The Voice of Jesus
The God who made this world and everything in it became a man about two thousand years ago. A virgin in the land of Israel miraculously gave birth to a son. He was named Jesus.
When Jesus was about thirty years old, he began to teach and to perform many miracles publicly. He caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk. Wherever he went, great crowds of people came to him to be healed and to hear him speak.
Yet Jesus declared that his highest purpose in coming into the world was not to heal or to teach, but rather to give men eternal life. He said:
I came down from heaven ... that everyone who sees the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
To explain how he gives eternal life, Jesus often compared himself to a shepherd. Like a shepherd searching for his sheep that had gone astray, Jesus came to seek men helplessly wandering away from God. He said:
The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
The truth is that we are all hopelessly separated from God because of our sins. We do not love God as we should, and we do not love others as we should. We are contaminated by sin deep within our hearts. Jesus said:
From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.
We have all sinned, and we deserve to be punished for our sins. Jesus taught plainly that the just penalty for sin is to be eternally separated from God in hell. He said:
When the Son of Man shall come in his glory ... before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats ... And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.
Thankfully, Jesus came to save us from this eternal punishment. He came to willingly suffer the full penalty of our sins so that we wouldn’t have to.
Like a shepherd giving his life in order to save his sheep, Jesus laid down his life in order to save sinners. He said:
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep ... I lay down my life for the sheep.
Jesus’ death was not an accident. Rather, he declared that he entered into death on purpose. He said:
I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
As the time of his death approached, Jesus described exactly how it would take place. He also told his followers that three days after he died, he would be resurrected from the dead. Jesus said:
Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered to the chief priests, and to the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles. And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him. And the third day he shall rise again.
All of these predictions came true. Jesus was arrested by the religious authorities in Jerusalem. They brought him to the Roman governor of Judea and insisted that Jesus be executed. Even though he determined that Jesus was not guilty of any crime, the governor sentenced him to crucifixion.
Jesus was beaten, whipped, and nailed to a wooden cross to die a slow, painful death. Yet even in his agony, he desired forgiveness for those who tortured him, saying:
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Although the crucifixion was extremely painful, Jesus endured far more as he paid the terrible penalty of our sins. As he hung on the cross, Jesus suffered all that we deserve to suffer in an eternity in hell.
Jesus, who is both God and man, bore our punishment so completely that, as a man, he was utterly forsaken by God. On the cross, he cried:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
When Jesus had fully satisfied the wrath of God against our sins, he said:
It is finished.
Then Jesus died. His followers took his body down from the cross and buried it. Many in Jerusalem believed they would never see him again.
But three days later, Jesus rose from the dead, just as he said he would. When he appeared to his followers, they thought they were seeing a ghost. Jesus told them it was really him, in a real body. He said:
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me, and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.
Over the course of forty days, Jesus appeared to his followers after his resurrection. He taught them about all that he had done in order to save sinners. Finally, he sent them to tell the whole world about him, saying:
Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Jesus has done everything that is necessary to save sinners like you and me. There are no good works or religious rituals that we must add in order for our sins to be forgiven. All that we must do to receive eternal life is simply to trust in what Jesus has done for sinners, to believe in him as the only one who can save us. Jesus said:
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Everyone who trusts in Jesus for salvation is no longer guilty before God and will live forever with him. However, those who will not believe in Jesus remain guilty and will be punished eternally. Jesus said:
He who believes on him is not condemned. But he who believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Those who hear the words of Jesus and rest in him are like sheep following their shepherd. Jesus said:
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give to them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
I beg you—trust in Jesus today and receive eternal life! If you feel the guilt of your sins weighing upon your conscience and you desire to be saved, listen to the voice of Jesus. He says:
Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.