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Many people are named Jesus but there is only one named Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. This Jesus is widely regarded as the founder of the Christian Church which He promised to build (Matthew 16:18).
He is said to have walked the earth specifically in ancient Israel hundreds of years ago. He came into the world purposely to save people who would believe in Him from their sins. Those who believe in Him are His chosen people (Matthew 1:21).
However, there seems to be something strange about Jesus of Nazareth which has inspired the writing of the article. We know that humans naturally like to say all manner of things about people, especially those who are unique.
So, it is expected that people would express myriad views about Jesus who lived in the world as God-man. But the incessant differing opinions people continue to express about Jesus Christ is not only surprising but unusual. It calls for a diligent examination and concern.
Christians and non-Christians living in all the seven continents of the world never stop arguing about Him, debating about Him, quarrelling about Him, discussing Him and writing about Him. He must be superhuman!
I wish to highlight some of the things people have said and written about Jesus of Nazareth, beginning from the first-century, a period in which He lived through to today, 21st Century, in which we live.
According to biblical accounts written in the first-century, divergent views about Jesus Christ began to be expressed immediately He began His public ministry. Some said He was the promised Messiah, others disagreed but said He was just a prophet.
While many referred to Him as the Prince of Beelzebub, a demon, others said He was the Son of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). The crowds said Jesus Christ was a great healer, teacher and Lord. But John, Thomas, Paul and others recognised Him as God. (John 20:28; Romans 9:5).
Interestingly, however, some Christians today are skeptical about His divinity, arguing that Jesus Christ was superior to man but lesser than God.
Others including the late Kenneth Hagin point out that Jesus Christ lives eternally and He sometimes reveals Himself to people in dreams, visions and trances. They claim that He appears to people physically to speak to them.
However, unbelievers, particularly atheists, assert that Jesus Christ never existed, and that He was just a myth invented in Rome to deceive unsuspecting people and enslave people especially Africans. Sadly, they say nothing about the Islamisation of Africa.
But historians including Flavius Josephus, a Jew, strongly state that Jesus Christ lived in Israel having been born by Virgin Mary, and worked as a carpenter before He began to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of heaven.
Self-styled Bishop Kwabena Boakye Asiamah, leader of the Ajagurajah Movement in Ghana, alleges that Jesus Christ truly lived in the world and when He grew old He married Mary Magdalene, fathering children with her in France.
Opposing views expressed about Jesus Christ are myriad. But several questions come to mind about all of these. What is the cause of all these opinions? Where do they end? Why did or could He not exist? Why do people believe that He is God? Is Jesus Christ a mysterious and unsearchable Being?
You cannot outrightly and forever deny people’s experiences just because you have not had that experience.
Again, do these divergent views somehow prove the deity of Jesus Christ, something that is difficult for human minds to fully comprehend? Is it normal for a mere mythical figure to be argued about, debated about and discussed for centuries?
Moreover, should men and women who project themselves as apostles of reason and enlightenment spend precious resources to subject someone they know He does not exist to centuries of examination, study, discussion and rejection?
Will discourses about Jesus of Nazareth ever cease? When? Are these arguments God’s own way of enforcing and achieving His eternal purposes in the world?
Well, one thing is certain that Jesus of Nazareth was God manifested in the flesh. He is preeminent, superhuman, extraordinary and unique.
Thus, He is unsearchable, unfathomable and incomprehensible by the use of man’s physical senses. Only by the Spirit of God can He be known and appreciated.
By James Quansah
