Revolutionary
Uniqueness
By Linda and Richard Eyre
Note:
Each week this column provides a short essay on one particular aspect
or facet of the Lord’s personality and character. It is intended
that the reader focus on this facet while partaking of the sacrament
this Sunday. (Click here to
read full introductory column.) Review previous columns by going
to the What Manner of Man Archives.
Prior to Christ’s ministry, people were told to love their
friends; Christ taught them to love not only their friends, but
their enemies. People were admonished not to kill; Christ taught
them not to feel anger. They were commanded not to commit adultery;
Christ taught them not to lust. Under the Mosaic Law of revenge,
the code permitted “an eye for an eye”; Christ taught a superior
code of turning the other cheek.
Christ replaced then “shalt nots” with one all-encompassing
“shalt”: love.
When Jesus brought his gospel to the earth, it was not ten
degrees different — it was (often) opposite. In fact, it was more
than just a change in degree; it was a change in kind.
It was radical and it was revolutionary (in the highest and purest
and most extreme use of the terms). It carried no compromise, no
adjustment for tradition, no tactful attempt to find “common ground”
or “previous precedent.” Indeed, it would be hard to coin a more
directly revolutionary preface than the one Christ so often used;
“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time … but I say
unto you …” (Matthew 5:21-22).
It was not only the content of his teachings that was unique.
It was:
·
His orientation: always to the positive, to “what to do,” never to the negative. He was
concerned with omission as much as, or more than, with commission.
·
His motivation: the love and joy in serving God not the fear and restriction used by other religionists
to hold their flocks.
·
His style: he
was not a pacifist without action, not a reactionary without thought,
rather the perfect blend of thought and action: saying and
doing, condemning and changing.
·
His consistency: he was not a product of the general attitude or tone of the times, as most revolutionaries
are. Changes around him had no effect on his cause or his teachings.
He always acted, never reacted.
·
His method: he
did not use the power or political influence and force or any other
common revolutionary method. He did not try to start with kings
or rulers. He was content to leave the full weight of his message
in the hearts of a few simple men, knowing that its light and effervescence
would bubble up through any and all obstacles until it lighted and
engulfed the earth.
Ernest Renan (author of Vie de
Jesus) certainly with some of these elements in mind, said:
“Jesus is in every respect unique … and nothing can be compared
with Him. To tear His name from this world would be to shake it
from its very foundations.”
Starting next week we will turn to a study of Christ as a teacher … the
greatest teacher of all time.
© 2005 Meridian
Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
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