Whatever we think of the politics of the matter, it is all right for Paul Keating to be Paul Keating. Whatever our opinion of the republican debate, it is fine for Queen Elizabeth to be Queen Elizabeth. What we can't stand is these cheap imitations who are trying to enhance their importance.
Whether we have studied George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion or watched its popularised form in the movie My Fair Lady, we recognise that, while speech training and dress may well deceive high society into believing that Eliza Doolittle is a princess, they cannot make her into one. At that point, the play appears to be a comment about the superficiality of high society. But, while Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering may have made a successful imitation, the "real person" is still Eliza!
Supposing we were at a function and see someone who is a convincing Keating or Queen look-alike. In a short while we realise that the person is no look-alike… But then, how could we not have known? Why didn't we realise? Was this visit totally unannounced? So that explains the car and chauffeur we saw outside! How do we react then?
It is these same kinds of thoughts we have as we reflect on the question: Who is this Jesus? No pin-stripe suit or diamond-studded tiara to give a clue - or to deceive us! No chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce. No mysterious halo of light about his head. In fact, no external clues to his identity.
An unknown author put it this way -
"While he was still a young man, the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth and that was his coat. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
"Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever sailed, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as has that one solitary life."
That is a conclusion to which people other than Christians have come. The French Revolution brought great change. One of those changes we have ourselves adopted - the Metric System. Some of us probably still think in feet and pounds - and will continue to do so. One of the lesser-known changes was a plan to start counting our years from the foundation of the Republic on 22nd September 1792. It removed all religious connections from the calendar, which had a 10-day week, and 12 months of 30 days each. The 5 days remaining at year's end (6 days during leap years) were given over to vacations and celebrations. But the change was short-lived and France reverted to the Gregorian calendar on 1st January 1806. So in France today time is reckoned as B.C. "Before Christ" and A.D. Anno Domini "In the year of the Lord". There are a few countries that have their private system for counting the years, but for the sake of relations with other countries it has to be related to the BC-AD system that prevails. And I hear no real call to change that system. Whether willingly or not, all give tacit acknowledgement to the great impact of the person, teaching and work of Jesus on the history of the world.
But who is this Jesus? Who does he think he is? And is he really all he claimed?
In the Fourth Gospel John records for us a number of Jesus' sayings in which he began with the words, "I am…"
He says, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never be thirsty" (6.35). He is claiming to fulfil the deepest needs of the human soul.
He claims, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness" (8.12). He seems to be saying he can overcome the moral and spiritual darkness within us and in the world about us.
He calls himself "the good shepherd" - the one who has come to gather people together and to give them a complete life (10.10,11,16).
In the presence of death itself, he asserts, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die" (11.25-26) - offering hope to all who face the universal enemy.
He offers himself as "the way, the truth and the life" through whom alone it is possible to go to the Father (14.6).
He describes himself as "the true vine" through whom alone it is possible to have a fruitful life (15.5).
Putting those claims together we begin to ask, "Who does he think he is?" Is he on a king-sized ego-trip or …? He must be either mad or bad or…? The other option, of course, is that he is who he claimed to be, that he was saying what he did simply because it is true and because we need to know his identity!
There were people who came to listen to Jesus, not to find out who he was, but to find out what he claimed - so that they could accuse him! They had already made up their minds against him. They were not really seeking the truth about him at all! Many of them were Pharisees, a group who really believed they had got it all together themselves and weren't in the business of finding some new teaching or teacher to help them.
On one occasion when these "opponents" were hovering around, Jesus made a staggering claim, "I am telling you the truth. Before Abraham was born, 'I Am' " (8.58).
That is an unusual statement to us, but his first hearers got the meaning straight away. We read, "Then they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple" (v.59).
To understand their reaction, we go back to the story about God calling Moses through the burning bush. Moses was making all sorts of excuses why he was not able to go back to Egypt and finally complains that he won't know who to say has sent him. God replies, "I am who I am. This is what you must say to them: 'The one who is called I AM has sent me to you' " (Ex.3.14). The Name Yahweh (Jehovah) or LORD comes from the Hebrew word for "I am".
Blaspheming the Name was regarded very seriously indeed and worthy of the death penalty (Lev.24.10-16). The Jews present recognised a very clear claim to divinity, a claim to be one with the one true God, Yahweh. On a later occasion they said, "We are stoning you… for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God" (10.33).
Of course, the most daring claim of Jesus was in the context of what he said about being the Good Shepherd. "The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again. No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back…" (10.17-18).
We see the claims of Jesus in the light of the cross and the resurrection. The truly divine one cannot be killed unless that is also part of the divine will. For blasphemy (and a number of other reasons!) they had him done to death. But the one they thought to be a blasphemer turns out to be (through their vile act) the Saviour! Face to face with the risen Christ, Thomas declares, "My Lord and my God!"
While we are curious about the identity of the fellow at the party and intrigued by some of things he has to say, after a while we find him a bit of a bore. And even if it was the P.M., how many of us would be hanging onto every word he said? I say that with no intention to be disrespectful.
But with Jesus it is different. If he was just another teacher - the world has had a lot of them and you are free to take them or leave them. But if he was… if he is the Son of God come into our human history to deal with the mess we've got ourselves into, then we need to give our attention to listen to him and, like Thomas, to submit our whole lives to him as our Saviour and Lord!
As individuals and as a society, we have got ourselves disconnected from the source of life and meaning. It's time to return, to come back, to reconnect, to open our windows again and let the light of heaven flood in! What do you say to that?
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