Pastor John Ortberg wrote on the numerous areas of impact Jesus had on human history, human condition and human relationships. What if Jesus didn’t leave his carpentry job and begin to teach? What if we take Jesus off our calendars, how will we account for our days and years? What if Jesus didn’t speak to the woman at the well, what would have become of the people of Samaria? What if there were no Jesus, how will our world be like? Hmm.
“Jesus inspired,” Ortberg wrote. “Jesus inspired a wealthy cheat named Zacchaeus to give away most of his fortune. He inspired a Samaritan woman to become an evangelist, and she inspired so many townspeople that they had Jesus – a Jewish rabbi – stay in their Samaritan town and teach them for two solid days. He inspired Peter to get out of his boat. … He inspired four friends of a paralytic to punch a hole through a roof to get their friend to Him. He inspired a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years to fight through a crowd just to touch the hem of his robe.” (pg 152)
Ortberg concluded one of the chapters on Jesus’ impact on the entire history of art – “Jesus had no place to lay his head yet became the primary shaper of architecture. We don’t know what Jesus looked like, yet he became the most recognizable figure in the world. He had “no form nor comeliness… no beauty that we should desire him,” yet he became the subject of more paintings and sculptures than anyone else. He never wrote a book, but he became the most written-about person ever and the greatest inspiration for global linguistic development. He is associated with only one unknown song but is the subject of more songs and music than any other human being. He died alone. Yet people die for him still.” (pg 163)
Ortberg ends the book with an invitation. Try Jesus. Come and see.
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