The Things People Say About Jesus Series

Wherever Jesus went, He caused a riot or a revival. The work and words of the Lord Jesus Christ have affected lives, changed the course of history, made us face our mortality and grow up in terms of character, morals, thought, and living. For countless millions of souls who have trusted in Him to redeem them from the grip of sin, death, and hell, He is who He has claimed to be throughout the entirety of Scripture.

The Holy Bible makes it clear that Jesus Christ is God in the Flesh who came to this fallen and wicked world to save us from our depravity and evil ways. His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead presents the opportunity for everyone to turn to Him, accept His gift of salvation from hell and eternal death, be forgiven of sins and made new creatures in Him who will be with Him in the everlasting New heavens and New Earth promised in the Scriptures.

C.S. Lewis, in his magnificent work "Mere Christianity" makes it clear as to where he stood when it came to the person and ministry of Jesus Christ : "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I am ready to accept Him as a great moral teacher, but I do not accept His claim to be God.' That is the 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 the level with a 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 as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But, let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great moral teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

Viewpoints concerning the Lord Jesus range from sacred to sacrilege. Some people claim He never existed. That, quite frankly, is the ranting of a fool wallowing in his own ideological dung and mud. I firmly believe what the Scriptures say about Him. I do not make this statement on what some skeptical minds would define as "blind faith", but through serious study, reading, inquiry, and examination, along with the leading of the Holy Spirit.

I have full faith and trust in Him as the One who put into existence an orderly, rational, logical, exact, and precise scientific system that could not in any way, shape, or form be a collection of random molecules and cells somehow coming together at just the proper time in history (John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:16-18). There is no credibility in promoting a random evolutionary process when this and other factors come into play.

Jesus Christ has been both the centerpiece of conversation and analysis for the past twenty centuries from individuals who have invested their lives in Him, for good and bad purposes. His life and words are under severe and relentless attack today by everyone from atheistic scholars, biblical critics, media "hit pieces" from slanderous and deviant authors looking to make a quick buck.

These attacks are parroted by the ordinary individual who reads and listens to critical venom on TV, the internet, and radio talk shows that demean and degrade the name and work of Jesus. They allow other people to do their thinking for them and will swallow the lies like a fish swallows a worm, getting hooked by the forces of evil under the guiding hands of the devil himself.

What Jesus did and said are the anvils on which the hammers of criticism and unbelief shatter. If the Scriptures were of mere human thought, people would not even give them a glance. If the Bible is just a "book of myths, fables, and legends", as arrogantly proclaimed by people who have probably never taken the time or effort to read it, why do they even bother to react to it without going into a fit when the topic is brought up? What gets people so upset about Jesus if He is just an ordinary man from an age long since past? Why do people get angry, vindictive, and bent out of shape about Him if He is just as the critics say about Him? Opinions about the LORD are part of the narrative found here in Mark 3:20-35 and the other verses listed.

The crowd, a mixture of the curious and the devout, are with the LORD and His disciples. Mark wrote that Jesus could not at times get away from the crowds to where He could relax and get a bite to eat. He told His disciples after a time of ministry to go with Him to a secluded place and rest for a time. This is a clear portrait of the humanity of our LORD. There were times where He got tired, angry, sad, and frustrated. He was not nice towards arrogant individuals who openly resisted and denied His teachings and warnings. I doubt that His rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew 23 would have gone over well if He had been visiting some of the excuses for churches both here in the U.S as well as around the world. However, He never turned anyone away who came to Him with sorrowful hearts, a desire to truly learn from Him or follow Him, or be healed and delivered from sickness and sin and gave Him glory and honor for doing so. He never consigned anyone to an appointment calendar and try to get to them later. He has the heart of a true Shepherd and these souls are in need of care, counsel, and attention.