Jesus Christ, and Him crucified

it makes me angry, in a way, to read a book so thoroughly attacking the validity of Jesus. it is persecution that Jesus Christ does not deserve, and yet i understand why He receives it. in reading through the chapter of my honors textbook so controversially titled "the idea of Jesus," i was almost brought to tears on several occasions, and for many reasons.

the phrase "glaring inconsistencies" was used repeatedly throughout the chapter, pertaining to the bible. and it frustrates me because i believe there are no inconsistencies in the bible. i think the author and other scholars are interpreting it completely incorrectly. it's difficult, because i'm not much of a bible scholar, and i'm not much of a debator for that matter either. but it fills me with joy to realize that, instead of causing me to doubt what i believe, it only strengthens my faith.

this is what i know: Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. i didn't have to be physically present at His crucifixion for me to believe it. i believe it because, to put it plainly, Jesus has changed my life. and i have a relationship with Him, and no one can convince me that that is not true. my personal experiences cannot be discounted. so i know that, if i have experienced Jesus so strongly in my life, and since He speaks to me through the bible (which, by the way, i believe can only be properly interpreted for us by the Holy Spirit), i have to believe that there can be no inconsistencies. Jesus is real, and He is involved in my life, and i have to believe that the things He says, the words He inspired, cannot contradict each other.

i'll be curious to see how today's discussion in class goes. last time we talked about God (which was when the other believer in my class stated that our purpose as humans is to glorify God and serve Him), it caused so much dissonance. and when i think about it to myself, i don't see any reason for me to feel uncomfortable about it. i know that Jesus Christ is real, that He saved me, that He loves me. it's not something to be ashamed of. so it is my prayer that, as i go to class today, i won't be afraid to speak up. i think it would be interesting to see everyone so unsettled over something i am so confident of.

the other thing i find interesting is this: if Jesus weren't real, then i don't think people would work so hard to prove Him wrong. ben and i talked about it once. his comment was, that if someone came up to him and said, "unicorns are real, i've seen them," he would just laugh at them and move on with his life. but when i say, "Jesus is real, i've seen Him working in my life," people flip out and try to argue with you. i think the fact of reality is that people don't want to be convicted, they don't want God to be real because it will, in their opinion, cause them to lose something, make them uncomfortable. and it makes me happy to see an entire textbook chapter devoted to pointing out "inconsistencies" in the bible and trying to tear apart the validity of Jesus. because from that, all i see is that Jesus must be real, if people are so worried about whether or not He is real.

it's like C.S. lewis says: "i am trying here to prervent 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 one thing we must not say. a man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said 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 patronising nonsense aobut His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

i know what i believe, and therefore i know i have nothing to worry about. and i thank God for that.