Let me ask you a question. Who comes to mind when you think of, or someone asks you about, a well-known personality? Perhaps each one of us would come up with a different picture in our mind—a different name. Of course, our mental picture would depend, too, on what area of life, what category, we might be thinking about.
If the category were “world leaders” or “politicians” or “statesmen,” our good President might come to mind. He is, after all, the leader of the most powerful nation in the world. He is, of course, very much in the news, on our minds and, I’m sure, in our prayers these days because of the world’s situation. If the subject or the topic is “sports,” we might think of some well-known sports figures, like Michael Jordan, or Tiger Woods. Not only are they at the top of their respective sports, but they, like many sports figures, are seen everywhere because they endorse many products. We see their pictures on everything from cereal boxes to billboards. If we are thinking of the entertainment world, we might think of a well-known movie star, or perhaps a singer, or an artist of some sort. And so the names that come to mind of well-known personalities would vary from person to person.
But overall, end to end, when all is said and done, who is the GREATEST? Who is the most influential? Who is the best known personality to have ever lived? Well, that One was born and raised in obscurity as the son of a carpenter. That’s right — His Name is JESUS CHRIST. He is the world’s best-known and most influential person who has ever lived. He’s better known, He’s more powerful and He has had greater effect and more influence on this world in which we live than all of the politicians, statesmen, athletes, and entertainers combined! YES, this One named JESUS is greater than all others.
As we think about Jesus, His life and His impact on the world, I want to read to you a very-well-written description of Him and of this impact that He has made on the world. This familiar passage is an adaptation of the original writing, and was written by a man named Phillips Brooks. I’m sure that you have probably heard this before. It is a text which is often times read or recited around the Christmas holiday season of the year, because it so thoroughly and so appropriately describes the influence and the power and the impact that Jesus has had upon the world. But I think it’s worth hearing again, so let me read this adaptation, which was written by Phillip Brooks. I’m not exactly sure when, but it was written quite some time ago. [NOTE FROM EDITOR: Please see the end of this sermon for details on the original author of the following adaptation, and read the original passage.] Listen to this and see if you don’t think that this is, indeed, an apt description. It goes like this:
“Here is a man who was born in an obscure village. The child of a peasant woman, He grew up in another obscure village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was 30. And then for three years, He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with the world except the power of His divine manhood. While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed on a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property that He had while He was on the earth—that was His coat. When He was dead, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. And on the third day He rose from the dead. Nineteen centuries have come and gone and today He is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all of the armies that ever marched, all of the navies that have ever sailed, all of the parliaments that have ever sat, all the kings that have ever reigned, all put together have not affected the life of man on earth as powerfully as has this one solitary life. The explanation—He is the Son of God, the risen Savior.”
Well, that says it, doesn’t it! Very powerfully stated, very well put, very succinct in what he says.
Yes, JESUS — He is God’s only Son — He is the Savior of the world. While He was here on earth, during that period of about three years that we refer to as His ministry, He was a Preacher and He was a Teacher, the likes of which the world had never seen before, and the likes of which the world will never see again.
Jesus was the Greatest Preacher Who ever preached—bar none [without exception, the best]. And Matthew records the Greatest Sermon that was ever preached. It’s contained in Matthew, chapters 5, 6 & 7. We call it “The Sermon on the Mount.” In that great sermon, Jesus spoke of everything from what constitutes true happiness, to salt, to light, to murder, to adultery. He preached about loving your enemies. He preached about giving to the needy. He preached about the dangers of judging others. He preached about the problems of worry.
Jesus, in addition to being the Greatest Preacher Who ever preached and the Greatest Teacher Who ever taught, is also referred to as the Master Teacher. Jesus was masterful in His teaching methods, His teaching techniques.
For example, He taught in parables. Parables are sometimes referred to as “earthly stories with heavenly meanings.” In His parables, Jesus would take lofty spiritual principles and, through the application of these “earthly stories,” He would bring those lofty spiritual principles down to “ground level,” down to the “lower shelf.” The result was that, those who listened to Him, whether well-educated or uneducated, could understand. He used things that were familiar, like a fisherman casting a net, like a farmer sowing seed, like a merchant on the quest for the perfect pearl.
Also, Jesus also used object lessons. For example, He took a little child and He said that unless one becomes like this little child, he cannot inherit—he cannot enter—into the Kingdom of Heaven. [Matthew 18:3: “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”]
On one occasion He took a Roman coin and, by pointing out the superscription (or what was cast on that coin), He taught those present, as well as us today, about our responsibility to civil authority. [Mark 12:15-17: “‘Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?’ But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, ‘Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.’ So they brought it. And He said to them, ‘Whose image and inscription is this?’ They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’”]
He used a barren fig tree on one occasion to teach a lesson to His disciples and, once again, to us today, about the need to produce the proper fruit in our lives. [Luke 13:6-9: “He [Jesus] also spoke this parable: ‘A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, “Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?” But he answered and said to him, “Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.”’”]
In addition to parables and object lessons, Jesus used the teaching technique of asking many questions. I hadn’t really realized the number of questions that Jesus asked until someone did the research and recorded the numbers. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus asked 177 questions, in Mark’s Gospel—120 questions, in Luke’s Gospel—165 questions, and in John’s Gospel—167 questions.
Yes, He was the Master Teacher. He was the Greatest Preacher of all times. Was anyone ever like Jesus? Has there ever been anyone like Him? Well, certainly in one sense we have to answer “No!” There was not before, and there will not be again, anyone who is His equal.
However, while Jesus was and is incomparable, there are some comparisons which were made during His life here on earth, and which can still be made. Turn over in Matthew’s Gospel to Matthew, chapter 16. This is a familiar passage and one that we probably don’t use for this particular application, but let me read this into your hearing this evening and we will see here some comparisons of Jesus. Matthew, chapter 16, beginning with verse 13: “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”
There has been no one like Him—before, during or since—but yet, here are some comparisons. Some people of that day saw Jesus, heard Jesus and made some comparisons, finding some likenesses between Him and some others.
Some people thought He was John the Baptist. Have you ever thought about the fact that there may have been a family resemblance? They may have looked alike! They were related, you know. Their mothers, Mary and Elizabeth, were cousins and, if I’ve got my genealogy correct, that would make Jesus and John the Baptist “second cousins.” And so there could quite possibly have been a family resemblance.
I imagine you have some cousins, maybe even some second cousins, who bear some resemblance to you. A month or so ago, some of you met a cousin of mine who was here. He and his wife were in Albuquerque and they visited here with us one Wednesday night. Several of you commented and said — well, first of all you didn’t know there was anybody else in the world with the last name of “Phillis,” but, indeed, there is at least one other. Others of you commented and said, “My, you two look alike! There’s a family resemblance there.” Well, there could have been a family resemblance between Jesus and John the Baptist.
John the Baptist and Jesus no doubt sounded alike. I do not mean that their voices sounded alike, but that their preaching was, no doubt, very similar. They both preached the necessity of repentance, and they preached baptism for the remission of sins. They both taught about the importance of the kingdom. Of John the Baptist, Matthew wrote: “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’…Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins,” Matthew 3:1-2, and verses 5-6. That was what John the Baptist was preaching.
Well, listen to the similarity now in what Jesus preached as well. Matthew will write concerning Jesus from that time. “Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,’” [Matthew 4:17] And then in recording the Great Commission that Jesus gave just before He ascended back to the Father, Matthew quotes Jesus as Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Matthew 28 and verse 19.
So, yes, the message that John the Baptist and Jesus preached would have sounded quite the same. They were consistent in what they were saying.
Well, something else that perhaps people would have found similar about them is that neither of them could tolerate hypocrisy, and they spoke out in the strongest terms against such. You remember that on one occasion, John, when seeing a group of Sadducees and Pharisees coming to him to be baptized, referred to them as a “brood of vipers,” Matthew 3 and verse 7. And Jesus, too, would speak in an unambiguous fashion about these same ones, as well. He would say, “Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”Matthew 23:28 and 29.
Another similarity that would have been obvious between John the Baptist and Jesus was that both of them were men of self denial. You remember that John’s clothing and his diet was quite peculiar. He wore camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. And his subsistence included locust and wild honey. Matthew 3 and verse 4 [“Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey”].
But also, Jesus was a man of poverty. He was not a man of substance or of wealth. He said of Himself on one occasion, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head,” Matthew 8 and verse 20.
And here is yet one more similarity, one more comparison that could be made between Jesus and John the Baptist. That comparison is that both were killed as though they were the worst of criminals. John was beheaded and Jesus was crucified. These executions were reserved for the worst of criminals, yet neither one of them committed a crime. Rather, they were killed for what they did—for what they said—for what they stood for.
Well, perhaps with these things in mind, we might be able to see how that some in that day—some who had seen John the Baptist and some who had seen Jesus—could make a comparison and maybe even mistake one for the other.
In this text we see that Jesus was also compared, maybe even confused with, Elijah. Yes, some people said He was Elijah, one of the great prophets and heroes of the Old Testament. What kind of man was Elijah? Well, we could say much about him. Once again, he was a great man and a great hero. He stood for right when all of Israel went into digression and apostasy. He was a fearless man. You remember that it was Elijah who confronted those 450 prophets of Baal [I Kings 18].
Well, people saw Jesus. They saw His nature, they saw His character, and they said, “There goes Elijah!” Jesus, as had Elijah before Him, loved the Truth, stood for right, loved the sinner, but hated the sin. And they were both bold, courageous and aggressive. They were faithful men of God.
There is one more comparison contained in our text. Some people mistook Jesus, or at least compared Him with, another great hero and prophet of old, and that was Jeremiah. Jesus, like Jeremiah before him, stood in the face of an avalanche of evil. In the long ago, Jeremiah looked over Jerusalem, a destroyed city, and he was compelled to write Lamentations. He became known as the “weeping prophet.” He wept, not on his own account, not for anything that he was missing, but rather he wept because of the suffering of others. Jeremiah had compassion. He had love. He had understanding. These are all marks of strength, not weakness.
Jeremiah compared to Jesus… Jesus was a friend of sinners, “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” as the Prophet Isaiah said of Him [Isaiah 53:3]. He was loving. He was tender. He was kind. He was compassionate. There is an occasion recorded in Matthew, chapter 9, verse 36, when He looked upon the multitude of people and He saw them as sheep without a shepherd, wandering without direction, and the Scripture says He had compassion on them. [“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”]
In Matthew 23, verse 37, there is a similarity between Jeremiah of old (who had looked over a destroyed city of Jerusalem) and Jesus, as He looked over the city of Jerusalem and envisioned the destruction that was to come. Jesus was compelled to say, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, …How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” You can sense the concern, the compassion, and the tenderness that would have been in His voice as He said that. Yes, Jesus had the disposition of One Who was ready, willing and able to weep with them who weep, just as He did at the graveside of His dear friend, Lazarus. John 11:35, “Jesus wept.”
The Lord is very compassionate. He is very merciful, as James says in James 5:11 [“Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful”]. He loves us and He wants to save us.
So as you and I think about Jesus, who is it that we see? Do we see John the Baptist? Do we see Elijah? Do we see Jeremiah? There are comparisons to be made, certainly. There are likenesses to be seen. But we know that Jesus is incomparable! Do we see Him as the Son of God and as the Savior of the world? Do we see Him as He was, the Itinerant Preacher, and the Master Teacher? And yes, do we associate Him with these other great men? It’s appropriate that we see Him in all of those ways. As I said, He is comparable, but yet He is incomparable. And as we say sometimes—no one can hold a candle to Him.
We might say that He is a study in contrasts. Think about these things. He, Who is the Bread of Life, began His ministry hungering. You remember that He spent 40 days in the wilderness without eating. He, Who is the Water of Life, ended His life on this earth thirsting. You remember as He hung on the cross, He asked for something to drink. He hungered as a man, yet He fed the hungry as God. He was weary, yet He provides rest. He paid tribute, yet He is a King. He was called by some a devil, yet He cast out demons. He prayed, yet He hears our prayers and He intercedes on our behalf. He wept, but He dries our tears. He was sold for 30 pieces of silver, yet He redeems sinners. And remember that word “redeems” means “to be bought back,” “to be purchased,” the price that was paid for a slave. He was a lamb led to the slaughter, yet He is The Good Shepherd. He gave His life, and by dying He destroyed death.
What a study in contrasts! No one else can claim any of those things, let alone all of them. Jesus Christ — the Greatest Man, the Greatest Figure, the Greatest Personality of ALL times. He is all of these things, yet you and I have the privilege—we have the ability—to call Him Friend, to call Him Brother.
We can also call Him Savior. In that text that we read from Matthew 16, Peter eventually got around to confessing the sweet Name of Jesus, and so must we. Yes, we must confess Him as part of our initial obedience. Most of us have already done that. But we must continue to confess Him on a day-to-day basis by the lives that we live—by what we do, and by what we don’t do—by the way that we serve.
There is another Name by which Jesus is known. There will be a day when everyone will call Him Judge, for He will judge the world. Now He extends grace and mercy and compassion to all of us. If we are obedient and remain faithful until death, we will be the benefactors of His grace. But many, though, will see another side of Jesus, because condemnation will be theirs. All of us must meet one side or the other of Jesus, either His compassion, or His condemnation. Which will it be for you?
Jesus extended an invitation while He was here on the earth. He offered those who heard Him to “Come unto Me” [Matthew 11:28]. He stands at the door and knocks [Revelation 3:20], and that invitation is still open today.
So if you are here this night and if you are outside of Christ, if you have never named His Name, if you have never been obedient to Him, then won’t you this night respond to the invitation of Jesus, “Come unto Me and I will give you rest.”
If you have any need, would you come as we stand together and sing.
[NOTE FROM EDITOR: Information concerning the true author of what the world now knows as “One Solitary Life,” quoting from Mr. Mike Drake, Fresno County Library, Fresno, California, March, 1998:
The author of this familiar passage about Christ is almost universally thought to be unknown. A quick search of the World Wide Web (“One Solitary Life”) will show: first, how familiar and loved this passage is; second, how commonly it is attributed to an anonymous author; and third, how many variations there are (further evidence that most people are ignorant of the existence of an original source in print).
However, there is a known author, and the source is available in print at many libraries. I owe my knowledge of this to the efforts of a Mr. Palmer Brown (recently deceased?). You can read about his search and discovery of the author in a Los Angeles Times article of Saturday, December 1, 1973 (Part I, pg. 32).
The author is Dr. James Allan Francis. It can be found in his book called “The Real Jesus and Other Sermons,” published by “The Judson Press” (Phil.) in 1926. It is in the last chapter titled “Arise, Sir Knight!” on page 123. There is a short biography of Dr. Francis in the article mentioned above.
The article and the book can be obtained at your local public library. Ask your friendly neighborhood reference librarian for assistance.
I obtained my copy from the Los Angeles Public Library. I have it right here beside me. I find it very interesting to compare the original passage with the many variations that I have seen. Anyway, here it is:
Let us turn now to the story. A child is born in an obscure village. He is brought up in another obscure village. He works in a carpenter shop until he is thirty, and then for three brief years is an itinerant preacher, proclaiming a message and living a life. He never writes a book. He never holds an office. He never raises an army. He never has a family of his own. He never owns a home. He never goes to college. He never travels two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He gathers a little group of friends about him and teaches them his way of life. While still a young man, the tide of popular feeling turns against him. One denies him; another betrays him. He is turned over to his enemies. He goes through the mockery of a trial; he is nailed to a cross between two thieves, and when dead is laid in a borrowed grave by the kindness of a friend.
Those are the facts of his human life. He rises from the dead. Today we look back across nineteen hundred years and ask, What kind of trail has he left across the centuries? When we try to sum up his influence, all the armies that ever marched, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned are absolutely picayune in their influence on mankind compared with that of this one solitary life…
And the paragraph continues on from here. It is embedded in a chapter. There is no title “One Solitary Life.” It would be interesting to try to discover when it picked this up. Maybe this is the same time when it became (un)officially “anonymous.”
End of NOTE FROM EDITOR.]