Jesus is Lord!
by Derek McCallum(Proof that even an atheist can understand)
Lord, Liar or Lunatic? (Inspired by More than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell and other writings from CS Lewis)
Josh McDowell states in his book that many people try to say that Jesus Christ was a good moral teacher and nothing more. This tends to be what most scientist view Christ as and many others that refuse to call Christ Lord. Jesus asked the same question today as he did then, “Who do you say I am.” There can only be 3 answers to the question. He is either Lord, Liar or a Lunatic. Why are there only three choices?
Jesus claimed to be lord which means he either was (Lord), he knew he wasn’t and claimed to be (Liar), or he thought he was but wasn’t (Lunatic). If Jesus wasn’t Lord, there is no way that he could be a good moral teacher. We are going to find out why that is true.
Was Jesus a Liar?
In the New Testament Jesus is referred to as God in many ways.
Jesus is called God in Titus 2:13, John 1:1, Hebrews 1:8, Romans 9:5, 1 John 5:20-21
The Scriptures describe Christ in ways that had to make him God!
He was Self-Existent: John 1:4; 14:6
He was Omnipresent: Mathew 28:20; 18:20
He was Omniscient: John 14:16; 6:64 and Mathew 17:22-27
He was Omnipotent: Revelations 1:8, Luke 4:39-55; 7:14-15
He possessed Eternal Life: 1 John 5:11, 12, 20 and John 1:4
The followers of Jesus were devout Jews who only believed in one God yet they recognized Christ as God in the flesh:
Paul Calls Jesus Lord: Acts 20:28
Peter Calls Jesus Lord and Jesus did not correct him: Mathew 16:16-17
Martha (Close friend of Jesus) calls him lord: John 11:27
Nathanael calls Jesus Lord: John 1:49
While Steven was being stoned he called upon Jesus: Acts 7:59
Thomas (the doubter) declared him as God: John 20:26-29
So scripture most definitely declares Christ to be God and Lord, the question is, Does Jesus Claim to be God? Lets see!
In John 5:18 Jesus refers to God as, “My Father”. This seems normal to us since we call God “My Father” all the time, but we must consider the language at the time of Christ. The Jewish Leaders only referred to God as “Our Father” or “My father who art in heaven”. This made it clear that God was only their spiritual father. Jesus said God was, "My Father" which means that he put himself equal with God.
Critics will say that this is not the case, but lets look at how the Jewish Leaders reacted to Jesus saying, “My Father”. Maybe their reaction will tell us what exactly saying, “My Father” means to Jewish people.
John 5:18- For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
By their reaction I would say that Jesus claimed to be equal with God and therefore he claimed to be God! Not only did he claim to be equal, but he also said that he was one with the father.
John 10:30- “I and the Father are one."
John 8:20- "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."
John 12:45- 4When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me.
John 15:23- He who hates me hates my Father as well.
John 5:23- that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
When Josh McDowell lectured on these same scriptures and a man stated that all these came from John and never once did Jesus Claim to be Lord in Mark, which was the earliest Gospel. He felt like Mark should be more accurate since it was written closer to the actual time of Christ. So did Jesus claim to be God in Mark?
According to Isaiah 43:25 and according to Jewish Law, God is the only person capable of forgiving sin and yet Jesus forgave sin in Mark.
Mark 2:5- When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
Jesus most definitely claimed to be Lord in Mark (by showing that he could forgive sin), the oldest Gospel. So why is it important that we make sure Jesus declared to be Lord. Here is the reason.
If Jesus claimed to be God and his claims were not true then Jesus was without a doubt a liar. Jesus also told others not to lie and therefore he was also hypocrite. To top it all off, he had to be evil and demonic, because he told others to trust in him for salvation and if he wasn’t lord then he was only leading them astray. Therefore, if he is not Lord, then he can’t be a good moral teacher (what most Jewish people today call Christ)!
So was Jesus a Liar! There is one important question that must be answered before determining whether or not Jesus was a liar. “Who would die for a lie?” The power of Christ was shown through the Disciples. All of history is due to written accounts of personal testimony. This means that all our history books came from people who seen the actual history and wrote it down. The followers of Christ did the same thing. If Christ did lie, then the Disciples had to know he did and who would die for a lie? Many will say that people die for lies all the time if they believe that it is true. They might not know that it was a lie. But here is the catch, Jesus died on the Cross and everyone knew that he said he would rise again on the third day. The Disciples knew this and they also viewed Christ in person on the third day. At this point they would have known it was a lie. They would have realized it if Christ did not rise again and they would have been able to recognize any imposter trying to be Christ. So the Disciples knew whether or not it was a lie on the third day. So once again, “ Who would die for a lie if they knew it was lie?”
1.Peter-Crucified
2.Andrew-Crucified
3.Mathew-the sword
4.John-natural
5.James (brother of Jesus)-stoned
6.Phillip-crucified
7.Simon-crucified
8.Thaddaeus-killed by arrows
9.James (son of Alphaeus)-crucified
10.Thomas-Spear Thrust
11.Bartholomew-crucified
12.James (son of Zebedee)-the sword
Based on these personal testimonies, Jesus could not have been a liar because there has never been this many people die for a cause that they knew was nothing but a big fat lie.
Was Jesus a Lunatic?
So now that we have determined that it is very unlikely that Christ was liar, couldn’t Christ have possible thought he was God even though he wasn’t. There have been several cases in which people have been extremely sincere and wrong.
In order for Christ to be in this situation, one would have to consider the times and environment in which it happened. In order for someone to claim to be God during the times of Christ in a strict Jewish Monotheistic Culture, they would have to be either God, or extremely crazy. After all, claiming to be God was considered blasphemy and it was punishable by death.
Someone believing that they were God during these times would be like somebody in today’s times claiming to be Adolph Hitler. We would probably lock them up to keep them from hurting themselves or anyone else. Why is this important? The person associated with this type of behavior demonstrates imbalance and severe abnormalities and Christ did not. His poise and composure were extremely amazing if he were a lunatic.
The only known disorder associated with this type of conduct is schizophrenia. Lets view some medical text:
The most frequent symptoms of schizophrenia are:
Thought disorder (the inability to think logically and clearly). This is usually displayed by spoken nonsense, which makes the schizophrenic patient unable to participate in conversation in social situations. This may result in the person being disconnected from his or her usual environment of loved ones.
Delusions- (for example, a patient may feel that he or she is being plotted against. This is known as "paranoid delusion". Another type of delusion is "broadcasting" - when a person experiences this type of delusion, he or she believes that others can hear his or her inner thoughts.)
Hallucinations – these are false events or perceptions that are seen, heard, or felt by the schizophrenic patient. Most of the time, they are sounds or voices (heard only by the patient) that describe the person's life, make commands, or warn the patient of danger.
"Negative Symptoms" - the absence of emotional expression, apathy, social withdrawal, and other lacks of normal behavior.
I find it very hard to believe that Jesus Christ was schizophrenic. Only someone with a sound mind and conscious could deliver a speech such as the Sermon on the Mount (Mathew 5,6,7). We also know that Christ interacted with people on a regular basis and every word out of his mouth was valued. Christ words had the ability to release people from mental bondage, which seems strange if he were in mental bondage himself. You must also take into account that if he was a lunatic that it ran in the family since his half brother James claimed Jesus was the messiah. So it appears now that Christ could not have been a lunatic.
A critic might say that this proves nothing. They might say that it is possible for someone to actually believe that they are someone that they are not and not be crazy.
Example:
Suppose that Sally asserts that she was born in New York City. Sally bases her knowledge on the fact that she has clear and distinct memories of growing up in New York City. Further, her mother confirms her claim as do teachers, friends, and neighbors. Her doctor tells us that Sally is in perfect mental health and she even passes a lie-detector test when asked about her claim that she was born in New York City. Finally, we concede that (1) Sally is telling the truth that she was born in New York City, (2) she is not lying about that fact, and (3) she is not insane for asserting so. Unfortunately, Sally was born in London. She was given up for adoption as a baby and her mother has never told her of her true origins.
Is this a valid assumption? I don’t think this applies to Jesus Christ because Sally didn’t fulfill Old Testament Prophesy. Jesus Christ’s entire life was already predicted and history proves that his life fulfilled it.
Prophesies concerning:
Christ's birth: Is 7:14; Is 9:1,6-7; Hos 11:1; Mic 5:2,4-5.
Christ's life: Gen 3:15; Gen 49:8-11; Deut 18:18-19; Is 11:1-5,10; Is 35:4-6; Zech 9:9; Ps 2:7; Ps 78:2.
Christ's death: Ps 22:1,7-8,16,18; Ps 34:20; Ps 41:9; Ps 69:21,26; Is 50:6; Is 52:13--53:12; Is 63:8-9; Zech 11:12-13; Zech 12:10.
Christ's resurrection: Ps 16:10; Ps 49:15; Ps 68:18; Is 28:16-18.
Christ’s identity could not have been mistaken. His entire existence was tracked since birth. His birth was public in a manger. King Herod new of his existence and feared the rise of a new king (Mathew 2:16). And in Sally’s case, her parents didn’t tell her the truth and lead her astray. So Sally wasn’t who she thought she was and there was nothing that she could do to prove it. So the question stands, was there something Christ could do to prove it? How about rising again on the third day or healing the blind? How about making a lame man walk or walking on water? Sally didn’t have any proof, but Jesus did. People seen the proof and their life was changed by it. They died for it and we are still talking about Jesus Christ 2000 years later. There were many people that claimed to be the messiah throughout history. Why are we still talking about this one? I don’t think it was because he was lunatic.
Is Jesus Lord?
After looking at the possibilities of Jesus being a liar or a lunatic, it is evident that Jesus Christ was lord. Josh McDowell stated:
“ I cannot personally conclude that Jesus was a liar or a lunatic. The only other alternative is that he is the Christ, the Son of God, as he claimed.”
It is possible that Jesus could have been a lord, liar, or a lunatic. It is up to each individual to decide for himself who Jesus is. Evidence leans in favor of Jesus being lord but many refuse to accept this so that they don’t have to live up to the responsibilities of calling Christ lord. For those of us who live out each day calling Jesus our lord and savior, we have a blessed assurance of knowing Christ through faith, but also knowing that history and personal testimony points to him being lord.
The whole basis for this argument revolves around the fact that Jesus claimed to be lord. So one thing stands in our way of proving without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is lord. Are the biblical records of Jesus Accurate?
Are the biblical records of Jesus Accurate?
Many people who refuse to accept the Bible, as truth will tell you that the Bible is a 2nd century document that is obsolete. The thought that the bible was written in the 2nd century A.D. (200 years after Christ’s death) was first introduced by a German critic by the name of F.C. Baur. Baur believed that the Bible was written to long after Christ’s death to be accurate. He also stated that the scriptures were based on mere myths and legends that had developed from the time of Christ to the time they were written.
Since the discovery of other ancient text such as the papyri manuscripts, it has been confirmed that the scriptures are accurate. William Albright (world’s foremost biblical archaeologist) states:
“We can already say emphatically that there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the New Testament after A.D. 80”
He also reiterated this point in an interview for Christianity Today by saying:
“In my opinion, every book of the New Testament was written by a baptized Jew between the forties and the eighties of the first century A.D.”
It is common for someone to say that it is silly to base a belief on scriptures over 2000 years old that are flawed and inaccurate. The problem is that these same people accept what they know about other bits of history without applying the same criticism. The bible has more historical, archaeological, and personal testimony proof than most other historical documents in existence. Very few people spend large amounts of time trying to prove the inaccuracy of these documents because these documents do not create responsibilities for them. If the Bible is accurate and Jesus is lord, then they have to live up to the biblical claims. If the same tests are applied to the Bible to prove accuracy as other historical documents, the Bible is without a doubt accurate. (For more information read Chapter 4 of More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell. He explains how the Bible passes the Bibliographical, Internal Evidence, and External Evidence tests applied to all manuscripts.)
Conclusion:
If the scriptures are accurate and Jesus was not a liar or a lunatic, then all evidence points to him being lord. When Christians are asked how they know Jesus is lord or how they know the Bible is accurate, they most often say that they take it by faith. Christians should realize that though faith does prove, there is other evidence out there that even an atheist could understand. It is great to serve a Lord that is supported by faith, archaeology, history, and personal testimony.
Comments are open. This is a brave move on my part to open comments on a relegion oriented post so keep it constructive.
Posted by dmac at August 29, 2004 09:08 PM
Comments
I love this argument! Right on!
Posted by: KMAC at August 29, 2004 09:08 PM
I love this argument! Right on!
Posted by: KMAC at August 29, 2004 09:08 PM
