Whether we are aware of it or not, the search for transcendence compels the direction of most of our lives. Surely the resurgence in spirituality, particularly in the West, reveals that each of us longs to be united to someone or something greater than ourselves. However, sometimes this search for transcendence is not necessarily embarked upon as a search for God, but rather an escape from our world.
Those who follow this religious path often investigate Buddhism, for its teachings claim to offer the follower the means to end suffering and desire through meditation and its disciplines. In fact, sojourners on this path attempt to rid themselves not only of the very human desire to be united to someone beyond ourselves, but even the very idea of the self. But can we really escape the reality that we are individuals, uniquely created to know love and to desire relationship? And moreover, is not the attempt to escape the shackles of our humanity in itself a desire?
This desire to escape is also voiced by many searching for “peak” experiences, whether through skydiving or another sexual encounter. Consider, for example, the world of extreme sports: It beckons the participant to take serious risks, conquer danger and pain, and in doing so, find something that is missing in everyday existence. And yet I am reminded of what I have heard my colleague Ravi Zacharias say on occasion. Says Ravi: “The loneliest moment in life is when you’ve just experienced the ultimate, and it’s let you down.” Yes, we can go from peak experience to peak experience, but none last, and we are left longing for more.
So what — or who — is big enough to capture this longing for transcendence? Many people claim to have the answer, but few actually declare that THEY ARE the answer. Yet a carpenter son’s did just that, and we encounter Him in the pages of the New Testament time and again beckoning us to come and to see.
Listen to these words about Jesus in Luke, chapter 4: “The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’“
The enormity of Jesus’ words! He had come “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners” and “to release the oppressed.” Yet he provides more than a way of escape. For in declaring, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” Jesus declares that he himself is the fulfillment of all that we long for.
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Copyright © 2004 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. “A Slice of Infinity” is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.