Who would you say is the most important Briton who ever lived? Many people would think of Winston Churchill or William Shakespeare.
There is another name that is not so well-known. Do you remember what Edward Jenner did?
He was the doctor who discovered and promoted vaccination. In 1796 he experimented with the disease cowpox, a viral infection of cows. He realized that farmers who had been affected by it were immune from smallpox, a disease that affected humans. Smallpox had been a great scourge of mankind, particularly children. In those days, in Europe, 400,000 people died annually of smallpox and 30 percent of survivors went blind.
Of course, as you might expect, for the first decade, Jenner was reviled and then honored in more or less equal measure. Today, some would reasonably claim that Jenner saved more human lives than any other person in history. That certainly has to be a claim to fame.
My mind reflects back a lot farther to the days when an incredible man walked near the Sea of Galilee in Israel. With great compassion He reached out to touch the untouchables of the time — lepers, the outcasts of society. He called blind people aside to restore their sight. His outstretched arms welcomed children, widows, prisoners, beggars, the grieving and so many others. He brought compassion and healing to so many of that day. But He is known for a much greater deed.
Though He was the Son of God from heaven, He allowed Himself to be taken outside the city walls of Jerusalem, and there He was crucified. It wasn’t a surprise. He had said it would happen. In fact, the prophets, five hundred years before, said it would happen.
He was called “the Lamb of God.” Jesus was judged and rejected by His contemporaries, but God also made Jesus accountable for my sin, as a sacrificial lamb. I can say with the Apostle Paul, “The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:2020I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)).
How many lives — souls — has He saved? It must be measureless! In every city around the world, in every age, in every situation, we find people who honor Him for His love. For me, the Lord Jesus is the most important man to have ever lived. And, without question, He has saved the most lives.
Importantly, He still lives. The resurrection of Jesus is a historical fact. And please note, the Bible says, “He is able also to save them [completely] that come unto God by Him” (Hebrews 7:2525Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)). Check it for yourself.