Things Jesus Said
By Marc Durocher
First revision: 2016
Followed by:
The Gospel According to John
Romans
"Scripture quotations taken from the New American
Standard Bible® (NASB),
Copyright © 1960,
1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by
The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission. www.Lockman.org"
The Gospel According to John and Romans:
" Scripture quoted by permission. All scripture
quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are
taken from the NET
Bible® copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
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reserved."
Things Jesus Said
Preface
Do we really need another book about Jesus? I just checked
the book section on Amazon.com and came up with 276,886 books about Jesus. Is
there really anything else that can be said? Actually, I don’t have anything
new. This is just my unique perspective which is different from every other
human who has ever lived or who will ever live. That is an awesome thing about
us—people that is—we are all amazingly different. We are the same in many ways,
but so different in many others. This is why some of the bible authors have
variations in the way they recount the story of Jesus. They tell their story
from their unique perspective. This is my unique perspective. This will be my
perspective of the things Jesus said, not what someone said about him, but what
he said about himself. After all, this is all that really matters.
Something important before that, because I know the first
question that comes up is, “How can we know what Jesus said”? There are many books written on this subject
and it is complex, but I think the evidence is overwhelmingly clear that we
have what Jesus said. If you would like to get in on that discussion I will
direct you to Bible.org. On their site, locate Daniel B. Wallace’s articles and
find, “Is What We Have Now What They Wrote Then”? Dated 05/22/2006. This is a
good short article on the subject. Another good introduction is found on
Youtube: Dr Voddie Baucham, "Why I Choose to Believe the Bible", a 46
minute video. These two sources will give you a brief introduction into the world
of bible manuscripts and translations. You can also find many other great
articles on Bible.org. If this subject interests you or concerns you, there is
plenty of scholarly work already done to keep you reading for the rest of your
life---literally. For now, let’s move on to the subject at hand—What did Jesus
say?
Things Jesus Said
Introduction
What did Jesus say?
When I was growing up I kinda sorta knew about Jesus. After all, I am an
American. Jesus had something to do with the Roman Catholic church. Jesus had
something to do with those people who went around knocking on doors with bibles
in their hands, or those young men in the mall who gave me a bible. Jehovah’s
Witnesses they were called. Jesus had something to do with that movie, The
Greatest Story Ever Told. He definitely had something to do with that movie,
Jesus of Nazareth. I remember seeing that movie on the shelf at the movie store
all the time. It had some sullen white dude on the cover of the VHS tape with a
thorn hat on. I can still see it as if it was yesterday and I still remember
the exact shelf it sat on at the last movie store where I saw it. I would always tell myself that I should rent
that movie and find out about Jesus---I never did. Jesus had something to do
with the Baptist church academy I used to drive by all the time. Jesus had
something to do with the Mormons—whoever they are. Jesus had something to do
with the Hare Krishnas, didn’t he? Jesus had something to do with Christian
Science, right? Tom Cruise is a Christian Scientist. Once while walking down
the street with a friend, at a time in my life while I was searching for
answers, he, matter of factly said, "If you want to follow someone, why
don't you follow Jesus"? All these
people and many more proclaim to tell us what Jesus said. Who’s right? Everyone
can’t be right, because many of these people say Jesus said different things.
Let’s go to Jesus and find out what HE said.
Things Jesus Said
Let me start right up front by asking—why do we even care
what Jesus said? After all, lots of people in the history of the world have
said all kinds of spiritual things. Who cares what Jesus said? The short answer
is, when a guy has the entire calendar based off of his life and death,
B.C./A.D, you should probably find out why. The long answer? We’ll let's let
Jesus answer that.
In the gospel letter written by Matthew, Jesus has this to
say, “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand”. This can sum up Jesus’ entire message, “Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand”. Of course, this might mean something to someone
who was listening, but what does that mean to us 2000 years later? Well, let’s
continue to see what else he said and see if we can answer that later. Jesus told
some around him to, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”. These men
followed him. What would make a grown man drop everything and follow someone
they don’t even know? Is this something you would do? Ridiculous! What idiots!
Right? Our initial response is to think that these guys must have been idiots,
simpletons, and gullible. Were they or was there something special about Jesus?
They didn't really know him yet. There must have been something to make many grown men
follow. They couldn’t have all been idiots. There were too many of them. Who
knows why each man followed, but after this next thing Jesus said, you’d think
they would have ditched him and went back to real life. Jesus said, “Blessed
are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of
evil against you falsely, on account of me. Rejoice, and be glad, for your
reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before
you”. Follow me—people will hate you, he said. This is pretty much a deal breaker.
Who in their right mind would follow him after he said this? Would you? He had
a big crowd at this point. They were amazed at his teaching, the bible says.
There must be something else, because surely, Jesus, being the good man that he
was, had some uplifting teachings. Something good! Jesus carried on and said,
“You have heard that the ancients were told, You shall not commit murder and
whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court. But I say to you that
everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court and
whoever shall say to his brother, you good for nothing, shall be guilty before
the supreme court; and whoever shall say, you fool, shall be guilty enough to
go into the fiery hell”. Wow. Who in their right mind would follow this guy?
He’s getting kinda personal. First he says if you follow him you will be hated,
then he takes a personal attack at his listeners—basically calling them guilty
and bound for hell. Clearly something profound is happening here, because
nobody would follow some guy going around saying these things. Again, would
you?
When Jesus said profound things he usually followed up with
miracles. When Jesus did miracles, such as healing people and creating bread to
feed five thousand families, the people really started to follow him. When we
see this side of Jesus, we can start to understand why some would follow him.
They might have thought his message was a little harsh, but he was doing things
that no man had done before. Let’s take a look at some of the better things
Jesus said. Here is a good one, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have
eternal life. For God did not send the son into the world to judge the world,
but that the world should be saved through him”. I bet everyone reading this
has heard this sometime in their life, or at least has seen John 3:16 mentioned
somewhere. This quote comes from the book written by John—chapter 3 verse 16.
I’m sure the listeners had the same question we do today—“the son”? Who is this
son? Is Jesus calling himself the son of God? Jesus doesn’t keep us wondering
about his sonship. John also reports Jesus saying, “For not even the father
judges anyone, but he has given all judgement to the son, in order that all may
honor the son, even as they honor the father. He who does not honor the son
does not honor the father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who
hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and does not
come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life”. Jesus just told his
listeners, and us, that he is the son of God and that God has sent him so that
we may have eternal life.
Eternal life? We have
a thing in my house where I always ask my kids what eternal life means. I
ask, "What does eternal
mean"? "Forever" is the
answer. "What does life mean"? "Life means life—Not dying"
is the answer. "Is that going to be forever life with sin"? "No,
without sin" is the answer. The kids laugh as they humor me. Jesus is not
talking here about continuing this same painful life for ever and ever. That
would be hell on earth. He’s talking about some state of being where mankind is
restored to an earlier condition like Adam and Eve in the garden. A paradise
type of place—without sin. None of us have ever lived without experiencing pain
and sin, so it’s a little hard to imagine a true paradise, but this is what he
claims to offer. With this in mind, it starts to become a little more
reasonable to believe that many people would follow him. Life is hard—and
painful. We want some relief. Who wouldn’t want a new life in paradise? But how
could some guy who claims “God sent him”, offer up something so fantastic? Is
he just another snake oil salesman? Is this a new network marketing scam? He’s
just looking for followers and then he’s going for their money—surely that is
it. Everyone is after the money. Just look at Jesus’ modern day “followers” and
how they beg for money on TV every day. I put followers in quotes for a
reason—they are scammers. But what about Jesus, is he a scammer? Would you
follow some guy who walked into town one day and told you that you were a
sinner guilty of hell and he promised eternal life in paradise, if you would
believe and follow him? I can answer that for you, HELL NO! "Go sell your
lies to someone else", you'd say. So why are all these people following
him? Let’s press on and see what else he said.
Before we go on to more, I have a question for you. Do you
believe that this world was created by someone or something? Or do you believe
that it just appeared out of nowhere billions of years ago and we just
“evolved” into who we are today? First I’ll say that if you believe that we
evolved, then you already have faith in something as miraculous as what Jesus
has spoken of, because to "evolve" us thinking human beings from
nothing is quite miraculous. Many scientists have started becoming what they
call, believers in Intelligent Design, because the theory of evolution just
can’t stand up to the scientific inquiry. As mankind dives deeper and deeper
into the world of genetics, we keep finding a world that is more and more
complex. We don’t find simple single cell organisms, but highly complex
organisms. Just look at DNA alone. DNA should be enough to convince even the
hardest skeptic that we have not evolved from simple organisms to more complex.
For clarity, when I say that we have not evolved, what I am referring to is the
theory of Darwinistic evolution which says we evolved from simple to complex.
We do see variations and adaptations within species, but we do not see things
becoming things they were not. Fish don’t become non-fish and monkeys don’t
become non-monkeys. Jesus said, “Have you not read, that he who created them
from the beginning made them male and female…” Jesus believed we were
created—but again—why should we believe Jesus? If you believe that we evolved,
then really, how is what Jesus said any different than any other religion on
earth? If we evolved then we are just making this stuff up. We are just wasting
our time if we have just evolved, because when we die we just become worm food.
If we just become worm food, why would we listen to any spiritual gurus? We
should just get what we can out of this life and not worry about
anything—but—if there is more, and I think you know there is more or else you
wouldn’t have picked up this book, then let’s explore more of what Jesus said.
Jesus, addressing his followers said this, “…you seek me,
not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled.
Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to
eternal life, which the son of man shall give to you, for on him the father,
even God, has set his seal. They said therefore to him, what shall we do, that
we may work the works of God? Jesus responded, this is the work of God, that
you believe in him whom he has sent”. So Jesus here accuses them of just
following because he gave them free food! I heard a story years ago from India.
In India, Christians go around to the poor towns and they play the Life of
Jesus movie at open air assemblies. Many come to sit and listen for hours about
this Jesus on the film. During the events the Christians bring lots of rice to
serve the people in attendance. When others hear about these events, they come
and they bring even more people with them. The events are held for multiple
days. The Christians have found that when the rice runs out, many people leave.
Those who leave are referred to as “Rice Christians”. When the free crap runs out the people leave.
Typical right? People love free crap. Have you ever opened a bank account and
they offer you a free piece of Tupperware? Really? A fifty cent piece of
Tupperware? But you take it don’t you. Or when you go to an event because they
offer “door prizes”. Really? “If you come to our event we will give you free
crap”! The sad part is this really works. People love free crap. You know when
you have just eaten enough food to fill an elephant and you go shopping at
Costco—you know exactly what I’m about to say—and the lady with the hair net
asks if you want a free sample? You say “no” right? Absolutely not! You grab
that thing and stuff it in your mouth. Why? Because we love free crap! Well,
Jesus is calling out these people who came to get free crap. He says that he
just performed miracles before their eyes and all they want is more free
crap. I have seen churches trying to
lure people in by offering free crap. They build skate parks, or they have a
great band, or they offer a movie night, all hoping that if the people come for
free crap, then they can introduce them to Jesus. Maybe it will work, but I
don’t think Jesus can be compared with a fifty cent piece of Tupperware or a
bowl of rice. “Hey, if you sign up with Jesus, we’ll give you this free piece
of Tupperware. What do you say? Quite an offer, right”? Not so much. When the people came for their free crap,
Jesus told them that the true “works of God is that you believe in him whom he
has sent”. This message is not very appealing because there appears to be
nothing in it for us. “Believe you? Why should I believe you, Jesus? What’s in
it for me”? Unfortunately this is the response of most of us. “What’s in it for
me”? This is a philosophy that all humans run their life by. We are not going
to put out until we know what is coming back to us in return. It’s the basic
selfish human survival instinct. The bible calls it sin. We don’t automatically
care about others or about God, we care about our self. Our needs. Now it’s not
to say that we never care about anyone, but at the core, we do everything in
life for US. Me, myself and I.
If you are like me, so far, the things Jesus said are not
the typical things you hear about Jesus saying. We hear things like,
"Jesus said don't judge" or "Jesus said we should all love each
other". In the book of Matthew,
Jesus says this, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way
you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be
measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye,
but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your
brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’, and behold, the log is in
your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then
you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Do not give
what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will
trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces". Jesus is
not telling us not to judge, for this would be impossible. Every decision in
life is a judgment. Good, bad, happy, sad, enjoyable, painful, every decision
we make is a judgment. Right now while you read this book you are judging
whether Jesus is telling the truth or not. You are judging whether or not the
author of this book is telling the truth. You are judging. Jesus is here
teaching how to judge people. He teaches that we should check ourselves first.
Are we making a prideful or hateful judgment against someone? Or are we making
a judgment based on God's standards? We should not judge people to make
ourselves look better, but to expose sin, so people will repent and turn to
God. We should make a judgment whether someone needs to hear about the
compassion of Jesus or the judgment of Jesus. When someone needs to hear about
the compassion of Jesus, they usually respond positively. When someone needs to
hear about the judgment of Jesus, they usually respond with pride, anger and
rebellion. Jesus' entire ministry consisted of walking around judging people.
He judged whether their deeds were good or bad. A good deed is a humble
repentant heart and a bad deed is a prideful rebellious heart. All actions come
from the heart. In the gospel letter written by John, Jesus says this, “For God
so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son
into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through
Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been
judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and
men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For
everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear
that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practises the truth comes to the
Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God”.
Jesus explains here about what the judgment is. Jesus explains what would make
a person say, "Don't judge me". Jesus says you are already
judged—condemned—guilty.
So, at this point, Jesus is again condemning those around
him—if they don't believe. Again, who would follow this guy? Where is the
mushy, lovey dovey Jesus we hear about so often? Remember earlier I mentioned
that lots of people claim to speak on behalf of Jesus? But who's right? Well,
Jesus is right. There is a place in the bible where is says, "...let God
be found true, though every man be found a liar". For thousands of years
many people have lied about what Jesus has said. Why? Who knows. I'm sure every
one has their reasons and each surely proclaims their truth to be the only
truth, but if you open the bible you find them to be liars. Problem is, not
many open their bibles. If they have a bible. Many like to talk about the
bible, carry the bible, write about the bible, and even quote the bible, but
they don't know or care what is in the bible. They don't care what Jesus
actually said. They just use the bible for some personal gain in their own
lives. As you can see by some of the things Jesus said, there is not room for
personal gain according to Jesus. Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after
Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever
wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake
will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits
his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man
is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then
repay every man according to his deeds". I don't think that most of the
people speaking on behalf of Jesus are doing this. They are frauds for sure.
Why they do it? Who knows. But this we can be sure of, they are not telling the
things Jesus said.
You might be thinking now that Jesus is a little over the
top. A religious nut. A religious zealot. You'd be correct. Jesus was very much
over the top. He was the zealot of all zealots. Jesus said, "I am the way,
the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me. If you had
known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and
have seen Him”. Did you catch that? Jesus just equated himself with God the
Father. First the son and now equal with God. There are many other places in
the bible where Jesus claims to be God. For instance, here Jesus really lays it
out: "For this reason therefore the
Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking
the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with
God. Therefore Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing
of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the
Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father
loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the
Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. For
just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also
gives life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has
given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they
honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who
sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him
who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed
out of death into life". It doesn't get much stronger than that. There is
no other way to know God, because Jesus is God. This leads us to the strange
teaching of the trinity. In the bible God presents himself as God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, but they are all just God. We call that
the trinity. Three different persons in one God. Not three Gods, but one. Don't
ask how to understand it. It is a God thing. Some things about God are complex.
Most things are simple, but some are complex. For example: Jesus is God and
Jesus is a human. He's not half and half. He is both simultaneously. We learn
these things from Jesus. Some would discount Jesus because of these sayings,
but think about it, if every facet of God was totally and completely simplistic
and understandable, would he be worthy of our worship? He created everything
that ever was and ever will be, therefore, some things about him are beyond us.
Okay, enough on that. What else did Jesus say? Have you ever
heard of those "born again Christians"? Well, actually, any real
Christians are "born again". Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God”. Nicodemus said to
Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into
his mother’s womb and be born, can he”? Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to
you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be
amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’. The wind blows where it
wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and
where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit”. Nicodemus said to
Him, “How can these things be”? Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of
Israel and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak
of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our
testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you
believe if I tell you heavenly things?
No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the
Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that
whoever believes will in Him have eternal life". Wow. That's some deep
stuff right there. You don't hear that from your average Christian. What do you
think it means? Well, in another spot in the bible it says this, " Do you
not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of
God is holy, and that is what you are". Jesus didn't say it, but another
writer of the bible did. Does it answer the question? What does it mean to be
born again? It means the spirit of God literally dwells inside of Christians.
What do you think of that? You are not going to get that from your average
Hollywood Jesus movie. Stuff like that starts to make people pretty
uncomfortable. As it should. Jesus is serious business. Jesus isn't some fad or
some lifestyle option. Jesus is God in the flesh.
Speaking of God in the flesh. Do we have any reason to
believe Jesus was "God in the flesh"? Did Jesus give us any proof to
back up his claims? After all, anybody can come along and make whatever claims
they want. Muhammad made claims. Ghandi made claims. Jim Jones made claims.
There are literally thousands of self-proclaimed gurus around the world. Why
believe Jesus? Jesus' claims are pretty radical. Listen to this, "The Jews
then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these
things”? Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will
raise it up”. The Jews then said, “It
took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three
days”? But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised
from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed
the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken". Do you see? The Jews
felt the same way as we do. Prove it! They said. Just like we say, "prove
it"! Jesus just told the world that everything he says is no different
than any other self-proclaimed guru—if he doesn't rise from the dead. Coming
back from the dead proves everything he said. Did Jesus come back from the
dead? Read this: "So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the
week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the
Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, 'Peace be with
you'. And when He had said this, He
showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they
saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them
again, 'Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you'. And
when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy
Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if
you retain the sins of any, they have been retained'. But Thomas, one of the
twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other
disciples were saying to him, 'We have seen the Lord'! But he said to them,
'Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the
place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe'. After
eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came,
the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, 'Peace be with
you'. Then He said to Thomas, 'Reach here with your finger, and see My hands;
and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving,
but believing'. Thomas answered, 'My
Lord and my God'! Jesus said to him,
'Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see,
and yet believed". Are you a doubting Thomas? You are one of those Jesus
refers to as having not seen. Do you believe? At the end of the gospel letter
written by John it says this: "Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed
in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may
have life in His name". And this: "This is the disciple who is testifying
to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is
true. And there are also many other
things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that
even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written".
Do you believe? You have just read some of what Jesus said, maybe for the first
time in your life. Do you believe it?
At the beginning of this letter I asked the question,
"What did Jesus mean by, 'Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'.
" Do you know the answer now? I hope Jesus made it abundantly clear to
you. If not, you should be able to find the answer in the following books of
the bible.
Following is the Gospel according to John and the letter in
the bible called Romans. These are the best place for an American to start
reading the bible. The letter from John is written so that you will know who
Jesus is and the letter to the Romans is written so that you will know what sin
is and why we need a savior.
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