SO WHAT DID JESUS SAY?
Jesus began his public ministry when he was about 30 years old; he was crucified and resurrected when he was about 33. He said and did many things while he walked with us, and according to the scriptures, a lot of what was done was not recorded. Frankly, the amazing stuff that has been written is mind-boggling; thankfully there were numerous witnesses and writers who recorded his life, not just disciples but also secular historians from those times.
Everything Jesus said is important, but He probably didn’t design His message for an impatient Youtube generation, so let’s get to the substance of it. He said:
“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”
~John 14:1
Now remember, God Himself said to listen to Jesus, so we shouldn’t dismiss this self-proclamation as coming from a grandiose ego. Jesus also said:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
~John 14:6
Whoa! “No one goes to the Father except through the ME”, whatever happened to God’s personal revelations before Christ? That is why it is called the “Old Testament”, the Old is still true and wonderful, but we now have a New Testament, based on new and better promises.
“…except through Me”; these are life or death words if you think that “all roads lead to Heaven” as I once did. This beautiful and yet terrifying sentence by Jesus demolishes all belief systems that preach a different path to enlightenment. Not to mention the fact that other teachings almost always focus on self-sacrifice, self-righteousness, or good works as a way to salvation and eternal life. Whereas, Jesus, and therefore the Father teaches that self-righteousness apart from His promises, always ends badly:
“He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.”
~John 12:48
I can tell you with certainty, if there was anything we could do to work our way into Heaven, then Jesus would not have had to die for us. To believe we can earn our own way, is to spit in Jesus face and rub salt into His wounds.
That leads us to an interesting question: If Jesus is God, then why did he have to die?