the original jesus - Baker Publishing Group

THE ORIGINAL JESUS Trading the Myths We Create for the Savior Who Is

DA N I E L DA R LI N G

C Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.

(Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) Darling_OriginalJesus_LS_wo.indd 3

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© 2015 by Daniel Darling Published by Baker Books a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakerbooks.com Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Darling, Daniel, 1978– The original Jesus : trading the myths we create for the Savior who is / Daniel Darling. pages cm Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8010-0649-4 (pbk.) 1. Jesus Christ—Person and offices. 2. Christianity—United States. I. Title. BT203.D37 2015 232—dc23 2015012094 Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007 Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. Scripture quotations labeled Message are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com 15

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Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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This book is dedicated to the thoughtful scholars whose faithful exposition of the Scriptures have helped me more closely see the real Jesus of Scripture: D. A. Carson, Russell Moore, and Tim Keller.

Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Contents

Foreword by Russell Moore 9 Acknowledgments 11 Introduction: Play-Doh Jesus 13 1. Guru Jesus 17 2. Red-Letter Jesus 34 3. Braveheart Jesus 48 4. American Jesus 58 5. Left-Wing Jesus 73 6. Dr. Phil Jesus 92 7. Prosperity Jesus 106 8. Post-Church Jesus 117 9. BFF Jesus 132 10. Legalist Jesus 143 Notes 155 7 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Foreword

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any Christians could easily just buy a golden Buddha from a flea market, affix a brown beard to it, and call it “Jesus.” This little idol would have as much resemblance to the living Son of God as the mental constructions we so often piece together and call “Jesus” in our lives. The truth is, in our flesh, most of us don’t want to follow Jesus. We want Jesus to follow us—answering a prayer now and then, rescuing us from a catastrophe here and there, and helping us achieve the goals we’ve set for ourselves. The actual living, breathing Jesus of Nazareth doesn’t do any of that. If the disciples of old had constructed Jesus the way we too often do, Matthew’s Jesus would have enabled him to be the most prosperous tax collector in the Roman Empire. Simon’s Jesus would have summoned up a mess of fish when needed for the catch but wouldn’t have talked about gruesome realities such as crucifixion. Jesus didn’t fulfill their life plans. He wrecked their lives and then remodeled them into new creations, new creations that usually had nothing to do with their hopes and plans for themselves. This is still the way Jesus rules. 9 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Foreword

In this book, Dan Darling examines the sorts of alternative visions of Jesus so often presented within American church culture. He takes these models before the living Christ as revealed in Scripture, and like Dagon of old, they fall headfirst before him and smash apart (see 1 Sam. 5:1–5). Darling is more than an idol smasher, though. He points out in this book why each of these pictures of Jesus resonates with us. Sometimes it’s because there’s an element of truth in these pictures. Sometimes it’s because our picture of Jesus tells us what we’re afraid of or how we’ve accommodated to the pattern of our ambient culture. In any case, he doesn’t leave us with critique. He takes us again and again to the cross, to the empty tomb, to the right hand of God. If we’re honest, we’re all too often disappointed—even angered—by the Jesus who is, when he replaces the Jesus we want. We’re in good company. Jesus’s hometown synagogue wanted “Hometown Jesus” to heal their diseases, fight off their enemies, and get out of the way (Luke 4:14–30). The disciples wanted a Jesus who would replace Caesar on Rome’s throne but not a Jesus who would replace their egos from their psyches’ thrones. We’re like that too. We want a Messiah who will do what comedian Jack Handey said of himself: “The first thing was, I learned to forgive myself. Then, I told myself, ‘Go ahead and do whatever you want, it’s okay by me.’” But when we come face-to-face with Christ Jesus himself— incarnate, crucified, resurrected, ascended, transfigured in light—we will find ourselves dropping our idols and saying with our forefathers, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68–69). This book will help get us to that point. And that’s a good place to be. Russell Moore 10 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Acknowledgments

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very book is collaboration, and this one is no different. First, I’m grateful for my beautiful and patient wife and my longsuffering children who endured yet another book project. I’m grateful for our ERLC team, for their kind encouragement, their willingness to proofread this book, and their courage to recommend changes. I’m honored to work alongside you for the kingdom. I’m grateful for my gifted and godly boss, Dr. Russell Moore, who was so kind to risk his reputation and write a foreword for this book. My heart is also full of thankfulness toward the Baker Books team who not only believed in this project but also put their full weight behind it to help shape it into the book God wants it to be. Every decision to publish, for a publisher, is a risk, and I pray to be worthy of your kindness with this endeavor. Finally, I wish to thank my exceptional literary agent, Tamela Hancock Murray and the Steve Laube Agency. Thank you for guiding my publishing career and for opening doors most people only dream of. 11 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Introduction Play-Doh Jesus

Only if your God can outrage you and make you struggle will you know that you worship the real God and not a figment of your imagination. Tim Keller1 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Matthew 16:15

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he Bible doesn’t begin with epistemology, but with theology.” That loaded theological statement greeted me during the first hour of my very first seminary class. I was back in school, unlocking dormant brain cells after more than a decade of ministry and family life. My teacher was the legendary D. A. Carson, known for giving brilliant lectures. I was in for a weekly fire hose of sound theology. The point he made that day has stuck in my cranium like a stubborn kernel of Illinois sweet corn in a back molar. 13 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Introduction

Here is a countercultural thought, even within conservative evangelical precincts: God’s revelation of himself to humankind doesn’t begin with what humans think or even know about God. It begins with a simple declaration in Genesis 1:1 of “In the beginning, God . . .” God simply is. He’s self-existing, without need of anything we humans have to offer. To phrase it rather crudely, God isn’t like us. Yes, we were created in his image, after his likeness. But even at our best, even before Adam and Eve bit off more than they could chew in the Garden of Eden, God is nothing like the special creatures he created. Yet we have in Jesus a God who, in his humanity, is rather like us. Christ is God with flesh on, and in his earthly life he experienced the full range of human experience. Christ is a God who could be touched, a God with scars, tears, and pain. Jesus is quite popular. Even in our increasingly post-Christian culture, there are few places Jesus is not revered, if not hailed as a mascot for social causes. We have constructed a Christ in our own comfortable image. He has become the clay and we have assumed the role of potters. Guided by our delicate sensibilities, we mold Jesus into a deity we can handle, conformed to our own preferences. We want a colorful Play-Doh Jesus we can shape and manipulate into something we choose. Drew Dyck wrote of this phenomenon, “Inevitably we project our biases and wishes heavenward and end up with a god who looks suspiciously familiar, a god made in our own image. We end up bowing before the mirror.”2 This is why, even after all of our soul-searching, navel-gazing, and experiments in spirituality, we mostly come away disappointed. Our self-worship has us looking in the mirror for 14 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Introduction

salvation instead of looking to the real Jesus. We may not admit it on Sunday at church or even in our small groups during the week. We may not even write it down in our journals or tweet it out to the world. But deep down we’re upset at the God-man because he has not met all the expectations we had when we first entered this relationship with him by faith. It doesn’t have to be this way. Jesus came to offer his people a life much better than the one we envision for ourselves. He came to rescue us from selfishness and despair, to call us to a new and different way. Following Jesus demands that we worship him for who he is, that we step off the cardboard throne we’ve erected and surrender to his kingship over our lives. He is the potter, we are the clay. It is his creative hand that molds us, re-creating and restoring what sin has destroyed, renewing us into a life of glory. My aim with this book is pretty simple. I want to peel away the faux Jesus we’ve constructed and expose the real Jesus. This will not be a complete and scholarly Christology. Far wiser theologians with more initials after their names have written much weightier tomes. I commend their studies to you as you pursue Christ. My only goal is to help knock down some Jesus myths, our ideas about Jesus that are either incomplete or totally false. Why is this important? Some might say, “Dan, you’re kind of a curmudgeon here. Isn’t it good enough that we have people talking about Jesus?” I’m glad people are talking about Jesus, but sometimes the Jesus we talk about bears little resemblance to the Jesus who is. Jesus himself warned of false Christs, imposter versions of Jesus that are eerily close but ultimately universes away from the authentic God-man (see Matt. 24:4–5). Since to know Christ is to know and experience life at its fullest, I want to see that everyone who claims his name knows him in truth. 15 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Perhaps this classic quote by A. W. Tozer about the heavenly Father could be applied to our modern-day ideas about the Son: What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. . . . The most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in deep heart conceives God to be like. . . . That our idea of God correspond as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us. Compared with our actual thoughts about him, our creedal statements are of little consequence. . . . The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than he is—in itself a monstrous sin—and substitutes for the true God, one made after its own likeness. Always this God will conform to the image of the one who created it. . . . A god begotten in the shadows of a fallen heart will quite naturally be no true likeness of the true God.3 Daniel Darling June 2014 Soli Deo Gloria

16 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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1 Guru Jesus

Jesus isn’t lettin’ you off the hook. The Scriptures don’t let you off the hook so easily. . . . When people say, you know, “Good teacher,” “Prophet,” “Really nice guy” . . . this is not how Jesus thought of himself. Bono1

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ast summer I began a tradition with my kids. Every night before bed I read to them from the Great Illustrated Classics. Even though some of the language is a bit hard to understand, they seem to enjoy it. My oldest, eight-year-old Grace, sits spellbound on her bed while Huckleberry Finn escapes his drunken father or while Peter Pan safely delivers the Darling family (no relation) back to England. Lately I’ve been reading to them from Mark Twain’s classic The Prince and the Pauper. The story, one of my own favorites from childhood, is historical fiction set during the end of the 17 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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reign of King Henry VIII. His son Prince Edward and Edward’s doppelganger Tom Canty inadvertently swap roles. Tom, a poor boy with a drunk father, dreams of royalty. One day he gets a little too close to the metal bars that surround the castle and is shoved back rudely by a soldier. As it happens, Prince Edward, a kindly soul, sees Tom’s struggle and comes to his aid, inviting him into the castle. The two boys discover that they look exactly alike, so they decide to swap clothes for a few moments. Fate intervenes, and Tom is mistaken for the privileged prince, while the true Edward, Prince of Wales, is thrown out into the street. The story takes Tom through the confusing role as the prince who becomes king once his ailing father dies. His inability to remember the royal protocol is explained away as sickness, and soon he grows into his role as imposter king. Meanwhile, Edward, accustomed to a life of privilege, is tossed in with the street rabble. He’s battered physically and verbally by Tom’s father and is forced to live the unremarkable life of a common beggar. Twain moves the story toward an inevitable conclusion, and the paths of Tom and Edward cross once again. The true prince produces the magic seal and reclaims his rightful throne. Tom is granted a permanent high role in the kingdom, and both prince and pauper are saved from lives of grinding poverty. As I read The Prince and the Pauper to my kids, I couldn’t help but notice the thin shadows of another story embedded in Twain’s novel. I’m not sure of Twain’s motives in his narrative, but it reminds me of the story arc of another book, one we believe is written not by nineteenth-century bards but by the finger of God. In this divine story the rightful king slums among lowly people who cannot see his royalty. Those around him cannot see he is no mere mortal, but One whose rightful place is on a throne occupied by another. In the gospel tales Jesus does 18 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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and says things only kings would, the very acts and miracles the prophets said would identify the Promised One. But these kingly acts only provide fodder for mockery. Meanwhile, in the royal palace, one who clearly doesn’t belong sits on the throne and fakes his way through power until deposed by the real king. There’s a particular line in the adapted children’s version of The Prince and the Pauper that struck me. Edward, the real king but dressed like a pauper, unsuccessfully attempts to assert his kingship among his fellow beggars. At this point in the story, the street people were running out of patience with Edward’s declarations of kingship. So one stood up to him: You can play at being king if you want, but don’t really call yourself King Edward. That’s treason. We may be bad in some ways, but we’re no traitors. Watch this, for proof. All together now, “Long live Edward, King of England!” “LONG LIVE EDWARD, KING OF ENGLAND!” came the hearty response. The little king’s face lighted up with pleasure as he said simply, “I thank you, good people.” Again the company roared with laughter. When they quieted down a bit, Ruffler said to Edward, firmly but with good nature, “Drop it, I said. Imagine whatever title you want, but pick some other title.”2

Pick some other title. But stop pretending to be king. Ruffler’s words to Edward echo words about another who claimed to be king: Jesus, be our heroic, inspirational mascot, but enough of this kingdom talk. Jesus, be a pathway to God, a medium, a channel, but enough about being THE WAY. 19 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Jesus, join our growing club of godlike figures, be a dish on our spiritual buffet, but for heaven’s sake, can you cut out the “No one comes to the Father but by me” talk? We’re getting a bit uncomfortable here. Jesus, be a martyr for a cause. Join Gandhi and MLK and Bonhoeffer. But why the talk of crushing a serpent’s head? Jesus, be our guru, our buddy, our friend. But we don’t want you as king. In many respects, America is still Jesusland. With that said, the Jesus of America is quite unlike the Jesus revealed in the Word of God. Who is Jesus? The answer to this question is the foundation of Christianity. His deity is enshrined in all three major Christian creeds and has been held by the church for its two thousand years of history.3 Tozer says, “For more than sixteen hundred years this has stood as the final test of orthodoxy.”4 Theologian Michael Bird writes, “All in all, the testimony of the Christian tradition, based on its exegesis and experience, is that Jesus Christ is both fully human and divine.”5 John Frame says the deity of Christ is a “pervasive doctrine of Scripture,” and he sums up Scripture’s claims with three statements: 1. Jesus bears divine attributes: holiness, perfect truth, wisdom, almighty power, immutability, glory. 2. Jesus performs divine acts: creation, providence, miracles, forgiveness of sins, final judgment. 3. Jesus in Scripture is an object of faith and worship.6 Every generation faces new temptations to diminish or doubt Jesus’s deity. As you read this book, Newsweek and Time are likely working on the “Scholars Debunk the Supernatural Jesus” 20 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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feature they run every Easter. This thin gruel of journalism will once again be answered by the most basic evangelical scholarship. But red-faced skeptics and timid doctoral students are not the only ones tempted to flinch at Jesus’s unpopular claims. Even those who claim to be true believers have trouble grasping who Jesus is. It’s less hassle for us to just place Jesus where we want to, in a long line of inspirational religious figures. But for the Christian story to work at all, Jesus has to be more than a first-century Gandhi-like figure. I’m guessing if you’re reading this book you’re a believer like me. Chances are you found this at a Christian bookstore or through an online review at a Christian blog or because millions of your friends posted on Facebook about how awesome it is. But maybe, just maybe you are not a Christian and chose this book out of curiosity or boredom or because a Christian friend recommended it. If this is you, then for the rest of the chapter I’d like to make the case for why you might consider Jesus. While more gifted apologists could give you in-depth answers as to who Jesus is, my aim is not only to fill your head with more information but to see God by his grace penetrate your heart with the truth of his Word. I hope to show why Jesus is less compelling as a mere guru than he is as the Son of God, the Savior of the world.

Easter’s Big “If” As much as the Christian narrative seems to offer answers, it mostly asks questions. Perhaps the biggest question it asks is the one we celebrate on the most important Christian holiday, Easter. Underneath all the yellow bunnies, jelly beans, and fake 21 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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grass, Easter asks a question: “What if this really happened like the Bible says it did?” What is the thing the Bible says happened on Easter? It makes the claim that Jesus died on a cross—literally died and was buried in a rich man’s tomb. Three days later he broke off the chains of death, and forty days after that he ascended back to heaven as the reigning King of the universe. Believe it or not, in this chapter I’m not going to ask you to accept that the resurrection event really happened, though I think the evidence of Jesus’s bodily resurrection is compelling. If you are interested in further apologetics, I would recommend a few resources: C. S. Lewis’s classic Mere Christianity or Tim Keller’s A Reason for God. If you have the time, you might dive into the nearly eight-hundred-page book by N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God. All offer a compelling presentation of the “many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3) for the validity of Jesus’s supernatural life and death. My aim in this chapter is to ask and answer the question, “What if Jesus was more than a guru, a wonderful teacher, or an inspirational figure?” Because if what we claim on Easter happened, it changes everything about you, me, and the world in which we live. I hope you’ll be so compelled by the story you’ll want to believe it’s true. Here are five reasons why, if Jesus is more than a guru, his life changes everything. Reason #1: If Easter is true, we finally have someone we can trust. If Jesus really did rise from the dead, he is someone we can trust. The Gospels record Jesus promising to do what he said he 22 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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would do—rise from the dead. Listen to Jesus’s words recorded in John’s Gospel: So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. (John 2:18–22)

Matthew, another follower of Jesus, writes: For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matt. 12:40) From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. (Matt. 16:21)

Jesus didn’t simply predict his own death and resurrection but said that he would raise himself: For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. (John 10:17)

Throughout history, many have claimed to have risen from the dead. Every generation has folks who have claimed to have come back from heaven or hell. Writing a book on heaven or hell seems one of the fastest ways to get a book contract or Hollywood stardom. Most of these accounts can’t hold up to the tiniest scrutiny, not the scrutiny Jesus’s claims have withstood. 23 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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If Jesus rose from the dead as the Scriptures say, it not only means he is someone you can trust but it signifies that Jesus is someone you must listen to, for he is the power of God. If Easter is true, it not only proves Jesus’s trustworthiness when it comes to his own words but it proves God’s faithfulness to keep promises to his people throughout history. The Old Testament prophets and writers of Scripture predicted a Messiah who would come near to us as both man and God, right down to the most specific of details such as the exact town where Jesus would be born, the circumstances around his birth, and the reaction among political leaders. According to Jewish scholar Alfred Edersheim, there are around 456 specific passages that refer to Jesus the Messiah in the Old Testament.7 If Easter is true, Jesus is not only trustworthy but powerful enough to raise himself from the dead. His claims are true, and this means he is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, the One who gives life and breath to all. Every generation longs for leaders it can trust and ours is no different. Our expectations for leadership are why we hold our pastors, politicians, and business leaders up to such high and impossible standards. When they fail us, we delight in tearing them down in what New York Times columnist David Brooks calls “a coliseum culture.”8 This is why we vilify and mock them on social media, blogs, and late-night television and in lunchroom chatter. Nobody, not even the best and brightest, makes the cut. Every single leader disappoints. This hunger for a savior is also why we tend to deify leaders from history, airbrushing their flaws with rose-colored recall. But according to the Christian story, there is One who promised to come back from the dead and actually did. 24 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Reason #2: If Easter is true, then we too will rise again. If Easter is true, Jesus not only has the power to raise himself from death but also to raise his people from death. Listen to the words of the apostle Paul, who once was a skeptic: But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Cor. 15:20–22)

This is powerful. The Christian story makes the claim that if Jesus rose from the dead, those he redeems will rise again. If Jesus is more than a guru, something beyond us exists, a reality we were made to enjoy. Skye Jethani states, “By raising, not replacing, his body, Jesus showed his complete victory over every enemy. Death is given no consolation prize—not even the tortured body of a Nazarene carpenter.”9 Death is not the final answer. Death has been defeated. Jesus asserted his eternal, life-giving power at the funeral of one of his best friends, Lazarus: Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”(John 11:25–26)

And again at another gathering he proclaimed: For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. (John 5:21)

Jesus’s claims are otherworldly. This is more than a go-toheaven-and-back experience. In the above passages Jesus is 25 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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professing to be more than a guru or inspirational figure—One who holds our very lives in his all-powerful and capable hands. This is the one power we wish we had. Here we sit in the twenty-first century at the apex of human progress, and yet we are as close to solving the problem of death as cavemen. A few years ago, I walked the halls of Children’s Memorial Hospital. My daughter Emma, three at the time, had contracted a strange virus that left her entire body swollen and disfigured. We were in arguably the best children’s hospital in Chicago, at the cutting edge of medical science, and yet the doctors were mystified as to the nature of her illness. Emma pulled through and her health was restored, but in that same hospital were less fortunate parents whose children clutched the last fragments of life, their bodies wracked by cancer or other fatal diseases. Death is why we have hospitals. We walk through the doors hoping beyond hope for healing cures. Yet even as the most brilliant minds apply their genius to the human condition, death visits with its spotless record. Everyone dies. But if what Jesus says about himself is true, it means there is hope beyond the grave. It means the Christian narrative is more than a feel-good story; it actually holds the answers to life. The world was once beautiful and perfect. There was no sickness or death. Evil had not tempted us. Then something happened, something destructive and pervasive. Not only the human race, but the entire cosmos, fell under sin’s dark spell. But that’s only the beginning, for there is a new chapter in Jesus. The same God who crafted a perfect world rescued that world and the humans created in his image. Jesus has defeated sin and death, the darkness that cruelly infected every sphere of creation. 26 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Death, then, is not the final word: When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15:54–57)

The Bible makes this audacious claim: because Jesus is imperishable and immortal, death is defeated. Death is the result of an enemy, a curse triggered by sin. If you put down your biases, you’d agree that instinctively we know this to be true. We realize something is badly wrong with the world. Children die every day from preventable diseases. Natural disasters wreak havoc on our communities. Murder and mayhem destroy the shalom of our cities. We are forced to admit our powerlessness against the cycle of death. Medicine, technology, and financial investment only get us so far. But if Easter is true, everything changes. Reason #3: If the gospel story is true, it means we can experience personal renewal. If we were honest with ourselves, we’d admit to behaviors and patterns we know are destructive. Of course, we work hard to convince ourselves that we’re not as bad as our neighbors. We recycle more. We party less. Our kids behave better. Yet despite our best efforts (or our rose-colored perception of our best efforts), there is a whisper of evil in each of our hearts. There are dark corridors we hope never see the light of 27 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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day. Or, to paraphrase the Scriptures, we have all sinned and come short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23). Sin is more obvious on some people, attaching like an everpresent article of clothing. Poor choices lead to addiction, relationship-destroying lust, or murderously violent anger. But most of us are pretty good at keeping our sins well hidden beneath layers of good intention. We all hide. We all justify. We all spin. But when we are alone with ourselves, we can admit our fallenness. If we were being honest—off the record between the pages of this book and the deep recesses of our minds—we’d come clean. We’d admit that it’s not just the world out there that’s troubled, cursed by sin’s pervasive grip. We all are. There’s something wrong with all of us. We’re sick in notso-small ways. Why else would we continue to make self-help books into bestsellers? Why else would we reach for substances to self-medicate away our consciences? Why else would we tune in by the millions to self-appointed gurus like Oprah and Dr. Phil? Our personal demons are why we have fad diets, plastic surgery, meditation centers, temples, and therapists. Everyone is looking to change. Everyone is looking for renewal. Everyone is looking to be better, so we can feel better. Even our solutions seem ineffective at lifting the despair, at correcting the mess within. But if Jesus’s claims are true, if he is more to us than a simple teacher, then there is finally hope for personal renewal. What the Christian story says is this: Jesus not only defeated death but the power of death. The Christian story rejects self-improvement and says what is really wrong with you and me is that we are dying inside. Sin is a corrosive disease eating away at the human heart. For some, the demise is swift. For others, it’s a lifelong descent into hell. 28 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Guru Jesus

We don’t just need to fix our hearts; we actually need new hearts. If Easter is true, Jesus’s death and resurrection deliver the promise of new life, both here and in the life to come. This truth says the old way of life was killed on a cross and buried. New life emerges. The prophet Ezekiel predicted this of the future Messiah-King: And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezek. 36:26–27)

This doesn’t mean followers of Jesus are suddenly made perfect; surely you know that after a few minutes with your church friends. But what Jesus offers are repentance and renewal now, and the promise of becoming like him one day. Jesus offers freedom from the power of sin and death, freedom from the chains of addiction and self-worship that strangle the soul. Jesus points to a full and final personal renewal at his return, when he will make all things new. Reason #4: If the gospel story is true, there is a better world to come. Around the same time my daughter Emma was in the hospital with that mysterious illness, another tragic news story invaded our world. In December 2012, a mentally ill gunman invaded an elementary school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, and gunned down twenty young children. This tragedy made me angry more than any in recent memory. I wept for days at 29 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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THE ORIGINAL JESUS

the thought of dropping off my kids at what should be a safe place, never to see them again. When does the cycle of violence end? No matter how many laws we pass or how many cultural movements we initiate, evil always has a way of invading the cracks, penetrating our barriers. Our yearning for a renewed world is reflected in our music and art. Walt Disney, the famed entertainer, admitted as much. The movie Saving Mr. Banks reveals these motivations in a powerful narrative sequence between Disney, portrayed by Tom Hanks, and Mary Poppins author P. L. Travers, portrayed by Emma Thompson. By writing Mary Poppins, Travers tried to correct her painful childhood by saving the father, Mr. Banks. Disney, himself the product of a frustrated upbringing, tells Travers, “That’s what storytellers do. We restore order by imagination. We bring hope.”10 Restoring order by imagination is not only the work of storytellers but the universal longing of every human heart, the longing for a new and different story. We hope for someone or something to rewrite our troubled world and create a new existence. We long for a world where people live in harmony, where natural disasters don’t wipe out whole communities, and where homelessness, poverty, and death don’t reign. Look closely at every movie, every song, and every piece of literature. Embedded in the narrative is the yearning for a better story. This longing also motivates us to activism. Why else do we join civic organizations and sign up for pledge drives? Why else do we attach ourselves to movements we think can change the world? Why else do we vote for and support our political candidates? 30 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Guru Jesus

Yet at the end of the day reality whispers; we’ll ultimately be disappointed. The gospel narrative tells us that this longing for a better world finds its hope in the risen Christ. Jesus is writing that new story—the real, not imagined restoration of all that sin has corrupted. There is a new city coming, one whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:10). The first coming of Jesus as King inaugurated the kingdom to be fully consummated at his second coming. Jesus is the first sign of spring after a long winter’s thaw, the only hope of renewal and restoration. Those who have repented of their sin and accepted his lordship will find eternal salvation. The cosmos will be restored. Evil, which long held sway over creation, will be trampled under his feet. The gospel story says that the world we long for is coming. More than a temporary end to this cycle of death and violence and evil, Jesus’s resurrection points to both personal and cosmic renewal, a re-creation and restoration of the world God originally created beautiful. Reason #5: If the gospel story is true, we can actually know God. This is the last and most audacious claim Jesus makes. If he really died and rose again and is alive today, God is more than an esoteric, ethereal concept. God came near and can be known. The Christian story says we were made to live in community with God. It says human beings were originally created to reflect God’s image and to walk in communion with him. But sin, the choice to become our own little gods, shattered the Creator’s original intent. From Eden, we’ve been alienated from the God who sculpted us with his hands. But there is good news. 31 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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THE ORIGINAL JESUS

Jesus’s life and death closed that gap. He is the atonement for sin and his resurrection is proof that the Father was satisfied. Through Christ we can know God personally. The gospel says two equally true things. First, we have sinned and violated God’s holiness and can’t possibly atone for our sin. And second, that God loved us so much that he, in Christ, suffered the punishment for that sin and offers us new life in Jesus. This is the uniqueness of the Christian story. It doesn’t present a God who wants us to try hard to please him. It presents a God who did the work to reach us through Christ. This is why Jesus made that controversial claim we mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). If what Jesus claimed is true, and if Jesus was raised from the dead, this reality changes everything. Jesus offers an exclusive path but an inclusive offer—one way to God offered to all who believe. And how could it be any different? Is there another who fits the description of Jesus, who meets the qualifications? If Jesus’s story is true, you and I are faced with a choice. We can either bow before Jesus as God and Lord, or we can arch our backs and reject him. We can choose life or we can choose death. We can choose the hope of that future city that God is making for his own, or we can choose hell.

More Than a Guru I hope you see by now that the Jesus we need has to be more than a mere guru, an inspirational figure whose words and rhetoric lift us to greater heights. Jesus has to be more than that—or he is none of that. 32 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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Guru Jesus

We need a victorious King, a sacrificial Lamb of God, a Savior, a Lord, a Creator. Gurus rise and fall. Inspirational figures die. Powerful and benevolent leaders, even at their best, cannot restore and renew the fallen cosmos nor can they close the gap between man and God. Only Jesus the God-man can do this. The real Jesus, the Jesus of Scripture, is compelling. The only logical response is to bow the knee and worship him as Lord and King.

33 Daniel Darling, The Original Jesus Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2015. Used by permission.


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