There once lived an exceptional man. He was compassionate to everyone he met. He always spoke words of encouragement. And from the time he was just a child he helped people, even adults, find their talents. Not just his parents, but all who knew him spoke of him as extraordinary.
As time passed, he grew in stature and in strength. His mind was sharp, he could comprehend everything. And he was a teacher. He would take the things he knew and then instruct people, though often his teachings were cryptic. Nevertheless, his followers were sure he was teaching deep truths drawn from wells of wisdom. Not just his teaching skills attracted his followers, he also was a deeply devout man. People from his hometown were rather indignant towards him because of his fame. After all, they’d known him since he was a baby. Still, his notoriety spread throughout the land.
As he matured, he developed a small, tight nit group of friends. They spent most of their time together, and he taught them even more than he taught others. But as so often happens, his popularity created envy in some people. The more his popularity grew, the more his detractors hardened their determination to bring him down. They wanted to see him squirm.
Now the compassionate man lived during a time when people could be executed just for what they believed and spoke. So, this man’s enemies became determined to not just make him squirm, they wanted him dead. So, they hatched a plan and got the wheels in motion to kill the compassionate man. And they did.
The compassionate man was brought before the public, and the crowd was merciless; we know how vicious anonymous people can be. The cruelty of the crowd knew no limits, and his enemies reveled in the compassionate man’s pain. They hoped for a protracted death, suffering moment by lengthy moment, but they were disappointed. The compassionate man died a rather speedy death, as public executions went in those days, so long ago.
After his death, the compassionate man was taken away and buried, and that’s the end of the story. Now you may have thought I was writing an allegory about Jesus, but I wasn’t. What I hope I communicated is that no one could ever redeem us, regenerate us, and reconcile us to God except Jesus. Even the compassionate man couldn’t do that – “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23)
Photo by Dave Lowe on Unsplash
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