The Man Nobody Knows

Jesus proposed an historically ambitious program to preach the Gospel around the world. Vast expense and propaganda are needed today to create receptivity for a new idea. However, Jesus had no money and his organization consisted of only a small group of uneducated males, one of whom (Judas) had already deserted. Despite this, Jesus trained his eleven loyal disciples to influence people very effectively.

Humans tend to resist and ridicule new ideas. The inventor of the sewing machine, Elias Howe, lightened women’s labor but could not market his vision. Resistance to the adoption of the Remington typewriter lasted for years. Similarly, nineteen hundred years ago, “there was no demand for a new religion; the world was already oversupplied” (92). Jesus built on the messages of earlier prophets and surpassed them: Moses introduced the revolutionary idea of one omnipotent God; Amos asserted that God is just; and Hosea proclaimed that God is good. Jesus added the most splendid idea—that all humans can claim God as their Father: “It is the basis of all revolt, all democracy” (96). All God’s children are equal in value. The implications of Jesus’ idea threatened dominating human authorities. Therefore, they corrupted his simple message over subsequent generations by inventing complex rules and rituals.