Who Was This Jesus?
As I write this, it is the morning of Christmas Eve, 2016. Tonight and tomorrow, all around the world billions of people will be celebrating the birth of a baby born in poverty, scandal, and obscurity over two thousand years ago.
Who was this Jesus?
I could attempt answer this question with the testimony of billions of people across time and culture who claim that this Jesus in some way saved them and changed their life, but for some people these testimonies are easily dismissed for one reason or another.
So on this Christmas Eve, here is a sampling of how historians, philosophers, world leaders, and yes, even a minister or two, have answered the question of, “Who was this Jesus?”
As the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that, measured by His effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on this planet. – Kenneth Scott Latourette, American Historian
I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history. – H.G. Wells, Historian and Writer
Christ is the most unique person of history. No man can write a history of the human race without giving first and foremost place to the penniless teacher of Nazareth. – again, H.G. Wells, Historian and Writer
Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times. – Philip Schaff, German Historian
A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act. – Mahatma Gandhi
No one else holds or has held the place in the heart of the world which Jesus holds. Other gods have been as devoutly worshipped; no other man has been so devoutly loved. – John Knox, minister and theologian
I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him. – Napoleon Bonaparte
Regardless of what anyone may personally think or believe about him, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in the history of Western Culture for almost 20 centuries. – Jaroslav Pelikan, Yale Historian
Jesus is God spelling Himself out in language that men can understand. – S.D. Gordon, Minister and Author
Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair. – Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher.
It is evidence of His importance, of the effect that He has had upon history and presumably, of the baffling mystery of His being that no other life ever lived on this planet has evoked so huge a volume of literature among so many people and languages, and that, far from ebbing, the flood continues to mount… As the centuries pass by, the evidence is accumulating that measured by its effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on this planet. The influence appears to be mounting. – Kenneth Scott Latourette, former President of American Historic Society
“The three years that Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth.” – Will Durant, Historian and Philosopher, when asked what he felt the apex of history was.
Christ alone… has affirmed as a principal certainty, eternal life, the infinity of time, the nothingness of death, the necessity and the raison d’être of serenity and devotion. He lived serenely, as a greater artist than all other artists, despising marble and clay as well as color, working in living flesh. That is to say, this matchless artist… made neither statues nor pictures nor books; he loudly proclaimed that he made… living men, immortals. – Vincent van Gogh, Painter
In many ways, Jesus was like a street person. He had no home and no net worth. Yet he has changed lives and the course of history more than any other man. Therefore I continued to study the Bible not to learn about a religion but to learn about Jesus Christ. Throughout the New Testament, Christ claims that he is God, not a prophet or a good moral teacher. No other man of credibility has ever made that claim. If in fact he was God on earth, I had to deal with it. – Kevin Jenkins, President Canadian Airlines International
Even though I have not become a member of any special religious group, I have decided to follow Jesus Christ with my whole heart. I find in Him the inner strength, the precepts and the lifestyle that can help me and all the people of Uganda to solve the problems we face individually and as a nation. It is one of the interesting facts about Jesus Christ that people in every nation of the world regardless of religion, whether one is a believer or a non-believer, consider Jesus the greatest authority on human relations in history. His views on that subject have transcended all religions and cultures. It is remarkable that the person of Jesus Christ is accepted by everyone – even when they are not attracted by institutional religion. – Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda
All history is incomprehensible without Christ. – Ernest Renan, French Historian
Whatever may be the surprises of the future, Jesus will never be surpassed – again, Ernest Renan, French Historian
The essential teachings of Jesus… were literally revolutionary, and will always remain so if they are taken seriously. – Herbert Muller, American Historian
When I say God, I mean Jesus Christ. Not for the sake of anyone’s orthodoxy–far from it. Because in all my seventy-three years, I have found no more comprehensive, usable meaning. For much of my young life, I searched intellectually for what I felt secure in calling my concept of God. And then, through the life of a friend, almost by divine accident, I saw that my way of searching had been all wrong. I was making it all complex when God had two thousand years ago, already made Himself plain in the person of Jesus Christ… – Eugenia Price, Writer
It wasn’t the morality of the Sermon on the Mount which enabled Christianity to conquer Roman paganism, but the belief that Jesus had been raised from the dead. – Ernest Block, German Philosopher
How do I know that the resurrection and the whole Gospel is real? I know not only because of an acquaintance with the primary sources from the first century A.D., or even because of the words of the Bible. I know primarily, and I affirm this truth to you, on the basis of what I have witnessed in my own life… Jesus Christ provides a basis for hope and for the most profound personal satisfaction. – Glenn C. Loury, Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences and Professor of Economics at Brown University
All that is best in the civilization of today, is the fruit of Christ’s appearance among men. – Daniel Webster, American Statesman
Saving perhaps my favorite answer for last, “One Solitary Life” by a minister named James Allan Francis:
He was born in an obscure village
The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until he was thirty when public opinion turned against him
He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself
He was only thirty three
His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
The only property he had on earth
When he was dead
He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend
Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind’s progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life
May we truly remember the gift we are celebrating this Christmas! Merry Christmas to all!
For other writings on Christmas, see below:
