If Jesus wrote a self-help book, what would it be like?
Darlene Bocek· Author, The Last Noel
23 Jan 2021
Let’s look at his parables and find what conclusion can be found.
- He uses nature as a major element, meaning that the rules that are part of the natural world are, when analyzed correctly, symbolic of spiritual truths. Day or night. Living or dead. Fruitful or not.
- He uses human relationships (bosses, employees, neighbors, enemies) to show that human interactions are binary: good or bad. These can also be instructive as to we are good or not, right or wrong, kind or mean, selfish or self-sacrificing, God-loving, or self-seeking.
- He gives ultimatums. All or nothing. Either this or that. Either you love or you don’t. Either you’re on a rock or sand. Either you sell it all and buy or you can’t purchase. either you are salty or flavorless. All light or all darkness.
- He is also very clear about his own unique position: I am the shepherd…I am the light of the world…I am the way, the truth, the life… I am the door…before Abraham was, I am.
In consideration of these four details, his self help book would have this thesis:
Whenever you realize you are stuck and cannot go any further, whenever you realize you cannot be the good man or woman you know you should be, fall onto your knees, look up at the Cross, and from that angle you will see the door to escape your trap. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (source)