Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. How do we respond to that?
I've struggled with how to write this entry for a long time. I finally accepted that I cannot improve upon C.S. Lewis' writing on the subject. Here is what he says on the subject in his book,
"Mere Christianity":
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 a 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 patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
We are faced, then, with a frightening alternative. This man we are talking about either was (and is) just what He said or else a lunatic, or something worse. Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form.
This premise seems reasonable. And if reasonable then no one can casually dismiss Jesus as a nice guy or a prophet.
Other Options?
In the past, many have asserted a fourth option: Legend. This fourth option implies that Jesus is a fictitious character created by the apostles.
However, in a future post, I will discuss the historicity of Jesus and show that no serious historian doubts His existence. Further, the Bible has been shown time and again to be incredibly accurate, verified time and again by other historical accounts and modern archaeological findings.
Lunatic
The gospels give us a cogent description of Jesus' ministry. He spoke strongly, acted lovingly, and performed unbelievable feats. There is nothing in the gospels that would lead one to question His sanity.
Liar
Now it could be posited that Jesus did all of this to form the biggest deceit of all time. That He consciously acted and spoke in such a way to give us hope when He knew it all to be false. If this was the case, then He is the biggest con artist of all time and is, most certainly, an incredibly evil person.
However, there is absolutely no evidence in the gospels to support such a hypothesis. Further, having the advantage of 2000 years of Church history and billions of Christians to look back on. The teachings of Jesus seem to be true.
Lord
That leaves us with the conclusion that Jesus was who He claimed to be, the Son of God.
This position is supported by the testimony provided by the gospels. It is supported by the prospering of the Catholic Church. And, I will also say it is supported by my experience with God.
Given that Jesus was Lord and Christ, His other claims become trustworthy and believable.
He does have the power to forgive sins.
He did resurrect after dying on the cross.
His Father is in Heaven.
He went to Heaven to be with Him.
And He will come again.
Keep Pursuing
