Phil Moore - Jesus, Right Where You Want Him: Your Biggest Questions. His Honest Answers

JESUS, RIGHT WHERE YOU WANT HIM

JESUS, RIGHT WHERE YOU WANT HIM

YOUR BIGGEST QUESTIONS. HIS HONEST ANSWERS.

Phil Moore

Oxford, UK & Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Text copyright 2015 Phil Moore

This edition copyright 2015 Lion Hudson

The right of Phil Moore to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by Monarch Books

an imprint of

Lion Hudson plc

Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road,

Oxford OX2 8DR, England

Email: monarch@lionhudson.com

www.lionhudson.com/monarch

ISBN 978 0 85721 677 9

e-ISBN 978 0 85721 678 6

First edition 2015

Acknowledgments

Every effort has been made to trace the original copyright holders where required. In some cases this has proved impossible. We shall be happy to correct any such omissions in future editions.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised. Copyright 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. NIV is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

pp. 5758: Extract from Billions and Billions of Demons by Richard Lewontin in The New York Review of Books copyright 1997, Richard Lewontin. Reprinted by permission of The New York Review of Books and Richard Lewontin. pp. 107108: Extract from Resurrection by Gza Vermes copyright 2008, Gza Vermes. Reprinted by permission of Penguin Books.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Cover image: Gerry Yardy/Alamy

INTRODUCTION:

When Jeremy Paxman managed to corner the former British Home Secretary live on television, he famously refused to take no for an answer. In a brutal Newsnight interview that quickly went viral, the BBC presenter repeated the same question to a beleaguered Michael Howard a dozen times.

Did you threaten to overrule him?

I was not entitled to instruct Derek Lewis and I did not instruct him.

Did you threaten to overrule him?

The truth of the matter is that Mr Marriot was not suspended.

Did you threaten to overrule him?

I did not overrule Derek Lewis.

Did you threaten to overrule him?

I took advice on what I could or could not do.

Did you threaten to overrule him, Mr Howard?

I did not overrule Derek Lewis.

But did you threaten to overrule him?

Mr Marriot was not suspended

I note you are not answering the question whether you threatened to overrule him.

The important aspect of this, which its very clear to bear in mind

Im sorry, Im going to be frightfully rude. Its a straight yes or no answer. Did you threaten to overrule him?

I gave him the benefit of my opinion in strong language.

With respect, that is not answering the question of whether you threatened to overrule him.

A lot of people imagine that Jesus of Nazareth was a bit like that a slippery talker who mastered all of the right moves to sidestep peoples toughest questions. A lot of people assume that Jesus got as tongue-tied as Michael Howard: in a corner, on the ropes and looking for an exit. But the real Jesus wasnt anything like that at all.

When we read the most reliable accounts of the life of Jesus, we discover that he was a teacher who thrived on giving answers to peoples toughest questions. Matthew and John were two of his twelve disciples, and two of the most common phrases in their eyewitness accounts of his teaching are Jesus answered and Jesus replied. They use those two phrases eighty-six times in total, because answering tough questions was one of the things that Jesus really enjoyed doing. Mark and Luke wrote two more contemporary accounts of Jesus life and teaching, based on extensive interviews with eyewitnesses, and they also use those same two phrases sixty-nine times. All of these first-century writers tell us that Jesus constantly placed himself right where people wanted him. He gladly gave them honest answers to their toughest questions, and when they ran out of questions, he was willing to offend them in order to provoke them to ask some more. If we take the time to read the eyewitness accounts of what Jesus of Nazareth was really like, it is very surprising. He was nothing at all like Michael Howard at the hands of Jeremy Paxman.

Thats why I think that you will find this short book so refreshing. I have spent my life studying the words of Jesus as recorded by his contemporaries and, in particular, I have been fascinated by his responses to our biggest questions. I have written this short book in order to give you a window into the answers given by the greatest teacher in human history to your toughest questions about life: Doesnt religion poison everything? Hasnt science freed us from the need to believe in God? How can we really trust what the Bible says? Why hasnt God put an end to all the suffering and violence and racism in our messed-up world? Why do so many Christians seem so arrogant and intolerant and homophobic? What about those passages in the Old Testament that made Richard Dawkins spit and shout so much in his book The God Delusion? This short book will give you Jesus answers to all of those questions and to many more.

Jesus has put himself right where you want him. He has done so gladly. He isnt looking for the door, because he wants to meet you where your questions have placed you. Jesus is ready to give his honest answers to your biggest questions. So take a seat and ask away. As you read this book, you have Jesus right where you want him.

CHAPTER 1

It happens every single day. You see it almost every time you turn on the TV news. Somebody somewhere always seems to be doing something evil in the name of religion. Muslim terrorists are kidnapping Christian girls in northern Nigeria. Jewish soldiers are shelling Muslim Palestinians in Gaza. Islamic fighters are butchering the Christian minority in Iraq. It is therefore little wonder that one of the first questions that most people want to ask Jesus is Hasnt religion been the cause of appalling violence?

Most people expect Jesus to be put out by such a question. Thats because they know so little about him. They have forgotten that he lived in an era of intense religious violence. He was its most vocal opponent and its most high-profile victim. The first time he preached at the Jewish synagogue in Nazareth, the congregation tried to kill him. When he preached at another synagogue in Galilee, the rabbis plotted how to persuade the Roman governor to crucify him. When they succeeded in their plan, the pagan soldiers who hammered nails through his hands and feet made a mockery of his claim to be the fulfilment of ancient Judaism. The crown of thorns they rammed down on his head was their response to his claim to be a greater king than Jupiter or Caesar. It therefore shouldnt surprise us when Jesus answers our first question very simply. His disarming response is Yes, obviously.