Many writers have tried to explain Jesus as a purely human figure. The latest is Reza Aslan who has written Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, which became a best-seller this past year. He rejects the Gospels and relies on a reconstruction of who Jesus was and is. He rejects the Gospels' portrait of Jesus that made him and still make him unique. He claims that Jesus preached a revolution to replace Rome. But Jesus was not raising an army to fight Caesar. He had a different opponent in view. Jesus sought to cast out the kingdom of darkness and the domain of demons. His battle is with Satan not Rome. The violence Aslan sees Jesus advocating isn't about a war he hopes to generate with Rome but about a judgment that will come from rejecting God. Jesus never gives evidence of raising an army for the political battle Aslan describes.

Zealot is yet another modern reconstruction of Jesus. It reflects a longstanding debate between those skeptical about the Gospels' portrait of Jesus and those who see them as accurate eyewitness accounts. Our culture is attracted to cases against the Gospels' credibility, which explains the popularity of Aslan's book and others like it. He opts for extreme views and breathtaking assertions. It reads more like a novel than a work of historical analysis, which reflects his present position as a Professor of Creative Writing. It gets great reviews on Amazon from those who reject the Gospel accounts and wish to believe that this is a fascinating and meticulously researched biography of Jesus. To the contrary, other scholars say that it is riddled with errors, probable errors, and exaggerations.

What are we to make of Jesus? He is no mythical figure because historical sources attest to his life. He was fully human but he was more. What convinced his disciples that he was the prototype human: God in the flesh?

First of all his influence. He has been universally recognized as the ideal for human life. No one has had such a profound influence like Jesus. Phillips Brooks, who wrote the Christmas Carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem also wrote One Solitary Life which describes this influence:

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in still another village, where he worked in a carpenter's shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he was a wandering preacher.

He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies, and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. ....

Nineteen centuries have come and gone. Today he remains the central figure of the human race, and the leader of humanity's progress. All that armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the governments that ever sat, all the political leaders that ever ruled, put together have not affected the life of human beings on this planet so much as that one solitary life.

Secondly there is his teaching. It was memorable. He taught that the kingdom of God had arrived with him. "No one ever spoke like this man." said the soldiers who had been sent to arrest him (John 7:46). "My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. If any man is willing to do his will, he will have no doubts about where the teaching comes from - whether I speak from God or whether I speak from myself." (John 7:15-17)

Thirdly, there is the conduct of his life. There was no sin in him. "Which of you can point to anything wrong that I have done?... I always do what is pleasing to my heavenly Father." (John 8:29) Here was the one who taught the highest standards and embodied them completely. He claimed to bring God into our midst; and his life lent credibility to his claim.

Fourthly, there are his miracles. They were meant to minister to the whole person and to point to his message. As he fed the five thousand so he can feed our hungry souls. As he opened blind eyes so he can make all of us see the truth about life. As he raised the dead so he can show us that he can bring new life to the spiritually dead. "My deeds done in my Father's name are my credentials. I and the Father are one. If I am not acting as my Father would, do not believe me. But if I am, accept the evidence of my deeds, even if you do not believe me." (John 10:25,30,37,38)

Fifthly, there is his fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus is the fulfiller of the ancient Scriptures. He was the Son of Man, the great "I AM", the Lord who is the good shepherd, the creator of the heavens and the earth.

Sixthly, there are his claims. "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matt.11:27,28) C.S. Lewis wrote: "The things he says are very different from what any other teacher has said. Others say, 'This is the truth about the universe. This is the way you ought to go.' But he says 'I am the Truth and the Way and the Life.' He says 'No one can reach absolute reality, except though me'... I am trying 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 same things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher, he would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or 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."

Seventhly, there is his death and resurrection. "The Son of Man came to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). It was this supreme act of self-sacrifice and sin bearing that the disciples saw straight through to the heart of God. God had come to them in Christ, and God had saved them through his Cross. He demonstrated its truth through his resurrection from the dead.

When you look at Jesus what do you see? His disciples saw his glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father. If you see his glory, you will want to receive his grace. For Jesus came to bring us the glory of God, to change us from one degree of glory to another, so that our lives are touched by the divine, and we receive the gift of new birth into the family of God. His birth regenerates our lives, so that we can experience the fullness of life in Him. Come to him and worship him: God with us, God who gives us life. Open yourself to what he wants to give you - his saving presence and loving power. May he dwell in you.

(Some material in this message comes by permission from Michael Green, Evangelism through the Local Church, pp.166-178)

Ted's new book, SOUL FOOD, DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR THE HUNGRY, is available to order for $14.99 plus S&H from tschroder@ameliachapel.com