Posted on 07/28/2007 6:17:10 AM PDT by xzins
When you think of Jesus of Nazareth what descriptions come to mind? Do you imagine a holy man who, while off pondering deep thoughts, is not particularly brilliant? Christians might wear the fashionable bracelets with the initials WWJD, “What would Jesus do?” which demonstrate that they at least think him to be an ethical role model. However, do his followers also think of him as the smartest man in the world? I believe the way in which we think of Jesus’ intelligence directly impacts how we submit to him as Lord and King.
In chapter three of Dallas Willard’s book, The Divine Conspiracy, he writes, “And can we seriously imagine that Jesus could be Lord if he were not smart? If he were divine, would he be dumb? Or uninformed? Once you stop to think about it, how could he be what we take him to be in all other respects and not be the best-informed and most intelligent person of all, the smartest person who ever lived?” Jesus’ closest followers—those he traveled, ate, and lived with—were convinced that he was The Intelligence behind all the universe (John 1:1-5; Col 1:17; 2:3). And they saw his triumph over this world’s greatest weapon—death—to bolster their recognition of him as the rightful king over all minds and bodies in the universe (Rev 1:5, 18).
Consider how Willard explains Jesus’ mental greatness:
Master of Molecules “At the literally mundane level, Jesus knew how to transform the molecular structure of water to make it wine. That knowledge also allowed him to take a few pieces of bread and some little fish and feed thousands of people. He could create matter from the energy he knew how to access from ‘the heavens,’ right where he was.
It cannot be surprising that the feeding of the thousands led the crowds to try to force him to be their king. Surely one who could play on the energy/matter equation like that could do anything. Turn gravel into gold and pay off the national debt! Do you think he could get elected president or prime minister today?
He knew how to transform the tissues of the human body from sickness to health and from death to life. He knew now to suspend gravity, interrupt weather patterns, and eliminate unfruitful trees without saw or ax. He only needed a word. Surely he must be amused at what Nobel prizes are awarded for today.
In the ethical domain he brought an understanding of life that has influenced world thought more than any other. . . .And one of the greatest testimonies to his intelligence is surely that he knew how to enter physical death, actually to die, and than live on beyond death. He seized death by the throat and defeated it. Forget cryonics!
Death was not something others imposed on him. He explained to his followers in the moment of crisis that he could at any time call for 72,000 angels to do whatever he wanted. A mid-sized angel or two would surely have been enough to take care of those who thought they were capturing and killing him. He plainly said, ‘Nobody takes my life! I give it up by choice. I am in position to lay it down, and I am in position to resume it. My father and I have worked all this out” (John 10:18).
All these things show Jesus’ cognitive and practical mastery of every phase of reality: physical, moral, and spiritual. He is Master only because he is Maestro. ‘Jesus is Lord’ can mean little in practice for anyone who has to hesitate before saying, ‘Jesus is smart.’
He is not just nice, he is brilliant. He is the smartest man who ever lived. He is now supervising the entire course of world history (Rev 1:5) while simultaneously preparing the rest of the universe for our future role in it (John 14:2). He always has the best information on everything and certainly also on the things that matter most in human life.”
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: 1. Why is it that we don’t tend to think of Jesus as a master intelligence? 2. How does thinking about Jesus’ supreme intellect inform and impact your understanding of him as your life’s master?
SUGGESTED RESOURCE: For a great short book on Jesus as a philosopher, who valued reasoning and who held a well-developed worldview, see Doug Groothuis’ On Jesus, in the “Wadsworth Philosophers Series” (Wadsworth, 2003
Thanks for the ping!
See #60
I think of Jesus as my savior, and the savior of the human race. He transcends human genius.
BTW, TC. Write it on a calendar.
TC & Xzins & B-D have agreed on something.
It might well be a first.
(Could it portend the end of the universe as we know it? :>)
I agree.
I think that nails it. His knowledge & wisdom were perfect for the work He came to do.
There is another way to look at Jesus. It may seem foreign at first, but food for thought. There is an alien intelligence “PETA” group billions of years old. Using the same technology that others use to impregnate human females then harvest the fetuses before birth, they did an in vitro impregnation of Mary the host mother wth the fertilized egg that was to become Jesus, Gabriel telling her what he would be : the savior of his people, the messiah.
Thus he came as a missionary to these human Animals, to show them the way to the Quantum Mechanical world that is to come(complete mastery of nature). He was introduced to it after the 40 day fast and rejection of satan, the spiritual criminal. The phrase : “and the angels(read intelligent aliens)ministered unto him” has a much richer meaning than it may first appear. He was shown ALL their QM technology and how they used it.
Arthur Clarke’s third law : a sufficiently advanced technology will seem like MAGIC to a less advanced technology. Thus, production and control of matter waves enables the walking on water and floating up into the clouds(anti-gravity). The feeding of the 5000 with bread and fish = an advanced xerox machine and FedEx/UPS fast delivery. Right now a guy at Cornell Univ is working on a “3D fabber”.
Appearing/disappearing before the disciples = supermomentum state(W=P)wherein all the fermion particles/matter waves of the body are slam-frozen to 0 deg K and thus virtual invisibilty. The medical miracles : ultra-fast transport of the body to an operating table/surgery and ultra-fast return, almost in the blink of an eye(there is no such thing as “time” in and of itself). The slam-freezing of his corpse and returning it to the cat-scan record taken in the transfiguration on the mount(the shroud of turin is a clear photo).
Quantum Mechanics/nanotechnology may be a foreign language/mindset to you but 2+2=4. It all adds up. We’re on the cusp of entering that higher state of existence, that QM world to come. Jesus left as our ambassador to those trillions of higher civilizations out there in the universe(in my father’s house are many mansions)and soon the cosmic battle line will sweep past the earth, destroying it but leaving in its wake a higher existence that HE described so well. Are YOU ready for it?
Yes, intelligence and schooling have taken the place of wisdom, obedience, and experience.
Formation of the intellect, in Christian tradition, has the purpose of enabling us to accurately identify God's will for us, so that we can direct our wills to accomplishing His will. "To know the God so we can pursue the Good," as it were.
I’m always prepared to agree with people who are saying intelligent things :-).
you have a vivid imagination.
I’m still left wondering where the aliens came from, and how did the universe come about?
I don’t disagree with anything you stated.
But you’re missing my point. During His time here on Earth, He operated, acted, did what He did, as a man anointed with the Spirit, not as God— even though He is indeed both.
This is an important distinction, and a powerful fact to recognize. We can do the same works He did, and even greater. Not because we are God, but because we are also men anointed with the Spirit.
It was The Spirit which that performed these deeds according to the will and faith of the son
John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing . . .
Joh 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
John 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.
Those are excellent verses, Freedom.
Thanks.
The first John passage addresses the emptying of Php 2.
“John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing . . . “
Crazy article ping.
‘I’m always prepared to agree with people who are saying intelligent things :-).”
This just in from a recent archeological find in an old wine bottle discovered in the ruins of ancient tavern called “Finklebein’s Oasis” outside Jerusalem. It was a torn off paragraph from an ancient letter.
It reads:
“p.s. Yo Paul,
“I know that you believe that you understood what you think I wrote, but I am not sure you realize that what you read is not what I meant.”
luv,
Pete”
There, I think that should clear it up.
that explains it all for me.
“that explains it all for me.”
Glad to help. Get another bowl of ice cream and a couple of Vienna Creme Fingers and put the finishing touches on the sermon and hit the hay.
I think that covers the subject quite nicely.
If only the Aposles had been aware of the elegant wines produced in South Africa (and pretzels!) they could have settled in for a good natter and avoided all this misunderstanding.
Seriously, the medium of letters transmitted who-knows-how (worse than the USPS, if that can be) means that we have to assume that writers were at cross-purposes, without the opportunity to sit down with a lovely Sebeka Pinotage and sort out the details.
The Holy Spirit guarantees that the Gospel is conveyed according to the Will of God. It’s only our confusion that confuses things.
I hope this doen’t offend but this reminds me of the story about the old Priest who was found sobbing down in the out-of-the-way archives in the basement of the Vatican while pouring over an ancient manuscript. Another Priest happening by and hearing the sobs rushed to find out what the problem was. The sobbing Priest could barely speak but finally got out, “celebration, it’s celebration; the stupid scribe left out the ‘r’!”
I’m sorry, but under the influence of a little Sebeka, I don’t get it. “Cerebration”? “Celebreraration?” Whatsit?
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