ErlebenWhy exactly Jesus?

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Even today opinions differ on the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus has changed the world like nobody else. If you were looking for the person with the most powerful impact on history – Jesus would clearly be the winner.

In fact he has had the biggest influence on the history of humanity: Today, billons of people count the years after his year of birth.

Because of him 2.1 billion people call themselves or let themselves be called Christians and thus allow themselves to be related with him. Among his followers there are pop stars as well as professors; politicians as well as professional football players; but also people who will never be famous.
On the other hand he also „accomplished“ that crimes were committed „for him“ and that his name has become a red cloth for many or even a swear word.

Who is this Jesus?

The Nazarene

Palesine in the first century, Nazaret in galelee

For a person from the ancient world, Jesus’ birth can be dated back very well. The fact that he wasn’t born in the year 0 but seven years earlier is due to a miscalculation in the development of the new calculation of time. (Sorry, Dionysius Exiguus, you were wrong! – the monk who invented the new time calculation in the 6th century unfortunately made a mistake!)

Thus Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the year seven before Christ. His parents were originally from a little „hick town called Nazareth, which is why Jesus grew up there, in the northern region of Galilee. Due to this fact, Jesus is sometimes called „Jesus of Nazareth“ or „Jesus of Galilee“. 
Thus Jesus had a childhood and a family - like everybody else. However, he was something special.

The man of wisdom

Around 27 A.D. Jesus begins to become active in public. He starts holding rousing speeches, and like other rabbis (teachers) in those times he has students/disciples who accompany him on his way. 
What he said and the way he said it was surprising for his audience. At the end of his „sermon on the mountain“ we can read: “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching“ (The Bible, The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7,28).
When the scholars of his times discussed with Jesus he regularly beat them. He understood their points better than they could understand them themselves, and never were they able to trick him with their trick questions – although they tried them often enough. 

When people asked Jesus for advice they often experienced that he knew their actual questions and that he was able to look through their facade and identify their deepest problems. 
It was Jesus who established the „Golden Rule“, the commandment of loving our neighbors. It was also him who told memorable parables like the story of the Prodigal son. 
His wisdom was drawn from life, practical and relevant and always aimed at interpersonal harmony. Thus Jesus is definitely one of the most remarkable leaders of wisdom in the history of humanity; however, he is much more than that.

The visionary leader

From Jesus we cannot only learn to be wise i.e. learn how to live a life full of joy and how a human life can be lived successfully. Today managers learn from Jesus what it means to be a visionary leader. 
Jesus was able to change the world by using just a small group of disciples. Today, his leadership is called „the serving leadership“.

The prophet

Prophets are men and women who are inspired by God and who are not afraid to tell the inconvenient truth and to point their fingers at the social grievances of their times. This is exactly what Jesus did. 
He publicly denounced religious hypocrisy; He affronted the hardhearted and antisocial way in which society treated the outcast. He even sided with the outcast and the untouchable. 
For Muslims Jesus is a prophet – and rightly so! But he is more than just that. Prophets often used the words “This is what the Lord says“ in order to pass on the messages God had told them. By contrast, Jesus uses the words: „But I tell you!“ (For instance in the Gospel of Matthew 5:22) By using those words, Jesus is demanding an authority for himself, which is actually shocking!

The revolutionary

Jesus the revolutionary depicted like Che Guevara

Jesus wanted to launch a revolution, a revolution of thinking, of human kindness and of relationship with God. Jesus radically broke with ideas which didn’t conform with this aim. 
Jesus lived for his aim without compromising– even his family felt embarrassed for this reason! Once they came to pick him up because they were afraid he had gone mad. (The Bible, Gospel of Mark 3:21) 
His work for the good didn’t only earn him friends and acknowledgment. The religious leaders wanted to prevent Jesus from criticizing their teachings and further questioning of their authority. They actually began to take action against Jesus.

The king

Jesus was able to prove he was a direct descendent of the most famous kings of Jewish history. In his times, however, the Jewish royal dynasty wasn’t of any political importance. But the Jewish Scriptures tell us about more than 50 prophecies about a Messiah, a prophet, who was going to be a descendent of the Jewish kings. Many people were full of hope, waiting for this Messiah to come.

During the years of his public actions, people were more and more convinced that he was the Messiah. Also his disciples became more and more sure about this fact; One day one of them said to him:“ You are the Messiah.“ (The Bible, Gospel of Mark 8:29; “Christ“ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word „Messiah“)

When the political intrigues against Jesus had advanced as far as the point when Jesus was accused in front of the Roman governor Pilate, his accusers had soon found a reason for his death sentence: This guy, Jesus of Nazareth, had called himself the King of the Jews.

No Roman emperor would have ever allowed an uprising to happen! So Pilate knew what he had to do: This man had to be killed. Pilate condemned Jesus to die on the cross. As was usual, Pilate put the charge above/on top of the cross: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews“ (The Bible, Gospel of John 19:19)

God

The man of flesh and blood, the man of wisdom, the visionary, the prophet, the revolutionary, the king – all these names still cannot express the tremendous impact which Jesus had and still has on history.

The extraordinary, the surprising, the actually shocking fact about Jesus namely is his claim of being God. The historical sources about Jesus make it clear that he really claimed this for himself.

How on earth can anybody say such words about himself?

There are only three different possibilities:

  1. He’s lying. Jesus could simply be a liar. However, it would be strange if somebody who always does good things all of a sudden told a lie in one particular case.
  2. He is mad. Jesus is pathologically speaking in a state of madness when he talks about himself. This possibility doesn’t seem to be very probable if we consider what else Jesus said and did.
  3. He is right.


Arguments for the last possibility are the following:

  • Jesus’ supernatural wisdom
  • His absolute integrity in ALL things. One of his closest friends testified that he had NEVER EVER done anything wrong. (Cp. The Bible, 1 Peter 1:19).
  • The reports about his supernatural doings.
  • The reports about his resurrection after having died on the cross


If we consider that Jesus wasn’t only the teacher of wisdom, the visionary, the prophet, the revolutionary and the king, if Jesus was really God, if Jesus is the God who became man and who came down to earth then it is clear that this man has changed the world more than anyone else. And then it is also clear that he is still changing it.

One could also put it the following way, with Franz Kafka’s words: Jesus is “the axe for the frozen sea within us.“ Jesus is also the sun that causes the ice to melt. Today, Jesus still changes people.

And for what should God have become man? If you’re interested in the answer, just follow the link „The Good News – the Gospel.“

As a follow up...

...I recommend the bible of course. It gives reliable first-hand information

Moreover:

  • Lee Strobel: „The Case for Christ“ amazon
  • Josh McDowell: “More than a carpenter“ amazon

Author: Dr. Christian Bensel, 2006
If you have any questions or anything else to say don’t hesitate to contact me!

Dr. Christian Bensel (Innsbruck/Mittersill)
Aufgabe: ehem. Reisesekretär für Tirol und Salzburg
Öffnet ein Fenster zum Versenden der E-Mailchristian(at)bensel.cc