Leadership in the New Testament Issues Faced by Christ and Outcomes Achieved

Biblical Character Analysis
Abstract
Leadership in the New Testament is best exemplified by Christ, Who embodies various leadership styles, but especially transformative leadership and servant leadership. He also embraces authentic leadership, as He leads by example. He presents a vision of what He wants His followers to become, and He serves their interests by supporting them, giving them the courage they need, and even getting out of the way so they can become leaders.
Jesus Christ is the central leader and figure in the New Testament and thus serves as a good example of leadership. Christ faced various issues during His public life. These included: 1) being questioned by the Pharisees about His true nature; 2) resisting the temptation to submit to Satan; 3) convincing His skeptical followers that He was the Messiah by performing various miracles, such as calming the storm, walking on water, the miracles of the loaves and fishes, the miracle of the bursting nets, the transfiguration, raising of Lazarus and so on; and 4) the issue of doing God’s will and fulfilling His purpose through death on the cross. This paper will show how Christ faced these issues when dealing with various publics, the manner in which these issues were handled, and the consequences of the choices made.
When Christ was questioned by the Pharisees, they wanted to know how He could call Himself God since He appeared poor, ate with sinners, and was so unlike what they had expected in a Messiah. Christ did not fit their pre-conceived notion of what a savior would be. They anticipated a worldly savior who would restore the Jews to what they believed to be their rightful position as kings of the earth. Christ preached a heavenly kingdom, and they were not satisfied with this message (Levine, 2016). Christ did not cave to the pressure they put on Him. Rather, he challenged them right back. They accused Him of casting out devils by Beelzebub, and He said to them that if He cast out devils by Beelzebub then by whom did their children cast them out? When they accused Him of pretending to be God by forgiving sins, He asked them which was easier, to heal a man of sickness or to forgive his sins? He whipped the money changers out of the temple to show that it was the place of God and not a den of thieves, and when one of them named Nicodemus had legitimately genuine questions Christ went to him at night so as not to bring scandal to Nicodemus but to ensure that Nicodemus received the answers he sought. In this manner, Christ responded to those around Him with firmness and strength, never flailing or doubting Himself. Christ responded to the challenges both publicly and privately. With the Pharisees who were of ill will, Christ responded publicly. With Nicodemus, who was of good will and wanted to learn more of what Christ had to teach but wanted to do so away from prying eyes, Christ was sympathetic and met with him at night when no one was watching. Christ answered the prayers of those who had faith in Him and neglected to respond to no one. He was always available. The consequence of this was that He won Himself a following and established a legacy for Himself that would last more than 2000 years.
Christ knew that He had to give an example to man on how to live in order to get to Heaven, so He spent time fasting and praying in the desert for 40 days. At the end of that time, He was tempted by Satan. The temptations consisted of elements of the flesh, pride, and political power (Pelser, 2019). Christ was able to resist them all because He had prepared Himself beforehand by praying and fasting in the desert. His flesh and will were made strong and firm through the Spartan existence that Christ insisted on—so He was not weak in character, mind or strength. He could resist the temptations and remain true to His mission that His Father had given Him. To handle this matter, though, Christ had to discipline Himself and prepare: He knew He would be challenged spiritually and so he brought His own will into alignment with that of the Father in anticipation of this event. The consequence of it all was that He was able to tell Satan to get away, and Satan had no choice but to leave, finding that his ploy did not work.
Christ also had to win over His disciples. His disciples were doubtful all along the way; even though they saw the miracles Christ performed they found it hard to continue to believe in Him for long. Thus, when a storm arose at sea, they were swept up with fear and roused Him to save them. Another time, Christ used the seas to fill the fishermen’s nets with fish, and used this as a sign, telling them that now they catch fish but in the future they will catch men. He turned water into wine as His first public miracle at His mother’s request, brought Lazarus back from the dead to end the sorrow of His friends, and even foretold Peter of the latter’s betrayal. Christ never stopped giving everything He had to His followers in an attempt to make them strong. He even washed their feet, an act of total humility. Christ was not just a transformational leader, He was also a servant leader—meaning He put Himself at the service of others. Yet, at the same time, He knew that they would never be strong enough to stand on their own two feet until He left them and sent the Holy Spirit to them. He had allow them to learn to fly on their own, but to keep them going in the right direction He promised to be with them spiritually, and thus He kept the connection alive even while He allowed them to go off and fulfill the mission He gave to them. He had a deep emotional intelligence, as Yngvason, Jonasson and Ingason (2013) have shown. The consequence of this was that He established His church and that it has survived for centuries. He laid the foundation for His followers, and then gave them the strength and courage to go out and become leaders on their own.
Finally, Christ faced the ultimate challenge of His life, which was to accept the crucifixion that would act as the redeeming grace for man. He did not want to have to do this and his agony in the garden in anticipation of His passion was proof of His human desire to escape this sacrifice. However, He prayed that if it was His Father’s will then He would do it. He thus fortified Himself with prayer and then set about fulfilling the mission that was given Him. It was a horrible mission of pain and suffering and humiliation. But He did not attempt to get away from it. Instead, He embraced it all the way through to its conclusion. He handled it with courage, grace, and charity. He never lashed out at anyone, and He continued giving support to others along the way. He even asked for forgiveness for those who persecuted Him. He was the perfect example of charity at every step. He converted many people in this manner: for example, He healed the ear of the soldier when Peter cut it off; He brought the good thief with Him to Heaven when the thief asked to be remembered; He gave John to His Mother and ensured that they would have each other. He neglected no one and performed His duties of ministering to the world all the way up to His final breath. It was an inspiration and the consequence of this level of devotion to duty was that His legacy has been the most enduring of any leader to have ever lived. No other leader on earth has had the legacy that Christ has enjoyed.
In conclusion, Jesus Christ is an example of a leader who stands out as the epitome of leadership in the New Testament. He gives a vision of holiness through His tireless examples of fasting and praying, resisting temptation, answering the Pharisees, developing His followers, and doing His duty. There is never a moment in His public life where He fails to give all to those around Him.
References
Levine, A. J. (2016). Mary Marshall. The Portrayals of the Pharisees in the Gospels and Acts. Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations, 11(1).
Pelser, A. C. (2019). Temptation, Virtue, and the Character of Christ. Faith and Philosophy, 36(1), 81-101.
Yngvason, Y. R., Jonasson, H. I., & Ingason, H. T. (2013). Jesus Christ as a project leader. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 74, 398-407.