Message from the Pastoral Assistant       

                                                                     Rev. Kenneth Frerking 

 

“What Shall I Do with Jesus?"   

 With so many religious options available today, where does one begin to evaluate them?  One good place to begin is with a question: "What shall I do with Jesus?"  That question was raised centuries ago when Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of a Palestinian province, was confronted face to face with this man Jesus and asked to pass judgment on Him. It was baffling decision for Pilate to make. For what he had heard ABOUT Jesus from others , and what he heard FROM Jesus Himself, did not agree.  Caught in a dilemma, he did what many others would have done.  He sought a compromise. He would chastise Jesus to satisfy the crowd, and then release Jesus to satisfy his own conscience. But it didn't work!  There could be no compromise! The crowd even preferred a notorious criminal to this man Jesus. It was at this point that Pilate asked the question that we invite you to ask yourself: "What shall I do with Jesus?"

This is the question that everyone really needs to ask in evaluating the religious options available today. For when a person is confronted with the life and work of Christ, there can be no compromise. It's an "either...or" proposition. Either Jesus was who He claimed to be, namely, the son of God and the Savior of the world, or else He was the biggest liar and imposter who ever lived! there is no middle ground!  

Consider the claims that Jesus made for himself. He called Himself the "Son" and spoke of God in a special sense as "His" Father, thereby indicating His unique relationship to god.  Furthermore, He claimed to have authority to forgive sins.  Unless He was truly God, this claim would be preposterous! and yet, Jesus claimed to forgive sins! He told people that their sins were forgiven without waiting to consult other people who may have been injured by them. This makes sense only if He really was the God He claimed to be!

 And so, in considering Jesus, we are confronted with what the English author, C. S. Lewis, referred to as "The Shocking alternative!" either Jesus was who He claimed to be, or He was the biggest liar who ever lived. In discounting a third possibility, namely, that christ was a great moral teacher, Lewis wrote "There suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God.  He Claims to forgive sins. He says He has always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time...A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher...You may take your choice. Either this man was, and is, the son of God: or else a madman or something worse...But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

In addition to all of this, Jesus claimed to be the only way to God! He was not just one among many ways, but the only way! He said: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No on comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). If this is true, then we really need search no farther.  Jesus speaks of the Scriptures as testifying to Him and thereby validates the truth and reliability of both the Scriptures and Himself. Accordingly, when we have answered the question:  "What shall I do with Jesus?" with a positive affirmation of faith, we can safely discard all other religious options!

(For more information on this theme, you may contact: Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1001 Immanuel Dr., Boonville, MO 65233).
 
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