years in a
Christian college imparted a smattering of Bible knowledge
laced with a large helping of confusion. To Jim, Christianity
is warmed over Judaism sprinkled with the naivete of
immature generations. “I can’t believe all that stuff in the
Bible. It’s not reasonable to assume that Jesus is the Son of
God and did all those miraculous things. Educated people
don’t fall for that ancient history stuff any more.”
I’ve run into that line of thinking all my life and when Jim
and I discussed it over eggs one morning, we decided that
Jesus was either a liar and knew it, or he was a lunatic and
didn’t know any better. But what if Jesus was right about
who he was and why he came into the world? What if he
came to blow away the intellectual cobwebs that cluttered
the Jewish teachings of his day? What if he came to bring
the gift of God’s love to the world? What if this was the
divinely chosen time for a new day in Israel and the world?
What if the Spirit of the Lord was upon him to proclaim
good news to crushed sinners, to lift up the poor in spirit,
to bolster the meek and humble? He would bring light to
those in darkness; he would remove the scales from the
eyes of the blind so they could see. What if this really was
the day of salvation?
But talk is cheap. What matters in this world is proof. You
say you can build a better mousetrap, build one. You say
you can run a car on water, do it. You say you can heal the
sick, give sight to the blind and harness the powers of
nature, go for it.
How, then, did Jesus answer the doubters of his day, and
how does he answer those who challenge his credentials
today? Did he preach a sermon? Did he invite them to a
seminar? Did he quote proof passages from the Old
Testament Scriptures? None of that. He said simply,
astronauts landed on the moon in 1968; the whole show
was rigged on a Hollywood sound stage. The legend of Big
Foot has swept through the Pacific Northwest with
believers and non-believers arguing over size, sightings and
genetics. What about the Shroud of Turin , the Loch Ness
monster or whether the Chicago Cubs will ever make it to
the World Series.
With skepticism rampant across the whole spectrum of
human knowledge, no wonder so many have doubts about
the Bible. Everyone has an opinion, a pet theory or a guess
about the creation of the world, or the birth, life, and death
of Jesus Christ—or all of the above. Given the right
intellectual mix, the proper stimuli, and the lack of good TV
programming, a religious discussion can break out among
believers and doubters with claims and counter claims
zipping in all directions.
I don’t have a problem with people who have doubts and I
don’t believe God does either, though I wouldn’t blame
him. After so meticulously preparing the world for mankind’
s habitation, then seeing it smashed by sin, he might have
shrugged his shoulders and decided to start over again on
another planet. And why not; all that real estate belongs to
him. I wouldn’t have blamed God if he would have lit a fuse
and launched planet earth and its inhabitants into some far
away galaxy, or further— never to be heard from again.
Instead, he was already preparing a blazing star to shine
over Bethlehem and practicing a hymn of joy with an angel
choir to accompany his son’s birth.
Doubting is not a sin. In fact, dealing with doubts often
strengthens faith. I intended to prove that some years ago
when Jim, a friend of mine, revealed his doubts about
creation, Jesus' birth and death, the resurrection and
everything else biblical. I can’t make up my mind whether
Jim was sincerely wrestling with his doubts or afraid to
give them up simply because then he wouldn't have
anything religious to talk about.
Raised in a non-practicing Jewish home, he has the idea of
Jewishness, but not the conviction. His two years in a
Christian college imparted a smattering of Bible knowledge
laced with a large helping of confusion. To Jim, Christianity
is warmed over Judaism sprinkled with the naivete of
immature generations. “I can’t believe all that stuff in the
Bible. It’s not reasonable to assume that Jesus is the Son of
God and did all those miraculous things. Educated people
don’t fall for that ancient history stuff any more.”
I’ve run into that line of thinking all my life and when Jim
and I discussed it over eggs one morning, we decided that
Jesus was either a liar and knew it, or he was a lunatic and
didn’t know any better. But what if Jesus was right about
who he was and why he came into the world? What if he
came to blow away the intellectual cobwebs that cluttered
the Jewish teachings of his day? What if he came to bring
the gift of God’s love to the world? What if this was the
divinely chosen time for a new day in Israel and the world?
What if the Spirit of the Lord was upon him to proclaim
good news to crushed sinners, to lift up the poor in spirit,
to bolster the meek and humble? He would bring light to
those in darkness; he would remove the scales from the
eyes of the blind so they could see. What if this really was
the day of salvation?
But talk is cheap. What matters in this world is proof. You
say you can build a better mousetrap, build one. You say
you can run a car on water, do it. You say you can heal the
sick, give sight to the blind and harness the powers of
nature, go for it.
How, then, did Jesus answer the doubters of his day, and
how does he answer those who challenge his credentials
today? Did he preach a sermon? Did he invite them to a
seminar? Did he quote proof passages from the Old
Testament Scriptures? None of that. He said simply,
