A Lunatic or The Son of God?
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
C. S. Lewis makes a good point. The Bible quotes Jesus as making some interesting claims.
John’s gospel records,
“The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
I and the Father are one.”
Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” John 10:24-32.
Note Jesus claimed to be one with God the Father something that outraged the Jews around him, to the point where they wanted to stone him.
Jesus speaking to the apostle Thomas said,
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.
Again this is a strong statement. Jesus implying He was the way to heaven.
Matthew records this conversation between Peter and Jesus,
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” Matthew 16:13-17.
Note Jesus said it was His Heavenly Father that showed Peter who Jesus was. Again claiming to be the Son of God.
Jesus speaking to Martha said,
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,” John 11:25,26,27.
For Jesus to make the claim that He is the Christ the Son of God in the day and age he lived in. In the Jewish society in which He lived was potentially dangerous.
Equating one’s self with God was a blasphemous belief punishable by death. Yet Jesus did not back down from saying He was The Son of God.
What I would ask you the reader is, who do you think Jesus is? Take time to read the New Testament for yourself and see what it says about Jesus. Don’t rely on what others say. Read for yourself what Christians believe and then decide for yourself.
Please think about it.
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
C. S. Lewis makes a good point. The Bible quotes Jesus as making some interesting claims.
John’s gospel records,
“The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
I and the Father are one.”
Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” John 10:24-32.
Note Jesus claimed to be one with God the Father something that outraged the Jews around him, to the point where they wanted to stone him.
Jesus speaking to the apostle Thomas said,
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.
Again this is a strong statement. Jesus implying He was the way to heaven.
Matthew records this conversation between Peter and Jesus,
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” Matthew 16:13-17.
Note Jesus said it was His Heavenly Father that showed Peter who Jesus was. Again claiming to be the Son of God.
Jesus speaking to Martha said,
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,” John 11:25,26,27.
For Jesus to make the claim that He is the Christ the Son of God in the day and age he lived in. In the Jewish society in which He lived was potentially dangerous.
Equating one’s self with God was a blasphemous belief punishable by death. Yet Jesus did not back down from saying He was The Son of God.
What I would ask you the reader is, who do you think Jesus is? Take time to read the New Testament for yourself and see what it says about Jesus. Don’t rely on what others say. Read for yourself what Christians believe and then decide for yourself.
Please think about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment