During the brief earthly ministry of Jesus, his disciples gained an accumulating picture of who Jesus of Nazareth really was. Plenty of evidence pointed to the fact that he was not just from Nazareth. He came from God’s place and with a divine mission, and it was getting more astounding all the time.
The statements Jesus made amounted to claims of deity. “I and the Father are one.” “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” “All that belongs to the Father is mine.” His opponents began considering murder because “not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”
Also, he used names of deity. “Before Abraham was born, I am” (which recalls the special name God used with Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”) Thomas fell at Jesus’ feet after he knew he had risen from the dead, exclaiming, “My Lord and my God!” When people called Jesus “Lord,” it seemed to go well beyond the meaning of “master.” There was “Son of God” and “Son of Man,” both labels that expectant Jews knew identified the coming Messiah.
Jesus’ disciples strained to add up all the pieces of evidence in the immediacy of the events. Like a giant puzzle, the pieces came together, but it would take time for people to step back far enough from the puzzle and see the picture in the pieces.
What is the sum of it all? C. S. Lewis put it this way: “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.’ 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.”
What was Jesus trying to accomplish? The answer to that question is bound up in the person Jesus is. He was able to do what he did because of the person he is. He made an exodus for people, a way out of entanglements with self, the heavy gravity of sin, and the plots of the Evil One.
And he didn’t just try to pull it off. It all worked. He was there at the beginning when God said, let us make a universe, and then rested. He was there on the cross when he committed his spirit to his Father, but only after saying, “It is finished.” And the “it” was an agenda that from his inauguration he was uniquely capable of fulfilling, the salvation of the shattered human race.
Excerpt from Putting the Pieces Back Together: How Real Life and Real Faith Connect. Complimentary DVD available now.
I know that Jesus is an entity of God, because He saved me. I was wrapped in the throes of addiction. I had used crack and alcohol for years to cover the pain that I had inside. Not only did my belief that Jesus died for me and rose from the dead help me to realize God’s love but it opened my eyes to the various passages in the Bible that pointed the fact that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit was one. Jesus was sent here to save people like me, broken human beings that have lost all hope. I was pitiful and I still am the difference is that I know that through Jesus all things is possible. I know that God is in control even when it does not feel like it. I know that though the world is a mean place, God is my Father and He loves me with a love that is unconditional and magnificient. I am going through medical, financial and family issues right now but I know that each trial and tribulation is an opportunity for me to grow through Christ. I am learning day by day that there is a lesson in my struggles and if I will look to God I will not fear, for He is with me every step of the way.
Amen Stephanie. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But God, in His eternal mercy and grace, came down from His Throne as Jesus to reconcile all of us to Himself, through unconditional love. He picked us up, cleansed us with His precious blood and called us family. All of us who believe that He is the Great “I Am” know who He truly is, and that brings tremendous peace. Otherwise, our faith would be in vain and we would be exactly the way the world sees Christians – clutching onto nothing but thin air, believing in a fairy tale where good doesn’t conquer evil in the end.
I’m sorry to bother you but I ordered soem goods from Bible gateway a while back and haven’t received them yet even though the money came out of my account ago.
Debbie Richardson
You are bang on the point sir. His pronouncements are beyond the ordinary yet He used everyday event to explain things to people over 2000 years ago and are still relevant today. In Luke 24:25-27. He opened some disciples eyes to the Gospel and made it clear; all that was written from Genesis to Malachi were about Him, Jesus the Christ.
He quoted profusely from every angle of the Bible during His teachings. He mentioned Adam, Abraham and the prophets. David, His supposed great, great granddad was his friend. There is no religious leader whose entrance and exit into and from mother earth were so orchestrated as my Lord Jesus. And this is why I always make it clear in my teachings, when I have the opportunity, that we, Christians, and I mean born again Christians, are not serving the same God as any other religion, however close there book may be to the Bible. No other way beside Jesus. End of!
There are countlss scriptures in God’s inspired word that reveal the diety of Jesus Christ: Luke 1:35,
Gabriel himself told Mary that “the Holy One to be born will be called the SON OF GOD.”
I think we ALL ARE SINNERS and need to be reconciled to God AND THAT REDEMPTION IS
HIS ONLY SON. Stated in many places, but specifically at 1 John 5:5 “Who is he who overcomes
the world, but HE WHO BELIEVES THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD?”
Jesus NEVER claimed to be God. John 3:16, probably the most read and known scripture in the
bible, TELLS US EXACTLY WHO JESUS CHRIST IS AND WHY HIS FATHER SENT HIM TO
EARTH. Believe it!
Henry
My take is that a madman cannot piece together all that our Lord said and did! Yes, we may find persons who speak and do things that we may consider out of the ordinary, but the simple fact that “the son of man” did and said these things so boldly sets him apart from the “wannabes” This is why it is so believable to see that Jesus is My Lord, my God! The bible lays a plan that is consistent from Genesis to Revelations, and that is what gets me!
People think that “Christians” are blind but actually they have open eyes because of the truth of Christ. I really do not understand why some people do not believe in God and His greatness, His power, His mercy, His might. If all those things were not true I believe we wouldn’t all be here still because all you have to do is read the headlines or sometimes walk the streets. It says in the last days there will be scoffers and people that try to dissway people from believing Christ is who He says He is. I believe that is why the Bible must be taught in its truth and sincerity. Lee Strobels case for Christ tells it really clear. Those same people that thought Christ did not exist still exist today, unfortunately are trying to dissway others from following Christ.All I have to say is if they think He is a Liar and a Lunatic, just wait time will tell, but I don’t want to stand next to you on the last day if you think that way.