1000 Word Essay – “Reason and Faith—Jesus, The Divine Truth” by Zoey Kim

God is generous enough to embrace all human histories into “His Story.” Throughout history, people have been searching for truth within their reason, and they have failed due to their lack of faith. Many philosophers and scholars from the ancient time to the present have been persuading a divine wisdom and knowledge; however, without faith, they could not reach the divine knowledge and even have rejected the Divine Truth. The divine wisdom has been given to those who ask, look, and knock with faith (Matt 7:7), and Jesus Christ, the Divine Truth, has been revealing Himself to those who seek Him with eyes of faith. With our reason and faith, we would be able to see that Jesus is the Divine Truth and the true model of what the human history has been looking for. The life of Jesus Christ, His teaching, the Scripture, our reason, and faith are the evidence.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1, NIV). John stated the Word (Logos) was God. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The Scripture clearly gives evidence that Jesus was the Word, and was full of grace and truth. Truth came from Jesus (John 1:17). The search for wisdom, however, was never separated from faith in the Lord, and those who put their faith in God experienced the conviction of the Lord throughout history. God alone is perfect Wisdom to be found.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov 9:10). This can be regarded as the principle of true wisdom. The author of Corinthians mentioned that the world through its wisdom did not know God and His wisdom (1 Cor 1:21). Many philosophers had been seeking true wisdom, yet they did not know God’s wisdom due to their own pride. In addition, Peter wrote a letter to faithful disciples that Jesus’ divine power gave those who trust in Him everything they need for life and godliness through their knowledge of Him (2 Pet 1:3). In other words, if one believes and trusts in the Lord, wisdom that directs worldly knowledge for life will be given to the person. Divine Wisdom is not a conceptual principle but rather a person who came from God, was with God from the beginning (John 1:1), and was filled with delight day after day rejoicing in the presence of God, the Creator (Prov 8:30). The Apostle Paul affirmed Jesus’ wisdom with remarkable insight: God has made Christ to be wisdom itself. He made Christ also justice, our sanctification, and our redemption (1 Cor 1:30). The Wisdom of God, Jesus, guides to a full knowledge of the divine will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding (Col 1:9). When Jesus was only twelve years old, all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding (Luke 2:47), and during the years of His ministry, many were astonished at Jesus’ teaching and asked, “Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom that has been given him?” (Mark 6:2)
“Come, now, let us reason together” (Isa 1:18). Charles Jefferson stated about Jesus, “His attitude from first to last is the attitude of God as pictured by Isaiah.” His ability to teach seems like Jesus’ natural or God given talent. He fulfilled the purpose of teaching, led His listeners to the deeper level of human mind, and helped them to think. Although He knew everything, Jesus habitually asked, “What do you think?” His expectation for people was to let them think. His teaching gave clear understanding of the messages, which reflect only truth; He touched the spirits of His hearers. Jesus was different from the virtuous pagans or the sophists, who brought arguments for the sake of quarrel or for fame and fortune. He knew His listeners very well, so that He was able to identify and understand each one of them. His message, which directly connected to His hearers’ daily experiences, easily caught everybody’s attention. He answered every request immediately and spontaneously, and appreciated and listened when He was challenged. His wisdom and knowledge was beyond people’s expectation, and His insight was too high for those who tried to trap Him with their questions. Not only was Jesus the supreme teacher, but in general, He was the best. Charles Jefferson well describes the greatness of Jesus:
“He never chiseled a statue or painted a picture or wrote a poem or composed a piece of music. . . . He did absolutely nothing in art, literature, science, philosophy, invention, statesmanship or war, the seven kingdoms in which the world’s great men have won their crowns. And yet everybody calls Jesus great. . . . Not only is he counted great, but in a large part of the world he is counted greatest—so great that no one else can be compared with him.”
Many people have been searching for a prominent teacher, justice, peace, moral characters for a perfect society, deeper knowledge, and above all, heavenly truth. People, indeed, have been searching for absolute truth in nature, in art, in character, and in human life. Many scholars wanted to provide people a good education, so that people could have a moral, beneficial, and happy life. Of course, Jesus was not the great artist or well-known composer, but He was full of knowledge, and a lived righteous and holy life. Plato said that knowledge is incapable of being mistaken, but belief can be mistaken. If knowledge cannot be a form of belief, how can one believe what the person knows? Although Plato, later, explored knowledge that can be true belief, he failed to seek the true knowledge. Regardless of Plato’s own conflict of this particular theory, Jesus was unchanging character and is all sources of knowledge and truth. The author of Psalms prayed for God to teach knowledge and good judgment, since he believes in Him (Ps 119:66). His divine wisdom, knowledge, moral behaviors, and character give clear evidence that he was a true Model of what the human history has been in pursuit of.
Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), and that if you hold to my teaching, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8: 32). His teaching and preaching reflected divine knowledge, power, authority, and His good character. Jesus’ aspiration in speaking, His manner, and impact as an educator were what most philosophers had pursued. Although many of them thought that no one would really ever know anything real at all, Jesus, full of grace and truth, became flesh, dwelled among people (John 1:14), and shared His divine insight. The Logos had never intended to mislead or to distracting people with His oratory; rather, He poured out His Divine love and wisdom to the bodies. One, with reason and faith that came from the Holy Spirit, can clearly see that Jesus is the Divine Truth.