0:00
The Chibi News Daily Reflection
0:04
Hi, my name's Andrew Latimer. I'm a Church of England minister at Grace Church in Greenwich
0:11
One of the things you can't avoid when you listen to Jesus' teaching is how strongly he backed himself
0:18
So here was this penniless preacher. He's in a back quarter of the Roman Empire
0:22
And yet he was convinced that his legacy would outlast, it would outgrow, even that of the emperor, Caesar
0:28
and it must have seemed absurd at the time. For example, Jesus said that his kingdom
0:33
though it was as small as the mustard seed now, it would one day be the biggest tree in the garden
0:39
and all the birds, all the other empires, would shelter in its shade, Jesus said
0:44
Quite a claim. And yet as the centuries have passed, it's clear Jesus knew what he was talking about
0:51
Historians have given various explanations for what might account for this runaway success of the Jesus movement
0:58
But for my money, I wonder whether Napoleon Bonaparte has got closer than most in explaining this strange phenomenon
1:06
Napoleon is at least reputed as having said this. Alexander the Great, Caesar, Emperor Charlemagne and I have founded empires
1:16
But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force
1:21
Jesus Christ, on the other hand, he founded his empire on love
1:25
and at this hour millions would die for him. You see the Jesus movement is uniquely enduring
1:32
because it's built on a unique foundation, divine love. Maybe that's why Jesus could be so confident
1:40
it would outlast all the empires of this world
