Changed

“Jesus changed how the world thinks about science, medicine, human rights, education [and] more.” (John Ortberg)

Over the years, the name of Jesus Christ has conjured up more emotion in people than any other name. Some people use His name as a curse word, others as a term of loving endearment, and others as a desperate lifeline. People have either hated Him or loved Him.

Many have given their very lives for Him. Wars have been fought over Him. Some people try to deny that He ever existed. Others say He was just a good teacher or a prophet. Others call Him their Creator and Savior. Jesus is everything to them.

Yale historian Jeroslav Pelikan wrote, “Regardless of what anyone may personally think or believe about him, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in the history of Western Culture for almost 20 centuries. If it were possible, with some sort of super magnet, to pull up out of history every scrap of metal bearing at least a trace of His name, how much would be left?” Jesus’ life has greatly impacted our world today. Do you know all the ways?

1.   Children: In the ancient world children were routinely left to die of exposure from the elements if they were not a male. Children were often sold into slavery. Jesus’ treatment of and teachings about children led to the forbidding of such practices.

 

2.   Compassion: Jesus had a universal concern for those who suffered that transcended the rules of the ancient world. His compassion for the poor and the sick led to institutions for lepers, the beginning of modern-day hospitals. The Council of Nyssa decreed that wherever a cathedral existed, there must be a hospice, a place of caring for the sick and poor. That’s why even today, hospitals have names like “Good Samaritan,” “Good Shepherd,” or “Saint Anthony.” They were the world’s first voluntary, charitable institutions.

  

3.   Education: Love of learning led to monasteries, which became the cradle of academic guilds. Universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, and Harvard all began as Jesus-inspired efforts to love God with all ones’ mind. The first legislation to publicly fund education in the colonies was called The Old Deluder Satan Act, under the notion that God does not want any child ignorant. The ancient world loved education but tended to reserve it for the elite; the notion that every child bore God’s image helped fuel the move for universal literacy.

 

4.   Forgiveness: In the ancient world, virtue meant rewarding your friends and punishing your enemies. An alternative idea came from Galilee: what is best in life is to love your enemies, and see them reconciled to you. Hannah Arendt, the first woman appointed to a full professorship at Princeton, claimed, “The discoverer of the role of forgiveness in the realm of human affairs was Jesus of Nazareth.” This may be debatable, but he certainly gave the idea unique publicity.

  

5.   Humanitarian reform: Jesus had a way of championing the excluded that was often downright irritating to those in power. His inclusion of women led to a community to which women flocked in disproportionate numbers. Slaves (up to a third of ancient populations) might wander into a church fellowship and have a slave-owner wash their feet rather than beat them.

 

 One ancient text instructed bishops to not interrupt worship to greet a wealthy attender, but to sit on the floor to welcome the poor. Perhaps as remarkable as anything else is Jesus’ ability to withstand the failings of his followers, who from the beginning probably got in his way at least as much as they helped. The unpredictable influence of an unelected carpenter continues to endure and spread across the world.

 

6.     Humility: The ancient world honored many virtues like courage and wisdom, but not humility. People were generally divided into first class and coach. Jesus’ life as a foot-washing servant would eventually lead to the adoption of humility as a widely admired virtue. Historian John Dickson writes, “it is unlikely that any of us would aspire to this virtue were it not for the historical impact of his crucifixion...Our culture remains cruciform long after it stopped being Christian.”

 “Two thousand years ago in the Middle East, an event occurred that permanently changed the world. Because of that event, history was split. Every time you write a date, you’re using the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the focal point.” (Rick Warren) [i]

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[i] Sources used:

·        “History of Jesus Christ” by All About.

·        “Six Surprising Ways Jesus Changed The World” by John Ortberg