He was born in an obscure village, the son of a peasant woman.

He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter’s shop until he was thirty.

Then for three years he became a wandering preacher.

He never wrote a book.

He never held an office.

He never had a family or owned a home.

He didn’t go to college.

He never visited a big city.

He never travelled more than two hundred miles from the place where he was born.

He did none of those things we usually associate with greatness.

He had no credentials but himself.

He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him.

His friends ran away.

He was turned over to his enemies and went through a mockery of a trial.

He was executed by the state.

He was nailed to across between two thieves.

While he was dying, his executioners gambled for the only property he had on earth, his coat.

When he was dead he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind’s progress.

All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as much as that One Solitary Life.

The greatest man in history had no servants, yet they called Him Master.

He had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.

He had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.

He had no army, yet kings feared Him.

He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

His name is Jesus.