Who is Jesus?/Book 1/Part 1/Chapter 1
WHO IS JESUS?
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I. A FASCINATING QUESTION
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I HAVE a very definite message to present to the world, one that cannot fail to be supremely interesting to multitudes, for it is about Jesus, and beyond all controversy Jesus of Nazareth, whom all good men admire, and some men worship as the Saviour of the world, is the most fascinating figure of history.
All men feel his uniqueness. We cannot resist the appeal he makes to the noblest part of our nature. He is not only the ideal man, but something more. This is certainly the conviction of our hearts, for "never man spake like this man," never did any one realize so perfectly in his daily life such an ideal of unselfish living, one never before even imagined by any mortal. More books are written about him because men like to study his character and his claims better than they care to study the character and claims of any other.
Whatever truths other religions contain,—and they all contain some,—it is certain that the religion founded by Jesus, as given in his life and words, makes the truest appeal to the religious instinct, which is the highest instinct, or motive force, of our lives. Nineteen centuries have passed since he appeared upon the earth, and the interest in him is as fresh as it ever was; indeed, it seems to grow stronger as time elapses. It is as if his words had come true, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." His enemies during the ages since he came have been compelled to exclaim again and again, with the Pharisees of old, "Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? Behold the world is gone after him."
Critics have disposed of him and his claims often enough to have eliminated any other man from human interest; but somehow he is not eliminated. When the mists of their criticism, like the smoke of a fireworks display, has drifted away, we still behold him looming up above the plain, dominating the landscape like some lofty mountain peak which lifts our thoughts to heaven even as it lifts itself in eternal beauty to the sky. Even in his remoteness he is accessible; even in his sublimity he is not cold. Supremely above us, he is intensely human. No, the critics cannot destroy him. They may temporarily in individual cases weaken his appeal, but he endures and overcomes. We cannot escape his spell. He fascinates us, compels our attention, delights us, arouses our affections, awakens our reverence. Who is he—this Unique Man of History?
For he is unique. There is no doubt of it.