The Real Thing
16 March 2018
Why does Jesus matter?
We live 2000 years after he did in a culture vastly different to his. This distance can lead many of us to become skeptical about his place in our lives. What makes Jesus relevant to us, even now? Why should we listen to him when there are so many other teachers far closer to us in time and culture?
Interestingly, as we see in today’s Gospel, many of his contemporaries were asking similar questions. ‘Is this the Messiah we’re waiting for?’ ‘How is he any different to any other teacher or miracle worker?’
However, Jesus is no ordinary prophet or teacher; he comes with a divine seal of authenticity. As he says to the crowds,
“I have not come of myself:
No, there is one who sent me
And I really come from him,”
Jesus is the Messiah because he is the one sent by God the Father to make him known and accessible to the whole world. He is the real thing because he was with God in the beginning and it was he by whom all things were made.
Our modern culture tends to conflate all of history’s philosophers and spiritual teachers together. We hear it said that they’re all the same and that Jesus is no more special or relevant than any other.
However, only Jesus truly comes from the Father. Only he has the words of eternal life. He is the real deal. So let us cling to the words of Jesus, who can alone reveal to us the eternal Father who sent him.