What Jesus Taught

by Osborne J. P. Widtsoe

What does it mean to know Jesus Christ?

Two young men were sitting at luncheon one day in the dining-room of a students' club house. One of them was registered in the School of Divinity of one of the oldest and largest universities in America, and was studying to become a minister. The other was preparing to become a teacher.

"Do you believe that Jesus was really the Son of God, and the Savior of the world?" asked the young teacher.

"I believe," replied the preacher—the would-be representative of Jesus—deliberately, "that Jesus was a great leader, a great teacher, a great philosopher—in every way a great man. But I do not believe that he was really the Son of God, nor really the Redeemer in the usually accepted sense."

It is necessary to understand God's plan.

Had this young minister, who was preparing to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, learned to know Him? Surely not. It is not enough merely to recognize the true and living God, and to distinguish Him from the many false gods of the world. One must learn also to understand God's plan for the salvation of mankind, The first man, Adam, was just like us. He did not understand the plan of salvation until it was taught to him. One day, when he was offering sacrifice outside of the Garden of Eden, an angel appeared to him. The angel told Adam many things about the Fall, and sin, and death. These things we shall learn more about later. The important thing to learn now is this: Because of the fall of Adam and Eve, it became necessary to send Someone to the earth to lay down His life for the salvation of men.

The divine mission of Jesus.

God selected our Elder Brother Jesus, to perform this noble mission. He came to the earth—the Only Begotten of the Father—and taught men, took their sins upon Himself, and finally allowed His life to be taken to redeem mankind from the effects of the fall in the Garden of Eden. Was Jesus, then, merely a great leader, a great teacher, a great philosopher? He was all that, to be sure. But He was also more than that. He was—He is—the Only Begotten Son of the Father, the Savior of the world. To know Jesus Christ whom God hath sent, is to accept the divine mission of Jesus, to believe that He is really the Christ. This is life eternal, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent.

A third step.

Now we understand, in part, what it means to know God and Jesus Christ. But a third step is necessary before one can claim complete knowledge. If a man should claim to know the principles of the telephone, then should try to talk to someone at a distance without connecting the wires with the transmitting instrument, should you believe that he really knew what he claimed to know? Would you not rather think, "If this man understood and recognized the principles of the telephone, he would do what they require?"