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The Chibi News Daily Reflection
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Hi, my name's Andrew Latimer. I'm a Church of England minister at Grace Church in Greenwich
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One of the things you can't avoid when you listen to Jesus' teaching is how strongly he backed himself
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So here was this penniless preacher. He's in a back quarter of the Roman Empire
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And yet he was convinced that his legacy would outlast, it would outgrow, even that of the Emperor Caesar
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It must have seemed absurd at the time. For example, Jesus said that his kingdom, though it was as small as a mustard seed now
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it would one day be the biggest tree in the garden and all the birds, all the other empires would shelter in its shade, Jesus said
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Quite a claim. And yet as the centuries have passed, it's clear Jesus knew what he was talking about
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Historians have given various explanations for what might account for this runaway success of the Jesus movement
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But for my money, I wonder whether Napoleon Bonaparte has got closer than most in explaining this strange phenomenon
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Napoleon is at least reputed as having said this. Alexander the Great, Caesar, Emperor Charlemagne and I have founded empires
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But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force
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Jesus Christ, on the other hand, he founded his empire on love
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And at this hour, millions would die for him. You see, the Jesus movement is uniquely enduring
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because it's built on a unique foundation, divine love. Maybe that's why Jesus could be so confident
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it would outlast all the empires of this world
