I have heard many people say that Jesus was a high spirit, or a good role model, a good teacher, a prophet, etc, but they don’t acknowledge Him as God. However, Jesus Himself affirmed that He was God.
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Jesus’ words and actions shows us that:
- He called Himself the son of God, making Himself equal to God (check this post).
- He forgave sins, which only God can do (see Mark 2:5-12).
- He has characteristics that are only attributed to God. He has absolute power (see Matthew 28:18, John 13:3), omniscience (see John 16:30), omnipresence (see Matthew 18:20) and eternity (see Colossians 1:17).
- He accepted worship, which is allowed only to God (see Matthew 14:33, Philippians 2:10-11, Hebrews 1:6).
The authors of the New Testament had no doubt in their minds about the divinity of Jesus: see John 1:1, Romans 9:5, Philippians 2:6, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:8, 1 John 5:20.
In “Mere Christianity”, one of my favorite books, the author C. S. Lewis brought up what later became known as Lewis’s trilemma. Josh McDowell also wrote about this trilemma in the excellent book “More than a carpenter”. They argue that if Jesus affirmed that He was God, He can only be:
- Wrong: if He was wrong about such important affirmation, He was either lying (He knew that He wasn’t saying the truth, but He said it anyway), or He was a mad man (He wasn’t saying the truth but He thought He was), none of which would qualify Him as a good teacher or a high spirit. In fact He would be someone to be avoided.
- Right: If He wasn’t neither mad nor a liar with bad intentions, then He could only be telling the truth. So He was God, even if that affirmation seems impossible at first.
There is no third option here. There is no “half-right” or “half-wrong” about such an important issue.
In his book, Josh McDowell also make a good point about the legitimacy of the accounts about Jesus. You may argue that the accounts I quoted are legends, but Josh asks: who would die for a lie?
Jesus died because He was fulfilling the will of God. He died for the truth He preached.
Also, the persecution and death of many Christians in the first century, most of them eye witnesses of the events registered in the Gospels (see 2 Peter 1:16-18), are still a strong testimony to us today.
History tells us about the cruel way the Christians were executed in front of cheering audiences, and still they didn’t deny Jesus.
If they were there, if they saw Him before and after His resurrection, there would be no denying it: they knew the truth and it was worth dying for. If, however, they had even a hint of suspicion that it could be a sham, why would they risk their lives and even die for a lie?
You may not believe it at all. You may disregard it completely. But don’t say Jesus was a good teacher, a prophet, a high spirit. He was either mad, bad or God.
If you believe that He existed and you give His words any credit, you will come to one conclusion: He was saying the truth, so He was God indeed. Even if it sounds crazy.
This is the most important conclusion of your life. Real madness would be to just ignore it.
This post is part of the “One Word at a Time Blog Carnival” hosted by Peter Pollock. Check out his blog for links to other posts that were written based on the word “madness”.
Lee Strobel made the same point as Josh McDowell in “The Case for Christ”. I was already a believer when I read it, yet somehow I found that point earth shattering.
I have that book in my to-read list. I’ve heard good things about all books from the “The case for …” series from Lee Strobel, but unfortunately I haven’t read any of them yet. I need to push them up my virtual pile of waiting-to-be-read books.
The first time I read about Lewis’s “trilemma” I was impressed too, and I kept wondering how come no one thought about it before. It seemed so obvious yet it was so surprising.
I have that book in my to-read list. I’ve heard good things about all books from the “The case for …” series from Lee Strobel, but unfortunately I haven’t read any of them yet. I need to push them up my virtual pile of waiting-to-be-read books.
The first time I read about Lewis’s “trilemma” I was impressed too, and I kept wondering how come no one thought about it before. It seemed so obvious yet it was so surprising.
So true, “there is no third option”. Jesus is who he said he is. He is the son of God and Savior of the World.
I’m pleased to read your post. Thanks for your comment on my blog.
Amem!
Thank you for your visit and your comment here too!
Simple faith to believe that God’s word is true and that what is written there is enough to save us from our sins and get us to heaven.
Thank God for that! His love is amazing!
One common occurrence in our day and age that could be compared to the worship and trust of Christ by the newest believers. In their time, they took the torture and persecution and death w/o denying Him. Not going for the throats of the executors or grabbing others to go with them Today, when the Muslims [or some other religious extremists] are willing to die for their “god”, they commit suicide and kill as many others as possible on their own way to their god’s paradise. Our enemy takes the Truth and the Word and history and twists it to try to convince others that it’s all normal and common throughout all these hundreds and hundreds of years and through today. I’m glad we know the Truth and I’m hoping more and more can be turned to Him and thoroughly convinced.
Thanks, Cris.
There is still one different and special thing about some of the early christians: they were eye witnesses. They weren’t convinced by anyone, they saw Jesus, they met Him. They saw the day turn into night when he died, they saw the earthquake, and then they saw Him come back alive. If they were willing to die for what they witnessed, their testimony is much stronger.
I was thinking too re: the first century or so after Christianity began. Two or three generations since the witnesses or the foundation of churches through Paul and the other apostles/disciples. Recent enough history that the details were clearly recalled. When the 3-400s passed, the confusion and other power struggles, even among the Christian world, began to tear it down and push the followers into darkness. It was one tough stretch of time. And it’s been back and forth ever since. I was studying the Mongolian history a few years ago and when Genghis Khan and his warriors were going to eastern Russia, back in the 1200s, the church thought that the Second Coming was all that could save them. Anyhow, watching the ups and downs for all these hundreds of years is rather interesting, to say the least.
Blessings. Interesting discussions.
Joanne, yes, it is very interesting. I have recently bought a book about the history of the Church, that is indeed a subject that I want to read more about.
Very interesting facts you mentioned, I didn’t know that about the christians in the time of Genghis Khan.
As you said, there were ups and downs and it seems that the church grows more spiritually when it is facing persecution, doesn’t it? Take a look at China, for instance. The last 50 years were the period that the church has grown the most there…
That would be an interesting subject for a post… 😉