During the past century and most recently in the 1990s, controversy has surfaced about the “historical Jesus.”   A book entitled In Search of the Historical Jesus (1969) by Harvey K. McArthur lifts up the complexities of such a quest, and even before this book was written, Albert Schweitzer wrote A Quest of the Historical Jesus in 1910.  Other books and articles followed, leading to our present time when writers such as J.D. Crosson and Marcus Borg boldly raise questions that cause lively debate among Biblical scholars and faithful Sunday church-going Christians alike.

Last month I wrote in this space about the novel In His Steps, written by Charles Sheldon in 1897.  The book tells of a congregation that vows to faithfully follow Jesus for a year.  The question arises: “How will we know if we are following in His steps?”  

How will we know? What do we know of Jesus?

This question is fundamental to our faith as Christians.  It is a question that for me is framed best in the context of a search, a quest.

I believe that the most important thing that we can do in our faith journey is to personally revisit this question.  “What do I know of Jesus?  Who is Jesus to me?”

We continue our search in many ways— through the reading and hearing of scripture, through prayer and singing, through conversations in Bible Study and Sunday School.

We continue our search, our quest, because we resonate with the words of the Psalmist:  “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God!”  (Psalm 42:1)

We continue our Quest because we need to know for ourselves who Jesus is.   

No theologian, no writer, no Biblical scholar or preacher or teacher can answer this question for us.  We must do the searching.  We must be the ones who seek.