Lord, Liar, or Lunatic?

Why is it that you can talk about God, and nobody gets upset, but as soon as you mention Jesus, people often want to stop the conversation? Why is it that the very name of Jesus seems to bother people, making them feel embarrass and angry, and even make them want to change the subject? Why don't the names of Buddha, Muhammad, or Confucius offend people the way the name of Jesus does? Why have men and women down through the ages been divided about the question, who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus Christ? Unlike the question, "Does God exist?” very few people have questioned whether Jesus Christ existed. It is generally accepted that Jesus was truly a man who walked on the earth in Israel almost 2000 years ago. The debate begins when the subject of Jesus' full identity is discussed. Almost every major religion teaches that Jesus was a prophet, or a good teacher, or a godly man. The problem is, the Bible tells us that Jesus was infinitely more than a prophet, a good teacher, or a godly man.

C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity writes the following: "I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [Jesus Christ]: '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 a level with a 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 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 up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to."

Hence, believing Jesus to be a good teacher is not an option. It's either you believe that Jesus is a liar and therefore, a lunatic, or He is indeed, God. You have to make one decision.

Source: gotquestions.org, More than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell.

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