Why I Believe in Jesus

I’ve once been told that there are 3 types of people in general- those who make things happen, those who wait for things to happen and those who wonder what happened. I think I belong to the second category of people, and sometimes the last. But I believe that everyone belongs to a 4th category- we wonder why things happen.

And while we wonder why things happen, we wait for things to happen. Boys and girls wait to grow up, students wait to get off school, then college, then university. Workers wait to get off work, and wait to retire off work. Somewhere, someone is always waiting for the right job, the right time to get a life partner or the right partner to come along. Life is like a never-ending bubble of anticipation. The moment it burst, we wait upon another- whether it is a person, event or moment.

If we were fortunate, perhaps we would be conscious enough to savour in Life’s present moment. But, we hardly ever do that, don’t we? Most of the time, we end up watching Life pass by us, as though it is a subway train which we never boarded. If we lose track of time, we would have watched years and decades sweep past us and we wonder why we are still sitting there, waiting for something extraordinary to happen.

The truth is, we can’t help waiting. Because we can’t be satisfied with the things that are of this world. Money gives us many things sometimes, high-ranking positions make us happy sometimes, loving another person make us feel we are worthwhile sometimes; but they don’t fill our hearts to the brim until we say, “Enough!” That’s why we always want to make more money, get better positions in the workplace and find another man or woman to love, because we think all these will fill us with answers- to why we are here, who we are here for and where we can be.

I am not saying making money, working hard or finding the right person to spend the rest of my life with is wrong. But, I can’t help thinking that there must be something higher than all these or even myself, that I am made for. Until I find what that is about, I will continue to tire myself out of waiting for things to happen.

Augustine wrote, “We are made for Thee, and our hearts are restless, until they rest in Thee” So, I read and read- about who ‘Thee’ is, how He put His stamp on us, how we have been in such an exile because of our own rebellion against Him, how He loved us and laid His Life for us so that we may not only have new life, but also reconciliation with Him and how this whole world will be made well and beautiful again.

But most importantly, I read about the rest that He invited Man to. It is not about being quiet; it is not about hiding in a cave. It is not about doing something in order to get something in return. It is not about observing the Law nor is it about submerging into mystical sub-consciousness. All He asks is that we come to Him.

His name is Jesus.

He walked on the dusty roads of Jerusalem more than 2000 years ago. He slept at night and worked as a carpenter by day. He sang, rested, wept and laughed like any other man. He was fully Man, yet fully God. He healed the lame, the blind and the lepers. He raised the dead. He turned water into wine. He was righteous, yet He spoke to adulteresses, tax collectors and ate with sinners of every kind. He loved- so much that He washed His disciples’ feet and laid His life for them, for us.

He bore our sins upon the cross. It was cruelty, but it was cosmic reality. No blood was worthy enough to pay the price of Sin other than His. And He paid them all. But, it was not the end. The greatest story ever told began with one Man who overcame evil with good, hatred with love and it became the theme of every good story ever told. The good will always overcome the bad, the righteous will always win.

Jesus has won the fight against Sin by rising again to life. It started with bad news but it became the best news for Mankind.

Nevertheless, it is not that we stop waiting for things to happen. Rather, we stop waiting for things that used to attract us so much. Money is not so important after all- distributing them to the poor is; high ranking positions are not that important after all- God’s calling is. Desiring a woman or a man’s love is not so important after all, desiring God is. It becomes a different kind of waiting- but a fuller sense of waiting it is. It is filled with hope and conviction of things not seen.

It is faith- faith in God’s love for us, faith in God’s promises of reconciling Him and Man; man and man, faith in God’s return and set things right one last time. But, because He had come and shown the way, we can already start setting things right now. Restore broken relationships, feed the hungry, protect the weak, fight crime and stop violence.

Is Jesus the answer? I believe so-sometimes with certainty, sometimes with doubt. That is why, I am willing to test it out- because He is not just real in my life, He is real to this world that needs Him.