Was Jesus Lord?

I cannot personally conclude that Jesus was a liar or a lunatic. The only alternative is that he was – and is – the Christ, the Son of God, as he claimed. But in spite of the logic and evidence, many people cannot seem to bring themselves to this conclusion.

The issue with these three alternatives is not which is possible, for obviously all three are possible. Rather, the question is, “Which is most probable?” You cannot put him on the shelf merely as a great moral teacher. That is not a valid option. He is either a liar, a lunatic or Lord and God. You must make a choice. Your decision about Jesus must be more than an idle intellectual exercise. As the apostle John wrote, “these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and” – more important – “that by believing in him you will have life.” (John 20:31)

Remember, Jesus died on the cross. Who in the world is willing to pay this huge price for us and worst still, if he knew he was a fake?

The evidence, therefore, is clearly in favour of Jesus as Lord.

Why is the question over Jesus’ true identity so important? Why does it matter whether or not Jesus is God?

The most important reason that Jesus has to be God is that if He is not God, His death would not have been sufficient to pay the penalty for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). Only God could pay such an infinite penalty (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus had to be God so that He could pay our debt. Jesus had to be man so He could die. Salvation is available only through faith in Jesus Christ! Jesus’ deity is why He is the only way of salvation. Jesus’ deity is why He proclaimed, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

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

Was Jesus a Lunatic?

Extracted from "More Than A Carpenter" by Josh McDowell.

If we find it inconceivable that Jesus was a liar, then couldn’t he actually have mistakenly thought himself to be God? After all, it’s possible to be both sincere and wrong. But we must remember that for someone to mistakenly think himself God, especially in the context of a fiercely monotheistic culture, and then to tell others that their eternal destiny depended on believing in him, is no small flight of fancy but the delusions and ravings of an outright lunatic. It is possible that Jesus Christ was deranged?

Today we would treat someone who believes himself to be God the same way we would treat someone who believes he is Napoleon. We would see him as deluded and self-deceived. We would lock him up so that he wouldn’t hurt himself or anyone else. Yet in Jesus, we don’t observe the abnormalities and imbalance that go along with such derangement. If he was insane, his poise and composure was nothing short of amazing.

Psychologist Gary R. Collins explains that Jesus “was loving but didn’t let his compassion immobilise him; he didn’t have a bloated ego, even though he was often surrounded by adoring crowds; he maintained balance despite an often demanding lifestyle; he always knew what he was doing and where he was going; he cared deeply about people, including women and children, who weren’t seen as important back then; he was able t accept people while not merely winking at their sin; he responded to individuals based on where they were at and what they uniquely needed. All in all, I just don’t see any signs that Jesus was suffering from any known mental illness… He was much healthier than anyone else I know – including me!”

Next: Was Jesus Lord?

Was Jesus a Liar?

Extracted from "More Than A Carpenter" By Josh McDowell.

If, when Jesus made his claims, he knew that he was not God, then he was lying and deliberately deceiving his followers. But if he was a liar, then he was also a hypocrite because he taught others to be honest whatever the cost. Worse than that, if he was lying, he was a demon because he told others to trust him for their eternal destiny. If he couldn’t back up his claims and knew it, then he was unspeakably evil for deceiving his followers with such a false hope. Last, he would also be a fool because his claims to being God led to his crucifixion – claims he could backed away from to save himself even at the last minute.

It amazes me to hear so many people say Jesus was simply a good moral teacher. Let’s be realistic. How could he be a great moral teacher and knowingly mislead people at the most important point of his teaching – his own identity?

To conclude that Jesus was a deliberate liar doesn’t coincide with what we know either of him or of the results of his life and teachings. Wherever Jesus has been proclaimed, we see lives change for the good, nations change for the better, thieves become honest, alcoholics become sober, hateful individuals become channels of love, and unjust persons embrace justice.

Historian Philip Schaff gives a convincing argument against Christ’s being a liar: “How in the name of logic, common sense, and experience, could an imposter – that is deceitful, selfish, depraved man – have invented, and consistently maintained from the beginning to end, the purest and noblest character known in history with the most perfect air of truth and reality? How could he have conceived and carried out a plan of unparalleled beneficence, moral magnitude and sublimity, and sacrificed his own life for it, in the face of the strongest prejudices of his people and age?”

If Jesus wanted to get people to follow him and believe in him as God, why did he go to the Jewish nation? Why go as a common carpenter in an undistinguished village in a country so small in size and population? Why go to a country that so thoroughly adhered to the concept of one God? Why didn’t he got to Egypt, or even Greece, where they already believed in various gods and various manifestations of them?

Someone who lived as Jesus lived, taught as Jesus taught, and died as Jesus died could not have been a liar.

Next: Was Jesus a lunatic?

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.

Next: Was Jesus a liar?