The Good News About Jesus

Introduction

One of my aims in this blog has been to challenge some common stereotypes about the Christian faith and to demonstrate (hopefully!) that it is possible to be a sceptical, open-minded, and yet dedicated believer in God and Jesus.

Of course, the only problem with all of this is that as the author of all this material, I am therefore holding myself up as the primary example. If you don't find my presentation convincing therefore, please don't just reject all of this on my account. There are many, many other believers out there who have no doubt done a much better and more convincing job!

However, if you have found any of what I've said interesting or intriguing and want to know a little more, then this page might help. My main purpose here is to explain some rudimentary but crucial basics of the Christian faith in a little more depth. Specifically, I'm going to try to explain who Jesus is, why he died, and why Christians believe his life and particularly his death is still so significant today.

Who was Jesus?

The Christian faith gets its name of course, from "Christ"¹ - i.e. Jesus. Many faiths believe in God, but Jesus is (more or less²) unique to the Christian faith.

But why is Jesus so special?

Christians believe that Jesus was more than just a man - we believe he was actually God in human form. God didn't just take on human form though (i.e. disguise himself as a man), he actually became a man. He was born of a woman and lived a "normal" human life with normal human limitations - he had to eat and drink, he got tired, he was tempted etc. At the same time though, God's power was present with Jesus to an extraordinary extent, and the gospel accounts (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament part of the Bible), record that he was able to perform some amazing miracles.

Jesus didn't go around telling everyone he was God, but it's clear from the gospel accounts that this is what he believed, and his supporters and most of his enemies soon got the message! Slightly confusingly, Jesus is also often referred to as, the "Son of God". To truly become human, God had to become finite and limited, just as we are - but the creator and sustainer of time and space also still needed to be there for His creation. The phrase, "Son of God", which crops up frequently throughout the New Testament part of the Bible, is one way of trying to capture the idea that Jesus came from God and in some not-quite-fully-fathomable way, both is God and is distinct from God at one and the same time. There is much more that could be said about the relationship between God and Jesus, but there isn't really space to delve into this any further here.

But, if Jesus really is God - and I admit this is a substantial claim! - what then? What implications does this have for us now and why did he come?

Why did Jesus come?

He came for a number of reasons (and I'm sure I don't know all of them!) but here I think are a few:

1. To show us how to live. The best leaders always teach by example and God is no exception. It's easy (perhaps) to be perfect when you're God and have ultimate power over everything - and even if it isn't, that isn't a role we can relate to and it doesn't help us very much in our daily lives. So God became a man. He lived it - he did it our way, so we could see how it was always meant to be done.


2. To identify with us. God loves us. He doesn't see us as insignificant lesser creatures, just because we are so small and He is so big and powerful. He values us and values everything about human life, which he created. God was proud to participate within His own creation.


3. To die! This isn't a very pleasant reason, and of course in one sense all human beings die - that is inevitable! But Jesus died in a very particular way - he was tortured and executed by the very people he came to help.

There has been much debate recently - especially since Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" - over who was really responsible for Jesus' death - was it the Romans or the Jews? But to ask this question kind of misses the point. The gospels do record that, although it was under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate that Jesus was executed, it was primarily the Jewish religious leaders who hounded him to his death because they felt so threatened by him and the things he taught.

But Jesus was a revolutionary who never pulled his punches and spoke as he saw. He was also an extraordinarily charismatic leader who - according to the gospel accounts - performed amazing miraculous signs. He was also truly righteous - in the best and most positive sense of that word - but that kind of righteousness is actually pretty scary to most of us, especially when it exposes the evil within our own systems and souls! I don't think there are many places in the world today - if any - where a man of Jesus' calibre could avoid execution for very long!

So Jesus knew he was going to be killed - he wasn't stupid - but not just because of the way he behaved, rather because that's what he came to do in the first place!

The Suffering Servant

As I've mentioned in the footnotes to this article, the Jews were waiting for a Messiah - a saviour - who had been prophesied long before the Romans arrived in Israel. There were a number of prophecies about this Messiah in the Jewish scriptures (these are the scriptures that now also make up the Old Testament part of the Christian Bible). There were also prophecies though, about someone who became known as "the suffering servant" - who turns out to be extremely important!

There is no Jewish scholarly consensus today regarding who the suffering servant is meant to be - one common Jewish interpretation is that he is actually an allegorical reference to all or part of the Jewish nation - but Jesus thought differently. Jesus believed that the Messiah and the suffering servant were one and the same, and that all of these prophecies were actually about him! An extravagant claim perhaps, but let's take a closer look at one of these prophecies. This is an extract from one of the most famous suffering servant passages in the Old Testament book of Isaiah (if you're interested, you can read the whole passage here):

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

So, Jesus believed - in line with this passage - that it was part of his mission to suffer on behalf of others. The passage goes on to say:

By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Jesus fulfilled this prophecy with his death - but why? What could this possibly achieve? The passage goes on:

...though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.

What's going on here?! He was dead a moment ago and now his days are being prolonged and he's being given "a portion among the great"! But even this part of the prophecy is fulfilled by Jesus - if he really was resurrected from the dead (although if he wasn't, Christianity is a big lie and the whole thing collapses!).

So, Jesus suffered for "us" - whatever "us" means. I can only think of two serious possibilities - either it means the Jews or it means everyone. The early Jewish Christians quickly came to the conclusion that what Jesus had done was not just for the Jews, it was for everyone and there are many good reasons to believe they were right. For the sake of brevity though, I'm going to avoid analysing this point any further here.

Why did Jesus die?

So assuming that Jesus really did die for everyone, the next question is, why? And what does it all mean? The early believers had several ways of explaining this and yet it continued to be referred to as a "mystery" throughout the pages of the New Testament. A mystery though, is something we may have some useful insight into, even though we may never claim to fully understand it. So how was this "mystery" understood by the early believers?

There are many aspects to this, but a very important part of it is summed up briefly in the above quote:

...he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities

The first Christian believers were from a Jewish background - as was Jesus himself - at a time when animal sacrifice was a common Jewish practice. Of course this is now pretty alien to most of us, but understanding it a little will still help us now to make a bit more sense of what Jesus came to do.

Sacrifice - for the Jews in Jesus' day - was a very important way of dealing with guilt. The Jewish people had a relationship with God and knew that He required certain things of them. These requirements particularly involved how they were meant to behave towards God and towards each other. The Jews knew though, that they didn't live up to these requirements. Animal sacrifices were a way of acknowledging their failings and making up for them in a way that didn't belittle the seriousness of their offence - an animal was a valuable possession. Of course it wasn't just them that paid the price though - the poor animal had to pay with its life! But why? To explain this a bit more, I need to introduce the concept of "sin":

What is "sin" and why is it such a big deal?

I have mentioned in my post on "The Truth About Me", that I am "afflicted by a killer disease which brings death and darkness to my soul". This "disease" is what Christians generally mean when we talk about "sin". Many people think of "sinning" as breaking certain moral rules, but sin is actually something much more fundamental than this - it's the distortion of character that causes us to do these things in the first place. It's the pride and self-centredness at the core of all our hearts, that will ultimately destroy us unless we can find some way to escape from it.

The old Jewish sacrificial system enabled the sinner to "escape" from sin by effectively swapping places with the poor innocent animal which was then sacrificed on their behalf. But - as the writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews points out in Hebrews chapter 10 - if those sacrifices really could set a person free from sin, it wouldn't have been necessary to keep on performing them. In fact - the writer goes on to say - those sacrifices just ended up regularly reminding people of their sin rather than setting them free from it! However, the writer then explains that Jesus act of self-sacrifice on the cross is able to cleanse us from sin, once and for all, in a way that no animal sacrifice was ever able to do!

How is this possible?

How can Jesus set us free from sin?

Jesus' self-sacrifice on the cross can only help to set us free from our sin if:

1. He has no sin of his own to deal with.
2. There is some way he can legitimately die in our place.

If Jesus really was God, and lived a completely righteous life, then number 1 is taken care of - if not, then he failed in the most crucial part of his mission!

But what about number 2? How can Jesus legitimately die for me - or you, or anyone? The animal sacrifices didn't work because - for one thing - people and animals can't legitimately swap places. You have to pay the penalty for your own attitudes and behaviour, so in the end the sacrifice is just symbolic. So why is Jesus' sacrifice any different?

Well, for one thing it was voluntary (unlike the poor animals!). He was prepared to make that sacrifice on your behalf and God was prepared to accept it from him. However, unfortunately (perhaps!) this doesn't automatically get you off the hook! You need to play a part in this as well:

How can I benefit from this?

There are 2 important things all of us have to do to fully benefit from what Jesus has done for us:

1. You have to accept it. You have to be willing to admit that you will never do this on your own and that you NEED someone else - Jesus - to set you free from sin and break its power in your life.
2. You have to accept him as your master! This might be the hard bit (although on the other hand, you may actually find number 1 more difficult!). Jesus is not a hard master to follow - in Matthew's gospel, chapter 11, verse 30 he says, "my yoke³ is easy and my burden is light" - but he does expect total allegiance and complete obedience! If that sounds like a contradiction though, then understand that he is gentle, patient and compassionate, loves us and understands our failings - but he wants and will help us to learn and to change.

If this is something you think you might want, then I would encourage you to tell Jesus about it. You may have never prayed before. You might not even be sure if there is a God, let alone whether it makes any kind of sense to pray to Jesus, but the Bible teaches that after his resurrection Jesus ascended into heaven (just go with it for now - save the metaphysics for later!), that he is now reigning there with God, and that he is accessible to us.

You should always be honest with God. You can even tell Him that you're not sure if you believe in Him - He won't strike you down or get offended - but if you are willing to make an approach then He will meet you on your own terms⁴.

Try praying a simple prayer in your own words - you'll probably want to be on your own to do this - which includes something like the following:

1. An admission that you need his help.
2. Any pressing doubts or concerns you may have (but only if you think this is relevant).
3. Thank Jesus for what he did for you when he died on the cross (see above!).
4. Ask Jesus to forgive you and cleanse you from sin. If there's anything you're particularly conscious of that you feel you need forgiving for, ask him now.
5. Ask him to help you live his way from now on.
6. Say thankyou!

If you are able to pray this prayer and really mean it, then by doing so you are taking the first step of a new life with Jesus. The next step is to try to find some more Christians who you can talk to about this, and who can help you to begin to live it out!

Other Resources

Whether or not you've prayed the above prayer, you may want to find out a bit more about the Christian faith. There are several ways you can do this - here are a few suggestions:

1. Find another Christian who you can talk to about it. It is quite likely they will also know other believers who they can introduce you to.


2. Attend an Alpha Course. This is a sort of beginner's introduction to the Christian faith which is now run all over the world. You can find out a bit more about it on their website here, which includes a course finder (although unfortunately it only seems to cover the UK). Whether or not you agree with everything taught (and I probably wouldn't agree with all of it), you'll learn some good stuff and one of the best things about it is the format which encourages people to discuss and to ask questions (it also usually includes food!).


3. Read some of the Bible. The best place to start is one of the accounts of the life of Jesus. These are found in the gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - in the New Testament part of the Bible. Click on the hyperlinks to go to the on-line versions. There are now many different translations of the Bible into English and some of them are easier to read than others. The above hyperlinks default to the New International Version, just because that's the translation I've grown up with and got used to, but there are many different versions available on that web site. "The Message" is quite a good contemporary version if you can cope with a few Americanisms. It is a less accurate translation than most of the others, but concentrates instead on making the text as easy as possible to read and to understand.


4. Read a good book about the Christian faith. There are lots out there but some are obviously better than others. As a good non-religious introduction to what being a follower of Jesus is all about, I particularly like Godzone by Mike Riddell (follow the link to find it on Amazon).

1. The word "Christ" actually means "anointed one" and is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word "Messiah". The Messiah was the saviour the Jewish people were waiting for - as predicted by their prophets in the Old Testament part of the Bible. Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah who fulfils those prophecies. (Some Jews today also believe this and so could in a sense be referred to as Jewish Christians or as Christian Jews, but many prefer instead to be known as "Messianic Jews").

2. Muslims also believe in Jesus but see him as simply another prophet (albeit an important one), where Christians see him as something much more significant.

3. Jesus was a Jewish "rabbi" (that is teacher). To take on a rabbi's "yoke", meant to submit oneself to their teachings and way of life.

4. I wouldn't recommend trying to bargain with Him though! Please do remember which one of you is God!