My God, My Saviour

Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40 years also, but Jesus for only 3 1/2 years. Yet the influence of Christ’s ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined years of teaching from these greatest of philosophers.


Jesus painted no pictures, yet some of the finest artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from Him.
Jesus wrote no poetry, but Dante, Milton, Morrison and scores of the world’s greatest poets were inspired by Him.
Jesus composed no music; still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection of melody in the music they composed in His praise.
Jesus did not rule a nation, nor was he a CEO of a company, yet governments and corporations use his teachings on love and respect as core values within their institutions.
It seems that almost every sphere of humanity has been touched by this Carpenter of Nazareth.

Jesus was a remarkable man, not many people would deny that. But the extent of his remarkableness is often downplayed among skeptics. Especially common amongst dissenters are those who state that Jesus never intended to be taken as a religious revolutionary, and certainly not as the long awaited Messiah of Judaism. C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity wrote about this 'modern phenomenon'.

"I am trying here 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 sort of things Jesus said [e.g., 'I forgive your sins.'] 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 else 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. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that [option] open to us. He did not intend to."

Friends, we don’t need any more authority, if the evidence is indeed accurate, if the accounts are indeed trustworthy - and I have great confidence that they are - then the miracles Jesus performed, the teaching that he gave, and the sacrificial death that he died all point to the Divine. You may try to shut him up by calling him a liar; you may try to ignore him by labelling him a lunatic, or you have to fall at his feet and call him Lord.

At the end of this short 3 year ministry, Jesus was dead. Crucified under Roman authority. It seemed like this arrogant rebel who preached revolution and a new world order, had now received his just desserts. Where was his authority now? If he truly was the Son of God, how could his Father let him die? Why not perform a miracle by taking him off the cross? But as per usual Jesus would have the last say. As per usual Jesus would turn everything onto its head. Sure, God taking him off the cross would’ve been a miracle certainly, but what is more impressive – saving a man’s life, or bringing him back from the dead? And what is more powerful, securing the health and well-being of one good man Jesus, or rescuing a whole world full of despicable, God-hating people? And what is more amazing, a man who claims to be God to gain followers, or a God who became man to serve people by dying for them.

Love him or hate him, Jesus will force you to have an opinion of him. You can question his authority, question his motives, question his authenticity but you cannot, cannot ever remain neutral. Either his death was a meaningless and pitiful end to an ordinary life, or it was a profoundly meaningful life with a remarkably powerful crowning event for the One who will one day be declared King of the whole earth. The Bible says that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, either with great joy or with great humiliation and fear, that Jesus Christ is Lord.

And well as for me, this is what I believe:

I take him at his word and deed,
Christ died to save me this I read,
And in my heart I find a need,
For him to be my Saviour.