Believing in God can be a huge challenge for people. Believing that we are not all just a bunch of happy accidents living our accidental lives on a happy accident of a planet can be a lot for people to accept. There are many, many arguments to be made and cases to be presented for the existence of God. Some are deeply theosophical, some are very logical, and some are more emotional. For the Christian, along with these somewhat-abstract arguments is the fact that Jesus embodied, exampled, and enabled people to actually experience God in the flesh (John 1.14, 14.8-9).
What did Jesus say about Himself then? Did He actually claim to be God? Did He say that everything that God is, He was too? Many people claim that Jesus was not actually God, but simply a great teacher. In the words of C.S. Lewis, “That is one thing we must not say”. Recently I read this,
“Jesus [did claim] to be God. His claim is either true or false. If it is true…He is God. If the claim is false, then either He said it knowing it was false, in which case He is a liar, or He said it not knowing it was false, in which case He was mad. Therefore, we are left with three logical options: He is either God, or a liar, or a lunatic”.
Did you catch that in there? Jesus is either God, a liar, or mad. This is often phrased as Jesus either being a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.
Was Jesus a liar?
Was Jesus a lunatic?
Or is Jesus Lord of all, God in the flesh?
He can’t be a liar, can He? If He was simply a great teacher, a great moral example of what man can be when empowered from on high, then surely this kind of man would not knowingly tell lies about who He is?
He can’t be a lunatic, can He? Jesus taught profound truths, found deep meaning within everyday rhythms and routines. Jesus teaching is, so I read, the quintessence of sanity.
That only leaves one option, doesn’t it, that Jesus is Lord. Jesus is God.
As we move through Luke and see what Jesus said about Himself, about the world around Him, and about others, consider these categories and how you would describe Him:
“If Jesus claims to be God and the claim is true,
then He is God;
and if He claims to be God and the claim is false,
then He was a liar or a lunatic.”
James Travis 