Some have reckoned Jesus Christ as one of many great teachers who have appeared on the panorama of human history. They count him a peer with eminent sages such as Socrates and Solomon, Anselm and Aristotle, Calvin and Confucious, Gautama (the Buddha) and Ghandi.
Let's think about that together for a bit.
Suppose your favorite novelist is Stephen King. Your favorite novelist might be someone else, but work with me here. Now let's say you heard that I had read one of Mr. King's books, asked me what I thought of it, and I replied, "he is obviously a great typist."
Now that very well might be true. It is hard to imagine that someone with such a fertile imagination and a desire to communicate its contents would not master the skill of typing as writers of old mastered the quill. On the other hand, maybe your favorite author uses dictation and someone else types up a rough draft. But work with me here.
The point is made with this question: Does the description great typist do justice to the full scope of the literary art of Mr. King or any other renowned writer? Does great typist adequately tell us about an author's accomplishments in enthralling, informing, challenging, or motivating readers?
Jesus Christ is indeed a great teacher, to be sure. But He is so in the way that Mr. King and other wordsmiths are most likely good penmen or typists. Great teacher falls short – infinitely short, in Christ's case – of setting forth the fullness of His accomplishments on behalf of His people.
The Galilean fisherman turned inspired author of that short booklet called the Gospel of John (which has endured as a best seller for millennia), comments as follows regarding a teaching session of Jesus: "Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, 'This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?' "
What was that difficult statement, and in what context was it spoken? It was after Jesus miraculously multiplied five small loaves of bread and two fish, overturning the laws of physics in order to provide a meal for over five thousand people who had been listening to Him teach.
Needless to say, that astounding culinary coup astounded the hungry crowd. So they followed Him by boats across the lake - the lake over which He had miraculously walked. Then the Master continued His teaching, including these statements:
"For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
"I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
"I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed."
That was the last straw which prompted many of His followers to say "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?"
Mere sages utter sayings that are hard to understand because they are abstract, complex, or erudite. This saying of Christ was hard for them to hear because it made them think of cannibalism, of which second and third century Christians would be accused by their ignorant persecutors.
But as the greater context of the Bible makes clear, Jesus was not advocating cannibalism. He was soberly proclaiming our absolute need for Himself, not merely giving ethical instruction. He was telling us that our need for His once for all sacrifice of Himself as the Lamb of God is as necessary for our spiritual life as physical food is for earthly bodies.
Are you one who desires to fully understand this saying? Christ Himself, having given His flesh and blood once for all, having risen from the dead, and now living above in heavenly glory, is able to give you that understanding by the power of the Helper He promised to send from the Father, the blessed Holy Spirit. Pray...call upon Jesus' name. Work with HIM here.