The Words

But why do we believe? Why do I believe? I thought about that long and hard. It took me a long time to figure it out. Faith is very unscientific—what we believe in cannot be proved in court, nor shown on a video; there are no pictures of Jesus. We have only The Words. In this skeptical, CSI world where we require proof beyond any doubt of most things, it is a wonder anyone believes in anything at all. We do not even know what He looks like. No living person on this earth has ever seen Him. In fact, no person has laid eyes on Him for two millennia. We believe what we cannot see; we believe what cannot be proved. In fact, believing without seeing--without proof--is the essence of faith.

What is it then that makes us believe? Is it that our parents taught us to believe? Perhaps that is true in part; however, if we believe something just because we were taught to—it seems shallow. Is it that we see statues and pictures of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and the disciples in our churches each Sunday? Perhaps it is that too; however, if we believe in some artist’s rendition of what someone might have looked like, then such faith is akin to idol worship—for those are simply images and things--nothing more. 

Do we believe because we are inspired by the speeches of priests or ministers? Perhaps that is a reason as well. Do we believe because the idea of a world without God and Jesus is unthinkable? Do we have faith by default because having no faith and no Deity to believe in leaves too much unexplained? If so, then what sort of faith is that? Perhaps our faith is all of these things to some degree. Or is it simply The Words? To me it is The Words—nothing more and nothing less.

Ultimately, I believe because of The Words. I need nothing more than The Words. It does not matter whether they are packaged up within a gold-leaf covered, fancy Bible, or the mass produced version found in my motel room placed by the Gideons, or printed on the back of a cereal box; The Words alone are proof of the divinity of Jesus. Simply The Words—nothing more. The words of man, as Humpty Dumpty said, “mean what we intend them to mean, nothing more or less.” They are words that may be twisted, nuanced, used to lie, distort, or conceal. But, The Words of Jesus are unlike the words of men. The Words of Jesus are inherently powerful, compelling, convincing, and divine. No one spoke like Jesus spoke. His were not the words of a mortal. That they were divine; that they came from somewhere else--not from the lips of mere mortals--cannot be doubted. To read them with an open heart, is to be convinced. 

They are words of wisdom, power, grace, hope. They inspire, lift us up, convince us to do better. They exhort us to set our sights on a higher place—to be unhuman—to be more like angels, to do the unthinkable such as loving those who revile us; loving those who hurt, insult and shame us. They tell us to turn the other cheek when we are struck; to forgive those who sin against us; to forgive things unforgivable.

The Words teach us that whenever we are tired and cannot take one more step, He promised rest to those who are weary and overburdened. He offers to take up the yoke for us. He teaches us that those who seek to be first on earth will be last. He teaches us not to rebel against authority but render unto the secular that which belongs to the secular, keeping in mind that His Kingdom is not of this world. He teaches that the world, and time, and governments, and things of man, are fleeting and unimportant--that we need only to seek first the kingdom of God and everything we need will be provided. These are words of comfort, power, and hope. They are the words of a quiet revolutionary who could have summoned a million angels to save Him from weak men and a corrupt government, but chose instead to be humiliated, tortured and killed, only to rise again so that the world would believe and the believers would be saved.

The words of the Sermon on the Mount are not the words of a mere man—no one can read them and deny that they were divine. They are so unhuman as to prove their very divinity. The meek, the poor, and the downtrodden are ignored on earth; people walk by them on the street. They inhabit every city in the world. Yet, to Jesus they are the people who will inherit the earth and are most favored in the eyes of God. The mighty rulers of the world may govern by force and intimidation. 

During their time on earth, they are strong and powerful; but the glory of the Pharaohs, Caesars, Kings, Presidents and Dictators is fleeting. They are gone in a moment. It is the weak whom Jesus blesses. What mere mortal speaks like this? What man ever preached such a creed as this—so contradictory, so revolutionary, and so out of step with the beliefs of man? What man, as he hangs nailed on a tree suffocating asks that his murderers be forgiven?

What mere man says that we if we ask, we will receive; if we seek we will find; and if we knock the door will be open to us? What man claims that all we need will be given unto us if we seek first the Kingdom of God?

What man says that we can do all things if we believe in Him? Who promises to give this kind of assurance? What man says that He will be with us even until the end of the earth?

How many people, having accepted these words, felt the spark of the Holy Spirit in their souls and were transformed like Scrooge on Christmas morning? How many persons took The Words to heart, went out into the world, did good, succeeded, and blossomed? Just believing these Words—without more—can work a mighty change in anyone’s life and did in mine. Just The Words alone. Believing in them leads to wonderful things. They have intrinsic, undeniable power.

I do not need the pictures, or the songs, or the compilation in a book printed by man. I do not need someone to tell me that Jesus was who He said He was. I need only The Words—that is all. I believe them because I have read them and taken them to heart. I believe because of The Words and I need nothing else. They are words of power and inspiration and grace. Because of The Words alone, I believe.