Jesus, the Savior, those words are a comfort to some and offensive to others. To those who recognize their need for a savior, they are comforting. To those who believe they are good as they are, they are offensive, because the concept of a savior implies they are in need of a savior. While on earth, Jesus was a controversial figure. His followers believed him to be their long awaited Messiah, who would free them from Roman rule. They were right about the Messiah part, but misunderstood the liberation from Roman rule part. Jesus’ detractors took offense at him, because he claimed to do things only God could do. He claimed to forgive sins. To the devout Jews, that was blasphemy, because claiming to have the authority to forgive sins implied that Jesus was the creator God, not merely a god, like the Roman Emperors claimed. Their offense led them to hand Jesus over to the Romans convincing the Roman governor Pilate that Jesus was a threat to Caesar.
The apostle Paul summarized Jesus by stating that to the Greeks and Romans Jesus as Savior was foolishness, because how could a crucified criminal save anyone? He couldn’t save himself. To the Jews, he was a blasphemer, even Paul himself thought so until he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus.
Today there are many opinions about Jesus, but in what sense is he the Savior? Some people look at Jesus and conclude they don’t need a savior, because they are doing just fine. Like the devout Jews of Jesus’ day, they can’t imagine they have need of a savior. The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day, could look at Jesus’ followers and conclude that a bunch of fishermen, a tax collector, a revolutionary certainly would all need a savior, but the devout Jews were morally upright people. They certainly did not need a savior. They followed the law. They helped those in need. Of course they were acceptable to God.
However, Jesus pointed out the problem. To enter the Kingdom of God one’s righteousness needed to surpass that of the Pharisees, the devout Jews. When his disciples heard those words, they were dumbfounded. The Pharisees were the cream of the moral crop in their eyes. If they could not enter the Kingdom of God, then no one could. However, one individual surpassed the morality of the Pharisees, Jesus himself. Many people today, as did the devout Jews of Jesus’ day, as well as even the disciples, assumed that one’s own morality was the standard to enter into God’s Kingdom. Jesus’ message, the Gospel, declares that they are all wrong. This is where Jesus is the Savior. He offers to save mankind from the tyranny of self. Human morality is insufficient to enter into God’s Kingdom, because no matter how good, how generous, how moral a person is, human morality is always tainted by selfishness. That selfishness declares that my morality is good enough.
So what is the solution? We are told to humble ourselves before God, admit our need for Jesus as our Savior and let him change our heart from being focused on ourselves to being transformed in our thoughts and emotions to what God desires for us and others. On a number of occasions, the New Testament speaks of Jesus’ followers as being “in Christ”. This is how the New Testament writers could refer to Jesus’ followers, not as Christians, but as saints, holy ones. Today, the term “saint” refers to a select group of individuals who were extraordinary in their devotion. However, in the New Testament it was used for all followers of Jesus. How could Paul make that reference? He did so, because any follower of Jesus receives as a gift the holiness of Jesus; he or she is “in Christ”. Jesus saves us from ourselves and includes us in his goodness, his morality, hhis holiness, which opens the Kingdom of God to us.
