What is so special about Jesus?
A few days ago, while driving home from work, I saw a roadside advertisement promoting the latest editorial in a newspaper. The poster read: "Mandela is Jesus". At first I was shocked by this statement. How can anyone say such a thing! Mandela is a special person, but can he be compared or equated with Jesus? However, this poster got me thinking. Aside from Mandela, many special people have lived on this earth. In the last 100 years alone there have been people like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela, who, like Jesus, have experienced injustice and overcome seemingly insurmountable hurdles and even achieved international fame. Each of them suffered in their own way. They were beaten, imprisoned, threatened and intimidated, and even killed. In the cases of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., both paid with their own lives. So what makes Jesus so special? Why do more than two billion Christians worship him?
Jesus was without sin
Neither Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., nor Nelson Mandela ever claimed to be sinless. Yet in the New Testament many testify that Jesus longs for an intimate relationship with us; that no other man makes or can verse the fact that Jesus was sinless. In 1. Petrus 2,22 We can read the following: “He who committed no sin, and in whose mouth no deceit was found,” and in Hebräer 4,15 "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but who was tempted in everything as we are, yet without sin." Jesus was perfect and, unlike Mandela and the others, had never sinned.
Jesus claimed to be God
Neither Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., nor Nelson Mandela ever claimed to be God, but Jesus did. In Johannes 10,30 it says, "I and the Father are one.", referring to God Himself. Such a statement is very bold, and yet Jesus made it. For this reason the Jews wanted to crucify him.
There have been other people in history, such as Augustus Caesar and King Nebuchadnezzar, who claimed to be divine. But their rule was not characterized by peace, love and good nature towards people, but was characterized by oppression, malice and greed for power. In extreme contrast to this, there is the discipleship of Jesus, which does not seek to make him famous, rich and powerful, but only to bring the love of God and the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ to people.
Confirmed by miracles and prophecies
In the Apostelgeschichte 2,22-23 The apostle writes the following about Pentecost: “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, attested to you by God through miracles, wonders, and signs that God performed through him among you, as you yourselves know—this man, who was handed over to you by God’s plan and foreknowledge, you crucified and killed by the hand of Gentiles.” Peter is speaking here to the people who knew Jesus personally. They saw the miracles he performed, and some of them were probably even present when he raised Lazarus from the dead, fed 5000 men (not including women and children), cast out evil spirits, and healed the sick and lame. Many people also witnessed his resurrection and were able to testify to it. He was not just any man. He did not only speak, but acted according to his words. Despite modern technology, no one can fully comprehend the miracles Jesus performed. No one today can turn water into wine, raise people from the dead, or multiply food. While all these things are very impressive, the fact I find most impressive about the miracles Jesus performed is that over 700 prophecies about the Messiah were fulfilled, and Jesus fulfilled every single one of them. These prophecies were made more than a thousand years before his birth. To truly understand how extraordinary it is that Jesus fulfilled these prophecies, one only needs to look at the statistical possibility of anyone fulfilling all of them. If we were to look at the possibility of any person fulfilling the 300 most significant prophecies about Jesus, the probability would be about 1 in 10 (a one followed by 157 zeros). The chances of Jesus fulfilling all of these prophecies by mere chance are so vanishingly small that it seems impossible. The only explanation for how Jesus was able to fulfill all these prophecies is that he himself is God and directed events accordingly.
Jesus longs for an intimate relationship with us humans
Like Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mandela, many people had followers, but for the average person, it was impossible to have a relationship with them. Jesus, on the other hand, invites us into a personal relationship with him. Johannes 17,20-23 He prays these words: “I do not pray for them alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one. As you, Father, are in me, and I in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one even as we are one—I in them and you in me—that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Mandela doesn't know, since I exist, neither can he. After all, he's only human. Yet each of us has access to a relationship with Jesus. You can share your deepest desires, joys, fears and worries with him. They are not a burden to him and he will not be too tired or too busy to listen to them. Jesus is more than any significant person who has ever lived because he was not only human but also God.
Summary: Key takeaways about intuitive eating
While at the beginning of this article it looked like Mandela could be compared to Jesus, we find that it is impossible. We can compare Mandela to Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., but not to Jesus, because that is how we would compare a drop of water to an ocean. You can't compare anyone to Jesus because nobody is like him. Because nobody is as special as him.
by Shaun de Greeff
