“Who is this Jesus?” A recent issue of U.S. News & World Report has Jesus on the cover and claims that “America is once again rethinking the Messiah.” The article in this issue addresses the runaway popularity of the book titled The DaVinci Code and discusses the centuries old debate around Christ’s identity. But why is there so much disagreement, even conflict, over the identity of this one person? After all, isn’t Jesus just like all the other religious leaders of history, someone who offered some teachings and collected a band of followers?
"... the claims of Jesus in the Bible leave us with only two options. We either believe his claim or we reject it... "
Well yes, in that sense Jesus was just like all the other religious leaders, but he was also very different in one respect. Jesus was different, because he made a special claim that none of the other religious leaders made. Jesus claimed to be God. He said that, “If you have seen me, then you’ve seen the Father. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) That’s the reason there is so much conflict over his identity, that’s the reason men and women have debated for centuries about who Jesus is.
Buddha didn’t make that claim, neither did Mohammed or Confucius. But Jesus said, “I AM the Way, and the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through me.” (John 14:6) Jesus claimed to be God come to earth and that his death on the cross would bring forgiveness of sin to all who would receive it as a free gift. That’s why there’s so much controversy, because the claims of Jesus in the Bible leave us with only two options. We either believe his claim or we reject it, and everyone must decide for themselves whether Jesus really is God.
And for some, Jesus’ claim to divinity is way too far fetched. The notion of God being born in a stable is more than they can get their mind around, so many simply label him as a great religious teacher and dismiss his claim to divinity. And it’s true, Jesus was a great teacher. The ethical teachings of Jesus are without equal, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Matthew 7:12) His Sermon on the Mount is recognized by Christians and non-Christians alike as one of the most brilliant moral essays in all of history.
Yet, it’s because of his brilliance that we can’t simply label him a great teacher. You see great teachers don’t lie, and Jesus insisted that he was God. A great moral educator wouldn’t allow others to believe that he was God and encourage them to rely upon him for salvation if it wasn’t true. A good teacher would present the truth and give his students help in this life, not fill their heads with nonsense about the forgiveness of sin through his death and resurrection.
Jesus even allowed others to treat him as God, receiving their worship. Do you remember the week before his crucifixion he paraded into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and the crowd chanted “Hosanna in the highest!”? (Luke 19), praise due only to God. So we’re boxed into a corner, because we all know that a great moral teacher wouldn’t knowingly lie to people about his identity. So he’s either God, just as he claimed, or he was a brilliant liar, but he can’t be both.
Could he have been a liar though? Could he have been born to a poor carpenter and his wife, in a small insignificant town in a tiny nation and at the age of 30 began preaching in the countryside, developing a following, only to spin what is possibly the single largest hoax in all of human history? That’s a little hard to believe. In fact, I find it harder to believe in his success as a liar than in his claim to deity. The liars theory just doesn’t make sense to me. Small lies aren’t easy to cover up; imagine covering the grandest of lies, a claim to divinity. On top of that, imagine large crowds following you around for 3 years listening to your teaching and religious scholars scrutinizing your every word and working to try and trap you so that they can discredit you. Imagine how hard it would have been to spin a lie that elaborate and not get caught. How could he have kept it all straight without being found out or just collapsing under the shear weight of the criticism?
And that’s why the liars theory doesn’t make sense to me because Jesus doesn’t have a liars M.O. (modus operandi). Liars, especially of this magnitude, are inconsistent and confusing, because they are constantly having to back track and adjust the story to fit reality. Yet nothing about what Jesus has to say sounds like double speak. While liars always have to spin the truth, one of the most notable elements of Jesus’ character is his brazen honesty. Even while hanging on the cross, he remains perfectly consistent in his message, promising to meet the thief hanging next to him in paradise. Liars don’t act like this. Liars coerce and connive and manipulate, so that they don’t end up on a cross.
The notion that Jesus is a liar doesn’t fit. Of course now some suggest that maybe he was self-deceived, meaning that he was crazy and didn’t realize he was telling lies. After all, people can be sincere, and still be sincerely wrong. Maybe he was out of his mind and just didn’t know any better. Maybe he was a lunatic like David Koresh or Jim Jones, claiming to be God, and completely believing the non-sense. That would explain his behavior wouldn’t it?
No it wouldn’t. When Charles Manson makes the claims to deity we discount him because he’s obviously unstable. He’s crazy and no one doubts it, but Jesus demonstrated perfect emotional balance and health, even in the face of some of life’s worst ordeals. If you or I have a bad day at work, then we’re tempted to take it out on the family, the slightest bit of pressure in our lives causes us to act out, we buckle under the pressure and our behavior changes accordingly. But Jesus remained perfectly consistent, calm and collected, even in face of life’s worst possible experiences.
Take his trial for example, with people accusing him, beating him and pressing him to simply change his story and give up his claim to deity, Jesus refuses and appears unflappable as his life hangs in the balance. In fact, while others would have snapped in anger and bitterness at being betrayed by friends and falsely accused Jesus responds in kindness, considering the needs of others. On the cross he cries out Father forgive them because they don’t understand what they are doing. Then he spots his mother in the crowd, while he’s hanging on the cross and he calls out to his friend John, who is also looking on, and asks that he would take care of her after he’s gone. Jesus is anything but crazy, unless you consider kindness and mercy in the face of mistreatment and torture crazy.
Remember, Jesus wasn’t crucified because he was tried and found to be a liar or because he was crazy and made no sense. Jesus was crucified because the religious elite were threatened by the credibility of his claim and the obvious sanity in his personality, which they felt were a threat to their power. If you remember, the Roman authority Pilate washed his hands of the whole thing, not wanting to be implicated in the wrongful death of an innocent man, but too politically savvy to disappoint the Jews.
So as I survey the short list of possibilities, Jesus can’t possibly be a liar because a liar would do his best to avoid crucifixion and Jesus willingly dies for us. Jesus can’t possibly be crazy either because crazy people buckle under pressure, especially the type of pressure he experienced. The only answer available to the question “Who is this Jesus?” is that he is God. The prophet Isaiah was right, this is Immanuel, “God with us.” And as hard as it can be to get our finite minds to understand the infinite reality of God dieing on a cross for us, that is the power of the Christian message. And if you have never opened your life to God, then I want to encourage you to pray and receive his Jesus. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the gift of God to mankind. Don’t refuse the gift. It’s a simple prayer saying, God I’ve recognize your coming as baby to this earth and your death and resurrection for me as a gift. I receive your gift. Thank You.
If you have questions about Jesus, please contact us immediately. We love to help people find and follow Jesus Christ.
Kelly Brady, Senior Pastor
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