Many people agree that Jesus Christ was a great moral teacher. Some even acknowledge him as a prophet. But they stop short of believing that he was God in the flesh, saying instead that Jesus’ followers made him out to be God’s Son in the years following his death.
Was Jesus a good man and nothing more? The Bible, the book that tells his story, can answer that for us. All we need to do is examine Jesus’ own claims — not what others said about him, but what he said about himself.
Jesus claimed equality with God. He equated his own work with that of the Father. "But He answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.’ For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He . . . was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God" (John 5:17-18). During a discussion about the heritage of Abraham, Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58). His opponents surely recognized "I AM" as the name God used to identify Himself when He sent Moses to Egypt (Exodus 3:14). Jesus said, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). If Jesus was just a man, he was a man who claimed to be God.
Jesus claimed power to forgive sins. In front of a large crowd, he said to a paralyzed man, "Your sins are forgiven you" (Luke 5:20). Jesus wasn’t pardoning this fellow for some personal offense; he was pronouncing forgiveness for all the man’s transgressions against God. This angered the Jewish leaders, who knew that only God Himself could forgive sins (verse 21). If Jesus was just a man, he was a man who claimed God’s authority.
Jesus claimed to be the path to salvation. Unlike many religious philosophers, Jesus bluntly said that only he could bring people into a right relationship with God: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Notice that he said men would come to God not just through his teaching, but through him. If Jesus was just a man, he was a man who claimed to have a monopoly on access to God.
Jesus claimed to be the Christ. God’s prophets had promised Israel a deliverer, His "anointed one" (in Hebrew, "Messiah"; in Greek, "Christ"). When a Samaritan woman spoke to Jesus of the Messiah’s coming, he replied, "I who speak to you am he" (John 4:26). Many people who heard Jesus believed that he was the prophesied Savior. His closest disciples believed it. When he asked them, "Who do you say that I am?", Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:15-16). Jesus blessed him for saying so. If Jesus was just a man and not the Messiah, then he was a man who played falsely on the dreams of an entire nation.
Jesus claimed to be atonement for sin. Jesus said that when he died his life would be "a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28), and his blood would be shed for many for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28). He declared that his death would be the sacrifice before God that would make possible the forgiveness of all men’s sins. Imagine a mere man saying that his life could atone for the wrongs of the whole world! Yet Jesus not only said it, but apparently believed it himself, because he willingly died for his claim.
These are Jesus’ own claims about himself. It isn’t hard to see that if Jesus was just a man, then none of these claims could be true. That would mean one of two things:
(1) Jesus was a liar. He knew his claims were false, yet he continued to deceive people with them. His act has fooled millions into placing their trust in him.
(2) Jesus was a madman. He was so deluded that he actually believed these incredible claims and even died for them.
Now, if Jesus was either a fraud or a lunatic, then it is grossly wrong to call him a good man, much less a great moral teacher. On the other hand, if we reject the notion that he was either lying or insane, then only one conclusion remains: Jesus is who he says he is! As C.S. Lewis wrote, "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." What will you do?
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