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Jesus as a Mere Man

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 21, 1912

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 89, No. 12.

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Jesus as a Mere Man

By W. E. Hancock

W. E. HANCOCK
EVEN those who would impugn the veracity of the only written account of the life and work of Jesus, will admit that such a person existed. It would be more difficult to account for the influence of Jesus as a mythical person than to acknowledge that he actually lived. Only ignorance or blind disregard of facts will excuse an effort to disprove the reality and influence of his life, difficult though it be to account for them, if we should consider him as a mere man.
Let those who look upon him as only a human being consider candidly the rôle he has played in history, to determine the elements of his greatness and the causes for the influence his life has exerted. Contemplate his influence upon the destiny of empires and kingdoms. An obscure man of Galilee, who never occupied a single recognized position of honor, religious, military, or political, rose from obscurity, overcame enemies, completely revolutionized the attitude of the world toward the great questions of morals and ethics, and was heralded by the victors as the patron of their successes. Armies overcame in his name; victories were ascribed to him; his has been considered the controlling influence in all the great events since his death. Yet never in life did he teach diplomacy or military tactics, nor lead an army.
It has not been, however, in the realm of statecraft or on the battle-field that his influence has been the most potent and the most direct. The distinctive realm of Jesus' influence is and has ever been the inner life of the individual. Jesus did not so much as organize the few disciples who had believed on him before his death; but he had planted the seed of another kingdom in the hearts of his humble followers. As an organizer and a founder he died an apparent failure, and truly so, measured by human precedents. But contrary to all human precedents, his life and character emerge from obscurity, from the gloomy chamber of death, and become a resistless power in the world and a winning influence in the human heart.
The obscurity of his life in the world of his time is shown by the fact that we find the merest mention of such a man in profane history. He came to win the individuals and not to conquer kingdoms. The realm of his influence is within men; but in effecting the reformation of individual lives, the teaching of Jesus has remodeled the whole of society. The great systems of government and religion which stood between our loving Father and his children have been shattered. Souls, individual souls, are the mediums of his operations and the recipients of the highest privileges that God can bestow. Every system of government or religion that does not recognize the rights of the individual becomes the object of attack in the teaching of Christ. Such teaching and such greatness compared with that of other acknowledged great characters present great contrast, but little comparison.
Shall we compare him with a Cyrus, or an Alexander, or a Cæsar, or a Napoleon, or even with Moses, the leader and organizer of Israel? Only with the last-named person can we find a basis of likeness. A prophecy of Christ said that he would be like Moses; but that likeness consisted in this that they both were prophets. Moses was a leader, a statesman, a general; Christ was neither as man. Moses could point to a long line of achievements acknowledged by his contemporaries; not so with Jesus. Considered as man, his life ends in ignominious failure. Forsaken in death by his own disciples, mocked and derided by the Jews, and condemned to death as a malefactor, he merits, as man, pity as a self-deluded fanatic or condemnation as an impostor. But, instead of that, we find that he survives and conquers.
The greatness of Jesus can not be reckoned on the basis of his humanity solely. He satisfies the infinite longing of the human heart for the connection with Infinite power, the power which can save humanity from its weakness. He makes the connection between the unseen God and hopeless man, unattainable by human strength and beyond the understanding of human knowledge.
The chasm, to all human philosophy and wisdom found impassable between a sinful world and an imperfect race and a perfect God and a sinless universe beyond, is bridged over by Jesus, the Saviour. It is this element in his teaching and the corresponding power in his life that constitute his greatness and compel the human heart to accept his claims and to confide in his power. At the same time the human element is recognized, by which he is joined to us as the Son of man. Do you ask for proof? Then disprove human history and show that the experience and longing of man in seeking this connection with his Creator has not been satisfied in Jesus Christ. The attempt ought to be sufficient proof.
Napoleon can not be accused of being a partizan of religion when he said: “I know men; and I shall tell you that Jesus is not a man. . . . He is truly a being by himself. I defy you to cite another life like that of Christ.”
Takoma Park, D. C.