Jesus the living Christ.
From what we have learned in the preceding lesson, it is plain that Jesus, the son of Mary of Nazareth, is in truth the Living Christ. Jesus was from before the beginning of this world, and will continue in power and glory throughout the endless eternities. In the great council in heaven, He volunteered to become the Christ and to save the children of God without force. He fulfilled His noble but agony-filled mission without faltering. He gave up His life with a prayer on His lips for those who brutally persecuted Him and killed Him. He was approved of the Father, and exalted to sit on the right hand of the throne of power. He is worshipped by untold millions, to whom He has brought consolation, hope, and love. And it is not only on the so-called common people of the earth that Jesus has made so wonderful an impression that He is worshipped as the very Son of God, but also over the greatest intellects in the world has He wielded so powerful an influence that they bow in admiring adoration. Poets, artists, philosophers, scientists, and statesmen alike acknowledge Jesus, the Living Christ and Advocate with the Father.
The testimony of Napoleon.
As we learned at the beginning of this book, Napoleon avowed his admiration of Jesus, while living an exile on the island of St. Helena. Napoleon's further testimony is interesting. "Superficial minds see a resemblance," said {312} Napoleon, "between Christ and the founders of empires and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not exist. There is between Christianity and other religions the distance of infinity. Everything in Christ astonishes me. Here I see nothing human. The nearer I approach everything is above me. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and myself founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ alone founded His empire upon love, and at this hour millions of men would die for Him. Christ proved that He was the Son of the Eternal."
The conviction of an English philosopher.
Other great men, too, have been as profoundly impressed by the divinity of Jesus as was Napoleon. The great English philosopher, John Locke, expressed his convictions in these words: "Before our Savior's time, the doctrine of a future state, though it were not wholly hid, yet it was not clearly known in the world? He brought life and immortality to light. And that not only in the clear revelation of it and in instances shown of men raised from the dead; but He has given an unquestionable assurance and pledge of it, in His own resurrection and ascension into heaven. How has this one truth changed the nature of things? The philosophers, indeed show the beauty of nature, but leaving her unendowed, very few are willing to espouse her. It has another relish and efficiency to persuade men that if they live well here, they shall be happy hereafter. Upon this foundation, and upon this only, morality stands firm; and this is the gospel Jesus Christ has delivered to us."
{313} Declarations of Emerson and Webster.
Two notable Americans may be here cited also to show the influence of the work of Jesus upon men of great intellect. Ralph Waldo Emerson, philosopher and poet, wrote, "Jesus is the most perfect of all men that have yet appeared. The unique impressions of Jesus upon mankind are not so much written as ploughed into the history of this world. He saw with open eye the mystery of the soul. Alone in all history, He estimated the greatness of man." And Daniel Webster declared in his argument in the Girard Will Case, "I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. The miracles which He wrought establish in my mind His personal authority and render it proper for me to believe what He asserts."
Additional testimony.
Testimonies of this kind might be added upon without limit. Of course, there may be found also many men who reject the testimony of Jesus. But the interesting fact about the influence of Jesus is that the farther we become removed from the time of His earth-ministry, the more strongly is His influence felt, and the closer does the world really come to Him. In spite of the war that Satan has waged in the world against Him, Jesus is dearer to men today than He has ever been before. Even the great world war now raging is turning the hearts of men to Jesus; and many more men of learning and leadership are expressing their faith in the teachings of Jesus the Christ. It is to be hoped that all men will soon come to the conviction of the great German philosopher, Kant: "In the life and the divine doctrine of Christ, example and precept conspire to call men to the regular discharge of every moral duty for its own {314} sake. Christ is the founder of the first true Church; that is, that Church which exhibits the moral kingdom of God upon earth."
Reasons for strong testimonies in the Church.
Now, if the men of the world can get such testimonies and can feel so strongly that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, surely the children of the Latter-day Saints ought easily to learn to know this sublime truth. Jesus came to earth, as He Himself declared, when He was twelve years old, to attend to His Father's business. That business, we learned, is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. And we have learned also that it is life eternal to know God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. Jesus devoted His life to expounding the principles of eternal life. He showed in His own person what kind of being God is. He explained His own relationship to God the Father. He revealed the nature and the office of the Holy Ghost. He taught the essential principles of the Gospel, which Paul called the power of God unto salvation. He emphasized............