What's so special about Jesus?
Or we could ask the question... why are Christians always going on about Jesus? We live in a society where there are so many religions, philosophies and world views to choose from...why bother with a man who lived about 2000 years ago? What impact can he possibly have on us in the 21st century?
At Hook Evangelical Church we believe that the Bible tells us all we need to know about this man Jesus and his unique place in history. We believe the Bible is a book that can be tested as to its truthfulness and accuracy and has stood up to almost 2000 years worth of unsuccessful attempts to discredit it. So what does this book tell us about Jesus?
1) His birth was unique!
At the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel we are told about a young woman called Mary receiving a miraculous visit from an angel. He announces to her that, despite the fact she is a virgin, she will be with child and give birth to a son and he will be called Jesus. It seems impossible...but nothing is too hard for the God who made the universe! Who else has ever been born into this world in such a way? But the uniqueness of the events surrounding his birth point to the fact that Jesus is no ordinary man.
2) His life was unique!
Four books in the Bible are given over to giving accounts of the words and deeds of Jesus when he was on Earth. These books are not only packed with his teachings and his acts of kindness towards others, but they also contain descriptions of the unique power and authority that Jesus had. In Matthew’s Gospel we are told that Jesus was able to feed and satisfy a crowd of over 5000 people with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Mark in his Gospel speaks of a time Jesus commanded a mighty storm to be completely calm whilst Luke shares an account of a young girl raised to life again. And it is in the Gospel of John that we read the account of Jesus walking on water.
Some people find it hard to accept that such miracles could take place...but if a man is going to make such extraordinary claims about himself...then we would expect him to back up those claims with the power to do things that are beyond the ability of ordinary man. But it is not only in his power and authority we see the uniqueness of Jesus. We also see it in the fact that here was a man who did nothing wrong ever! No matter how many times his enemies tried to trick and trap him they could never find him guilty of anything, and in the end had to make up charges to get him arrested and sentenced to death.
3) His death was unique.
This may seem a strange thing to say. Jesus was crucified, a common fate at the time for a variety of different crimes. But it is not the execution method which is unique, but the events surrounding his death.
In Matthew chapter 27 he recounts that as Jesus hangs on the cross the sky goes dark and as he breathes his last breath the curtain in the temple in Jerusalem was torn in two from top to bottom. It seems on the face of it an odd thing to happen, but this is a picture for us of what Jesus was doing by dying on the cross. The curtain in the temple acted as a barrier between the worshippers and God...they could not go past the curtain. By the curtain being torn in two we have symbolised for us the fact that in the death of Jesus he has made it possible for us to have free and total access to God. Jesus never did anything wrong....but he was punished for people like you and me who do so that we can be right with God.
4) His resurrection is unique!
There are so many things that separate Jesus from the religious leaders of years ago...but here is probably the greatest...Jesus is still alive!
After his death on the cross his body was laid in a tomb which was visited 3 days later by some of the disciples and women who had followed Jesus. They went expecting to find a body to mourn...instead they found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb and the body of Jesus was no longer there. Many attempts have been made to explain away the empty tomb... from the idea that the disciples stole the body to the idea that the women went to visit the wrong tomb. But none of these satisfactorily explain the transformation in the lives of the disciples who were willing to face death for the certainty that they believed that Jesus had risen from the dead.
So what will you do with this man called Jesus?
This introduction has barely scratched the surface of all the things he said and did. Why not take an opportunity to find out more about him, either by coming along to one of our services at Hook Evangelical Church or perhaps you would like to sign up for Question of Faith which is a more informal setting in which we can discuss what being a follower of Jesus is really all about.
