Saturday, November 19, 2005

Who is Jesus?

This is not a rational question; this is a spiritual question. Does the word mean anything to you? If not, that's too bad.

For many people of course it's only a cuss word, something you've heard of, but which means nothing to you, just a word to use instead of a more intelligent vocabulary.

For some people it's a fighting word. 'You don't know Jesus?'; you're cursed; 'You know Jesus?', sarcastically! The word and its associations have been instrumental in oceans of bloodshed.

For some (fortunate!!) people it's a source of life:

Who is Jesus? Saviour (from Dictionary.com: n 1: a teacher and prophet born in Bethlehem and active in Nazareth; his life and sermons form the basis for Christianity (circa 4 BC - AD 29) [syn: Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, the Nazarene, Jesus Christ, Christ, Savior, Saviour, Good Shepherd, Redeemer, Deliverer] 2: a person who rescues you from harm or danger [syn: savior, rescuer, deliverer])

Lord (this word has many meanings, two of particular interest here:
generically it was used in the New Testament to refer to an important man, to whom one wants to show deference as
Jesus is Lord
; biblically it was also used as a synonym for God. The O.T. often used it to address God.)

Master (used for Jesus in a similar way by many in the N.T. as "Good master".)

Teacher (more of the same.)

Jesus is all of these things and much more, but what is he to you?

I was 'enlightened' when I learned that God loved me (direct communication from him to me!), but I wondered about this man, Jesus: who was he? where did he fit in? It came to me that Jesus was the one who told me (us) that God loves us.

Through the years I learned that many people worshipped Jesus and considered him God. I never quite could. Studying the scripture it did not appear to me that Jesus considered himself God; I noted that Paul often spoke of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Without thinking much about it I pondered over this question for many years while I attempted to serve the God that Jesus had taught me to love.

Eventually there was some 'closure' (as they say): in John 15:15 I realized and incorporated into my spirit that "I have called you friends". That did it for me: henceforth I have called him Friend.

When that happened, I became closer to Jesus than I had ever been before. I found I could talk to him, but I've never prayed to him. He told us (me) to pray to the Father, and that I try to do.

My prayer to God (and for you) is that we may all perceive the best of Jesus, whatever he may be to us.

5 comments:

crystal said...

Hi. You know what I think :-) ...a song I've heard says he's the love song we'll sing forever.

Larry Clayton said...

Amen, Crystal. Thanks.

kathy said...

I think Jesus is becoming more of a way to live as opposed to a person/God that I worship. I'm tired of the people who *say* they know/love Jesus and make no effort to truly live the way he taught.

So, along the lines of theosis, when I'm loving someone, I am Jesus to that person. To quote a friend, "Jesus didn't come to start a new religion, he came to show us reality at its most raw." So in the way that we say God is love, compassion, mercy, etc., Jesus is the ultimate example of how to live that out.

Interesting connection to the song metaphor that you might find intriguing - www.nooma.com, Rhythm.

Paul said...

Another fine post. I thoroughly enjoy the work and thought that you put into your posts.

Larry Clayton said...

Paul, your affirmation means a great deal to me.