JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is unique in several respects, not the least of which is the fact that in Him alone centers the gospel of the grace of God. He has changed the face of history, for in Him eternity has invaded time, God has become man, and human life has achieved through His redemption a significance that lifts it above the natural order and fits it for God's fellowship and service.
But is such a life possible? The philosopher may be inclined to deny it on the ground that the gulf between God and man is too great to be bridged in a single being and that the elements involved are too discrete to be combined in a unified personality. Yet the Gospel records present just such a personality. One has the choice between supposing a literary miracle based on fancy and accepting a historical miracle based on the sovereign action of Almighty God, adequately attested by competent witnesses.
The historian may feel that he cannot dismiss Jesus Christ as unhistorical, in view of the substantial character of the evidence, but nevertheless acknowledges misgivings as to the factuality of many elements of the story as given in our sources. After all, the earliest of the Gospels emerged some 30 years after the latest of the events it recounts. Granted the interval exists, yet it is not an empty interval. Memories of Jesus of Nazareth lived on in scores, yes hundred of lives, and these memories were kept vivid by frequent recollection stimulated both by meditation and by proclamation.
Though Jesus wrote nothing for posterity, He gave assurance to His closest followers that the Spirit of God would have as a peculiar part of His ministry the bringing to remembrance in the minds of these men of the things that Jesus had said (Joh 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.) Even apart from supernatural aid the disciples could never forget the stirring scenes that they had shared with the Master. Some incidents involved Jesus alone, such as the temptation, but there is no reason to suppose that He would have refrained from informing them of what transpired.
It is not possible to demonstrate that the materials in the Gospels are always arranged in strict chronological order. But it is clear that all the records preserve an order of events that proceeds from those that belong to the commencement of the ministry to those that mark its close, so that there is a sense of progress and also of symmetry. One does not get an impression of erratic or fanciful composition.>
The setting for this greatest of all lives is the land of Palestine at a time when Rome had established her sovereignty over much of the Near East. Government officials, military men and tax gatherers were constant and unpleasant reminders that Israel was not free. Restlessness, at least among the Zealots, was gradually building up toward open revolt. In such an atmosphere it would not be easy to carry on a ministry grounded in spiritual considerations. Jesus' teaching and personal claims could be easily misconstrued. Any assertion of kingly right was bound to be distorted by some into a bid for temporal power. Any talk of freedom was all too readily lifted from its context of bondage to sin and made to apply to the current political situation. It was only with the greatest difficulty that even the Twelve were weaned from these notions. By the time this adjustment was made (Acts 1) Jesus was on the point of departure from the world. Thus even if the temporal concept of the kingdom had persisted, it would have lacked any possibility of realization, since the Master was no longer on the scene. Under the control of the Holy Spirit the church could move only along the lines laid down by Jesus-a kingdom free from worldly motives and methods. Rome need have no fears of competition from this quarter.>
Although Jesus spent His days on earth under the Roman eagle, His life was far more heavily influenced by His Jewish inheritance. Born of a Jewish mother, nurtured in a home of piety and possibly of near poverty, encouraged to love the Scriptures, trained in the worship and instruction of the synagogue, He steeped His mind in the history and traditions of His people. The readiness with which He could quote Scripture and the appropriateness of His references to it testify to prolonged and thoughtful study. His boyhood development along this line is hidden from us; but this much is clear, that He turned to the Word not only for spiritual nourishment but also to find the indication of His own mission (Luk 4:18-19; 22:37; 24:44-47). Lacking formal rabbinic training, He was able to assess the spiritual needs of His nation in an independent manner and could point out the various ways in which the religious leaders had led the people astray.>
This ability to be in Judaism and yet to stand over against it is reflected in a certain duality that runs through Jesus' ministry, namely, loyalty to Israel (Joh 4:22; Mat 10:6; 15:24) yet admiration for the faith of those who were outside the covenant nation (Mat 8:10); compassion for His own countrymen (Mat 23:37) yet forthright prediction that others would step into Israel's inheritance (Mat 8:11-12). Jesus the Jew was in many ways the most unjewish of men. He was, in fact, the universal man. Perhaps that is part of what He sought to convey by calling Himself the Son of man (see Son of Man). To be sure, He was the son of David and the son of Abraham (Mat 1:1), but He was also the son of Adam (Luk 3:38). There is nothing surprising in this if He came to fulfill the promises made to the fathers and also to insure that the Gentiles might be able to glorify God for His mercy (Rom 15:8-9). See Messiah.>
Birth and boyhood. Herod the Great was still reigning at the time Jesus was born (Mat 2:1). Herod's jealous apprension made it unwise for Jews to show any great enthusiasm over the heralded arrival of their promised King. Yet the response of the shepherds (Luk 2:8-18) presaged a kindly reception from the common people of a godly sort even as the Magi constituted the firstfruits of the Gentiles.>
The circumstances surrounding the conception of Jesus were such as to give rise among unbelieving Jews to ugly rumors to the effect that He was an illegitimate child. Medieval Jewish legends made much of this. Matthew's account of the nativity seems designed to answer such misrepresentations, treating the matter particularly from the side of Joseph; whereas Luke's account, probably derived ultimately from Mary herself, presents the Lord's dealings with her in a special way. Occasional insinuations may have been made against Jesus during His lifetime (cf. Joh 8:41). The nativity acccounts gave to the church all it needed to know on this subject. Although the doctrine of the virgin birth took its place also in the Apostles' Creed, it was not a part of the apostolic preaching so far as the records reveal. See Incarnation.>
Little information is given about the boyhood of Jesus, and this very fact underscores the truth that our Gospels were not intended to be biographies in the accepted sense of that word. Although they provide some materials for a life of Christ, they were not written from the biographical standpoint but rather as furnishing information leading to a better understanding of the message of the gospel. The silence concerning this period of Jesus' life is relieved by the account of the visit to the temple at the age of twelve, preceded and followed by summary statements about His development (Luk 2:40-52). In His discussions on the Scripture Jesus the lad appears as a hearer of the Word, and in His continuing obedience to His parents in the home at Nazareth He is seen as a doer of it.>
Preparations for the ministry.>
In the providence of God Jesus had a herald who prepared the way for Him. John the Baptist, fully aware of the impact he was making on Israel, nevertheless publicly proclaimed that a greater was coming, One who both Saviour (Joh 1:29) and Judge (Mat 3:12), and that men must repent of their sins in view of the approach of the kingdom (Mat 3:2). Similar announcements were made by Jesus Himself. Although the two were very different in appearance and habits (Mat 11:18-19), they were akin in possessing a large following and in creating opposition in leading circles of Judaism, an opposition that did not stop short of taking their lives (Mat 17:12).>
Jesus' baptism at the hands of John marked the abandonment of the secluded life in Nazareth and the assumption of His role as the Servant of Yahweh (Mat 3:17; cf. Psa 2:7; Isa 42:1). To equip Him for this mission the Holy Spirit came upon Him and heaven acknowledged Him. The keynote of that mission was sounded in the avowed readiness of the Son to identify Himself with the sinful nation He had come to redeem (Mat 3:15). The full implications of that identification were to become apparent