Who is Jesus?
There is one Person in the world around which everything revolves. His birthday is the dividing point for most of the world calendars (although the Gregorian calendar is off by about four years from human error). History is recorded as B.C. and A.D. The letters B.C. stand for “Before Christ” and A.D. stands for Anno Domini, which is the Latin for “The Year of our Lord.”
There have been thousands of lives seeking to curse the name of Jesus and thousands who have been converted trying to prove the existence of or the resurrection of Jesus. Who is Jesus? He is either a liar, lunatic, or He is Lord. There are no other perspectives.
Is He a Liar? Maybe what He said was not true. Maybe when He said, ““I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me,” (John 14:6) He was not really sincere or truthful. How can someone say there is no other way to God except through Him? You would have to either have a very high view of yourself, or you could be lying. Maybe the stories He told were not true, or some of them were a stretch of the truth.
When the Chief Priests and Scribes deceitfully sent spies to find a means by which to accuse Him, they said, ““Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:” (Luke 20:21) Their hypocrisy was obvious to anyone who was objectively watching and listening.
Jesus made an issue of His truthfulness. He contrasted His own character especially related to the enemy,
- 40 “But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
- 41 “You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father– God.”
- 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
- 43 “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.
- 44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
- 45 “But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
- 46 “Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? (John 8:40-46)
The issue was plainly made by Jesus in his conversation with Pilate,
- 37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
- 38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all. (John 18:37-38)
You have to make the decision. Either Jesus was telling the truth, or He was the best liar in history and has deceived more than any other person on record. There is another possibility.
Was Jesus a Lunatic? The term lunatic refers to someone who is “mentally ill,” deranged, foolish, unpredictable, or even dangerous. It is often used in jest as in a friendly jab, but very insulting in any other context. The word comes from the Latin, which means “of the moon,” that is, one whose mind is up on the moon. Was Jesus a Lunatic?
Who, in their right mind, would say, “”I and My Father are one.”(John 10:30) He is declaring He is equal with God! There are many in institutions and insane asylums that have made claims like that. Someone might wonder about Jesus’ comment, “I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” (John 8:18) Do you trust someone who says He bears witness of Himself and the Father does also?
A lunatic often makes bizarre comments. Some of Jesus’ comments were seemingly outlandish. For example, He said, “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:21) What kind of lunacy is that? Or how about when Jesus said,
- 19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
- 20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” (John 2:19-20)
Only a lunatic would say something like that, wouldn’t he?
Yet we would have to be honest enough to look at the things Jesus had done. What kind of works characterized His life. Jesus said, “”If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.” (John 15:24) Jesus did miraculous works that no one else did, and all could have seen His works, but many rejected them. What is one work that He did that produced harm? Was Jesus a Lunatic?
Was Jesus a Liar or a Lunatic? If Jesus was not a Liar, on the order of being the greatest deceiver of all time, or He was a not Lunatic and fooled millions of people who perished through martyrdom at the hands of a fool, then what was He? There is only one other option. He had to be whom He said He was, the Lord of all.
It is interesting that the word “Lord” occurs 7773 times in Scripture. There is something about that name beyond any other name. Was Jesus Lord? When Thomas saw the resurrection of Jesus and touched the nail prints, he said, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28) Jesus accepted the title Lord and admonished those who did not obey Him, “But why do you call Me`Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) Peter called Jesus Lord and asked if he should build a tabernacle to Him. (Matt. 17:4) When John and Peter were out fishing after the crucifixion and they saw the Lord, John said, “It is the Lord!” (John 21:7) The Apostle Paul declared that Jesus was Lord, “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9) And one day all will declare Him Lord,
- 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
- 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:10-11)
Scripture is clear on this subject. It gives unmistakable evidence that declares Jesus is Lord. That leaves you a choice. If Jesus was a Liar or Lunatic, you could easily pass Him by and continue searching for a better option. However, because Scripture is clear, you have to make a choice. Will you trust in Jesus as your Savior because of what He did on the cross for you? C.S. Lewis makes an excellent comment regarding the choices about Jesus,
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 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 the level with the 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 a 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 with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. (Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis)
Whatever, you do, do not fall into the trap of calling Him Lord and then not follow through with Him in life. Do not get involved in church, or serve Him in great works and not humbly submit your life to Him. Do not fool yourself that your good works are anything He will accept. Jesus was very clear,
- 21 “Not everyone who says to Me,`Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
- 22 “Many will say to Me in that day,`Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
- 23 “And then I will declare to them,`I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matt. 7:21-23)
Finally, John was very clear regarding your choice, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:” (John 1:12)
Shepherding Truth 