How can Jesus be relevant to non-Christians?
Short answer - by being the example on how to live a life of service and devotion to mankind.
Long answer - The Bible is a collection of books that was first compiled in the 1611 by King James (hence the King James version). At that time most, if not all of the writings were in a language that was long dead, or had changed dramatically over the centuries. It was the task of those that compiled it to get at least two different language versions of each book and try and decipher what the text meant by comparing the two versions. Even in that time, there was great discussion on the meanings of different parts. For example some scholars took a word an interpreted it to mean "brother" while others interpreted it as "male family member", so that in the Gospels, where it talks about Jesus' brothers, some believe that it means that Mary had other children who were physical brothers to Jesus; while others believe that it refers to Jesus' uncles and cousins. There is no definitive answer because even in 1611 it was an educated guess on it's meaning. My point is that much of the Bible is up for interpretation based on the values, and needs of the individual. Did Jesus come to forgive sin, or abolish sin? I have read it both ways, in different versions, and it takes a totally different meaning depending on which version you ascribe to .
For me, my journey and search for answers led me to look, not at what is literally written, but what was the context of the passages when viewed from the perspective of the times that it portrays. If you look at the conditions and way of life in Judea at the time of Christ, you would see that there was massive corruption within the church. Each individual would have to go to the priest, and the priest would decide the level of atonement that was necessary; then you would have to go into the outer temple and purchase an animal that coincided with your level of atonement and present it to the priest at the entrance to the inner temple; who would then sacrifice said animal, and you would be forgiven. Most people spent their entire lives working to pay for the sacrifices demanded by the priests, and had forgotten what it was to really live the word of God. Jesus was born into these conditions; lived an immaculate life; then became the perfect sacrifice so that no other sacrifice was ever needed again. To me, this is line with the interpretation that He came to abolish sin, because he has paid the price for all sin, now and in the future; so that now we can free ourselves from the need to "repent" and can concentrate on the real message - living a life of service and peace.
So how is Jesus relevant to non-Christians? He leveled the playing field and set the example of how to live, not just for Christians (because Jesus was not Christian), but for all people!
