If you have to choose between a savior and a teacher, the savior wins, hands down. At least that is the Christian view, where Jesus as Savior appears to overshadow Jesus as Teacher. The great religions of the world all provide teachers of profound ethical wisdom. Only Christianity announces a Savior who dies in the repentant sinner’s place.

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. (Matt. 10:8)

At some point in one’s life, one is likely to be confronted with one’s mortality. Often one may ask: “Have I been all that I should have and could have been? Have I done all I could have done and should have done?” Often, one may find the answer to these questions uncomfortable.

In my freshman year of college, a professor handed us a piece of paper with a two- or three- sentence paragraph and told us to count the number of times a particular letter occurred, for example the letter H. I counted carefully and was confident that there were a total of six, only to be told that there were actually nine.