Here is a Man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a
peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village. He worked in a
carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an
itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home.
He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his
foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the
place where He was born. He never did one of the things that
contemporary society would consider a sign of greatness. He had
no credentials but Himself. He had nothing of this world, only the
power of His divine manhood.
While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against
Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him, another
betrayed Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the
mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.
While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of
property He had on Earth—His coat. When He was dead He was taken
down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today He is the centerpiece
of the human race, the greatest source of guidance and divine
inspiration.
I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever
marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the
parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put
together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as
powerfully as that one solitary life!—Jesus!
The author is Dr. James Allan Francis. It can be found in his book
called "The Real Jesus and Other Sermons", published by "The Judson
Press" (Phil.) in 1926. It is in the last chapter titled "Arise, Sir
Knight!" on page 123.