In this past semester, being a senior year in high school, my classmates and I were required to read various apologist/Christianity books. One was Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, which I'm sure almost all of you are aware of. And the other was called Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias. Both of them brought to light very thought-provoking arguments, some of which I couldn’t agree more with and others on which I’m still not certain where I stand. There was one topic in particular, that both books talked about, that really intrigued me, as I hadn’t considered it much prior to reading the books. While Lewis and Zacharias both articulate the point slightly differently, the overall premise of the argument still stands. Essentially, they argue for Jesus’s ultimate uniqueness being observable through His claim of being God.
As Christians, we would agree that Jesus, the Christ, is God’s Son, a part of the Holy Trinity. Therefore, when we read Scripture passages of Jesus claiming to be God and the Son of God, we tend to gloss over them without giving them a second thought simply because we already wholeheartedly agree. As a result, we can lose sight of just how rare, unexpected, and shocking this claim that Jesus articulated truly was. In no other religion whatsoever do we ever see or learn about a person claiming to be God. Christianity is the only religion where that claim is made by a man, who also is God in the flesh, which instantly sets it apart from all other religions.
Here's what I mean: Mohammed never claimed to be God. He only spoke and prophesized of God. Buddha never claimed to be God. He only cared to share his enlightenment of what he thought was the path to truth. Only Jesus confidently and clearly claimed He was God’s only begotten Son and thereby God in the Flesh. He never boasted of this fact; He was a humble man. But, He also didn't refrain from stating that which was True. And not only did He speak Truth, but He also embodied Truth. Here we see another unique aspect to what Jesus claimed. To quote the words of Ravi Zacharias, “Jesus did not only teach or expound His message [of Truth]. He was identical with His message… He did not just proclaim the Truth. He said, ‘I am the Truth.’ He did not just show a way. He said, ‘I am the Way.’ He did not just open up vistas. He said, ‘I am the door.’”
Again contrasting this to other religions, no figure or individual has ever claimed to be the way in which we find salvation, truth, and life, like Jesus did. They only try and point us in the correct direction we ought to go. Mohammed points his followers to obey the word of God written in the Koran. But he himself never says to turn to him for all the answers. Buddha directed people to the “Noble Truths” in which they could find life. Priests claim you can come and talk with them. They listen and share truth with you. But even they will tell you that they are not God; they can’t save you, satisfy you, or deliver you. No one is sufficient to be all who God is…no one except His Son that is. No human can carry the weight of trying to be God, and therefore no one dares to claim that they are. Why exactly? Enter my favorite author, C.S. Lewis, to help explain an answer to us.
When explaining the very basics of Christianity, Lewis talks about Jesus and many of the claims He asserted. While most people find it hard to deny the existence of the person Jesus in history, lots of times people are content to just say they believe Jesus was a good man and an exceptional teacher and instructor. But there is a mighty flaw in such reasoning. No one who doesn’t believe (sorry for the double negative there) Christianity to be truthful can be content to say, “Jesus was a good man.” His claims were outrageous! How could a man be God? What blasphemy! Therefore, Jesus was either psychologically insane (for as we have just determined, even some of the most notable religious leaders have mindfully steered clear of claiming such a thing) or… He was telling the Truth.
To quote C.S. Lewis’s exact words in this matter, “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…Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse…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.” Buddha, Mohammed, Zoroaster, Confucius, and Maimonides, to name a few, could all be considered 'great teachers'. But never once did they make claims similar to what Jesus did. Jesus is completely and utterly unparalleled to any other human in this regard.
This whole argument completely took me aback and intrigued me simply because while I would say I have agreed with it subconsciously all along, I had never considered it in the words Lewis and Zacharias put it. I was not aware of just how set apart and unique the claim of being the Son of God that Jesus uttered made Him when compared to all other religious leaders and people to ever have lived on earth. His words were Truth. He was Truth. And He was the way to the Truth. How incredibly bizarre, to have a man whose literal entire essence was the message of Truth. No wonder people were and still are baffled by Him. But how much more incredible to know this man personally as our Savior. For praise Heaven, He was NOT just a man, He was God. There is no logical backing to believing He was simply a "good teacher". This just simply doesn't make any sense.
How breathtakingly beautiful to ponder the fact that He never changes, meaning His words were not just True 2000 years ago, but they are True to this day. He is Truth, and He is our way to the Truth. He is the great “I Am”, whose Truth applies just as much to us as it did to the people He spoke to decades years ago. I don’t know about you, but I am so thankful for the gift of knowing Him. I couldn’t imagine following or believing any other religious system, one that only consists of intelligent leaders attempting to direct people to follow some way of life that they themselves aren’t even guaranteed works entirely. Jesus is proof that His way works, and you and I, as new creations in Him, are further evidence of His divine accuracy. We, Christians, believe in a God unparalleled to any other god known to the concept of religion. Sorry, let me say that again; we believe in THE God, whose unique glory and power are displayed in every utterance and every occurrence known to His creation.
That's it for today.
-Sarah
Comments