Eberhard Arnold

Jesus as a Man Among Men

[Arnold, Eberhard and Emmy papers – A.D.]

[Draft Translation by Bruderhof Historical Archive]

EA 12/16

Jesus as a Man Among Men

Neumarkt-Sch. February 2, 1912

A. We have recognized in Jesus the personality who has brought the living God to us. We see Him as more human than all human beings, yet above them all--the Superman. We have learned to know Him as the only complete man, who calls for a complete decision from each one in complete honesty. In Him there was no giving in and no compromise. He was fearlessly ready for every struggle, so that He quite consciously provoked the sentence of death.

Jesus brought the living God, who wants to give the Earth the healthy conditions essential to life and purity and freedom to the body. In the working of Jesus' whole personality we recognize the mighty, overflowing life of perfect love. In Jesus we see both the unbroken harmony of a life without contradictions and the exuberant might of the all-embracing love of the Father! For us He is the practical proof of God's life, and at the same time, through this, He is the powerful proof of God's love.

"The life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life" (1 John 1:2). Jesus gave proof of His life among human beings and in human beings. They saw and touched the perfect life that was manifest in Jesus

(1 John 4:9). "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him."

Life and Love

To whom alone could this love be manifest? To us, men! Jesus, as a human being among human beings, shows us what life is and what love is.

We cannot get to know Jesus better than as a man among men.

Here we see His whole greatness and power, His tenderness and love: Here we recognize the double, yet actually single, goal of his activity:

1.) Win at all costs the prize for your own life, life from God!!

2.) True life overflows in love, in practical proof of inner-strength.

And in all this we see again and again from a new side how Jesus lays hold of the heart, the seat of the will, how He strikes the conscience and makes each one see his own picture. That is why He fights against all lying and hypocrisy. For an honest, undivided will is essential to personality. So He has to lay the greatest stress on the decision between good and evil, for it is only through turning away from evil and choosing all that is good, that the new man arises, the whole personality of life from God.

B. I. Perhaps the most interesting example is the encounter of Jesus with the rich young man, who was too wealthy to be able to decide for God.

When Jesus, accompanied by His friends, but not by a crowd, was on His way to the next town, He suddenly saw this young man before him--a distinguished young man of rank, in the full strength of youth, elegantly dressed and with fresh, ruddy cheeks. For he had come quickly to meet Jesus. His question

1.) was just as quick as his step, "How can I get life? How can I gain life?" (Mark 10:17).

Clearly he had touched the crucial point. Jesus had emphasized with all his might, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly!" (John 10:10).

The young man had had a good upbringing and a fine education. He was at home in high society, and what was still more, he had lived a good moral life. Yet he had recognized, "You have not life! You have everything except life! Your whole good existence is lifeless! Your life is dead!"

2.) Jesus saw to the depth of all this. He wanted to answer the crucial question. But He did it in His own way. He sought to get him to be still and face himself, to get him to consider the state of his deepest being. The young man had addressed Jesus as "Good Master." That was how he introduced his question about life. Jesus answered, "No one is good, except One, God!" (Mark 10:18). No one is good? Then am I, too, not good? I have always behaved well. No one is good! Then no one has life except God. For the Good is life. Life is the Good. Then I must have God, if I want to have life.

"Why do you call me good? No one is good but God! Did you want to testify by this that I, the Son of God, am one with God? Did you want to say that only He who is able to give you the living God can give you life? Did you want to say that the Master is good because he lives in God?"

Oh no! This young man did not see as clearly as that. He had still his own righteousness. He still felt he himself was good. He had not yet recognized that he needed God in order to be good.

3.) So Jesus went a step further. Because One only is good (God), He is the source of life! Or do you consider yourself good in the depth of your heart? What do you think about your own life? What is your decision about your own goodness or badness?

You know the commandments!

Have you killed anyone? Have you harmed anyone? Have you committed adultery? Have you anything impure on your conscience? A relationship? A habit? Have you stolen? Have you taken for yourself what belonged to others?

Have you borne false witness? Have you lied? Have you withheld possessions? Have you benefited at the expense of others?

Have you honored your father and mother? Have you given them proof of your love, obedience and gratitude?

These are all vital questions. If they cannot be given a good answer, a worm is consuming your life: degeneracy, disease, death are present.

With these questions Jesus shines into the inmost texture of decision. He touches the young man's conscience. He wants to convince him that he needs the living God! He enters his heart and conscience.

Jesus is standing, face to face, before each of us, "Do you know the commandments?"

Do you feel in your conscience that you need God?

Are you aware that you need forgiveness right into the depth of your being?

Do you want to confess your sin, your guilt, and to come near to God? No one is good, but One, God! It is to Him that our confession of guilt, and request for forgiveness are due!!

The young man did not understand this. He answered with conviction and warmth, "I have kept them all." He had not murdered, nor led a loose life, nor stolen, nor lied, nor sinned against his parents. He had always cared much about a decent life. He did not see clearly the depth of the question. He stood as innocent as a child with regard to the commandments. He did not perceive his guilt. He thought he was good and that all was in order with him.

And Jesus? Did He try to frighten him by thundering at him? Did He tear his naiveté to pieces by showing him the subtlety of sin? Did He despair of his pride? Did He turn away from this self-righteousness? What do we read? "Jesus looking upon him loved him!" (Mark 10:21) He had touched his heart, his conscience, and He saw that here the will to evil had not been born. He saw the unblemished character of a well-guarded bud.

4.) But Jesus remains true to Himself. His love does not stop at (a feeling of) pleasure. It is not enough for him that this man had not decided for Evil. He wanted to win him for Good, for God. He wanted to inscribe the name of the living God on this blank page. "What use is it to a man, however moral he may be, to win the whole world at the expense of his soul, his real personality?" He has no clear will. He is not taking a firm stand on One side. He has not found God. He is not free from his own morality, not free from his property, not free from his fine social relationships. "One thing is lacking"--the winning of the free, independent personality, exactly what the young man had recognized himself, life, life from God!

Just because Jesus loved him He touched his sore spot. He disclosed to him his disquiet and lack of freedom. The young man could not gain life if he did not become free from the fetters of his position.

Sell all you have!

Not enmity to property.

Not poverty as an ideal.

But the clear decision to sacrifice everything when the point at issue was the life of the real personality.

The test of character comes to each one of us.

"Do you take offence . . . . ?"

It is exactly the same as in the instances shortly referred to in Luke, Chapter 9:

As they were going along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." But he said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:57-62 RSV)

5.) Finally Jesus says the most important thing:

Follow me! Come to me! Find yourself in me. That is what is decisive--the relationship to Jesus.

6.) He went sadly away.

II. The counterpart. The sinner. (Luke 7.)

"One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she heard that he was sitting at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, `If this man were a prophet, he would have known what sort of a woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.' And Jesus, answering, said to him, `Simon, I have something to say to you.' And he answered, `What is it, Teacher?' `A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?' Simon answered, `The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more.' And he said to him, `You have judged rightly.' Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, `Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.' And he said to her, `Your sins are forgiven.' Then those at table with him began to say among themselves, `Who is this, who even forgives sins?' And he said to the woman, `Your faith has saved you; go in peace.' (Luke 7:36-50)

Who loves will be forgiven much. Who is without sin ....

III What is the greatest commandment?

Love!

"And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, `Which commandment is the first of all?'

Jesus answered, `The first is, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." The second is this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." There is no other commandment greater than these.'

And the scribe said to him, `You are right, Teacher, you have truly said that he is one, and there is no other but he; and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.' And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, `You are not far from the kingdom of God.' And after that no one dared to ask him any question." (Mark 12:28-34)

IV.. Overcome false love!

First win your own life. Real life.

Now great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them, "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, `This man began to build, and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace. So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

"Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is neither for the land nor for the dunghill; men throw it away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Luke 14:25-35 RSV)

He also told them a parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but every one when he is fully taught will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, `Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

"For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:39-45 RSV)

One of the multitude said to him, "Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?" And he said to him, "Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, `What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, `Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry!' But God said to him, `Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is he who lays up treasures for himself, and is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:13-21)

Jesus as a Man among Men.

A He concerns himself with the most immoral people and eats with them.

B I. Luke 7:36-50. The sinner with the precious ointment.

He who is forgiven much loves much.

Your sins are forgiven! Your faith saved you: go in peace!

II. John 8:3-11 The adulteress. "Let him who is without sin among you - - -"

Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.

III.Matt.9:2-7. The paralytic

Your sins are forgiven.

The Son of man has authority to forgive sins.

IV. Luke 19:1-10. Zacchaeus.

He entered Jericho and was passing through.

And there was a man named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but he could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and save the lost."

For Christ is the end of the law, that everyone who has faith may be justified.

Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by it. But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?" (That is, to bring Christ down) or "Who will descend into the abyss?" (that is to bring Christ up from the dead.) But what does it say? The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach); because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. (Rom. 10:4-10)

For elucidation.

For Christ is the end of the Law, that everyone who has faith may be justified. . . .

The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him. For, "everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved." (Rom. 10:4-13.)

C. Conclusion.

Luke 5:27-32

The call of Levi, Matthew.

I have come to call sinners.

I desire mercy.