My last post presented compelling evidence that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead. From that, it follows that he is who he said he is – the Son of God, and that we should adore him and follow him.
The evidence for Christ’s Resurrection can be weighed with the mind. But to truly adore him as is proper, we have to know who he is, so that we can develop a personal relationship with him. Ultimately the choice to have a relationship with Jesus must be made not with the mind, but the whole heart.
So who is Jesus of Nazareth?
We look to the Gospels to see what Jesus said and did. What he said was incredibly important, but for this post, I want to focus on what he did. Actions speak louder than words, and Jesus’ actions above all demonstrate the profound depth of his love for us.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.” (John 1:1-3)
I hate to paraphrase the beginning of John’s Gospel because of its great beauty. But what John is saying is that Jesus and God the Father are one, that Jesus existed before time as we know it began, that Jesus was co-creator of all that is with the Father, and that Jesus was in Heaven with the Father before his Immaculate Conception.
Think on this. Jesus was in Heaven. He was all-powerful. His joy in Heaven was unlike anything we have ever experienced. He had no need of his own to become man.
And yet He did. He was born in a desert region, amongst a people that had been persecuted for centuries and were then subjugated by a great empire. He was the son of a young peasant girl, newly married to a simple carpenter. Think how helpless he was as a baby, utterly dependent on his mother and foster father for food, shelter and clothing. He grew up in what we would consider extreme poverty, with no running water or electricity, nothing like modern medicine, no wealth – just a poor family trying to get by each day. Thoroughly dependent on, and entirely trusting in, their Heavenly Father for their every need. For around thirty years he lived like this, obedient to this mother and foster father, serving his Heavenly Father, and preparing for his ministry in obscurity.
He didn’t have to do this. He didn’t have to leave Heaven and suffer the little and great discomforts and tribulations of human life for his own sake.
He did it for you. He did it for me.
Around age thirty he was baptized by John, withdrew to the desert for a period of 40 days where he fasted and was tempted, and then began his ministry. “This is the time of fulfillment,” he proclaimed. “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” (Mark 1:15). He healed the sick, cast out demons, performed miracles, challenged the religious authorities, and taught about the kingdom of God.
His ministry culminated in Jerusalem, where he was arrested by the religious authorities and crucified under Pontius Pilate. Crucifixion was a horrible form of death, particularly painful and humiliating, reserved for the worst criminals. Jesus was scourged so violently that the flesh was ripped from his skin; mocked by soldiers with a purple robe and a crown of thorns; made to carry his cross; stripped; nailed to it, harsh metal spikes driven into his wrists and feet; and left to hang from it until he died, after three grueling hours, from asphyxiation.
Again, he didn’t have to do any of this. “I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the power to lay it down, and the power to take it up again.” (John 10:17-18)
He chose to do it because he loves you so much and would do anything to save you. He loves you more than anyone else ever has or ever can love you.
One last thing. Not only did he come down from Heaven and become a tiny helpless babe for you, not only did he suffer the agony and humiliation of the cross for you, he is also burning with desire for a relationship with you now. He wants to talk to you. He wants you to talk to him. He wants you to bring all your cares and all your anxieties to him. He wants to forgive all of your sins. He longs desperately to give you his peace and his joy, which are unlike any peace, and any joy, you have ever known.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
The Bible quotations are all from The New American Bible Copyright © 1987 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.