Is Jesus Christ God?
Why is it that you can talk about God and nobody gets upset, but as soon as you mention Jesus, people often want to stop the conversation? The story of Jesus is either the greatest event in history or the cruelest hoax. If it is a hoax, then the whole of the Christian message crumbles together with the hopes of those multitudes of lives built on his name. The apostle Paul said:
" And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up; if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable." -1 Corinthians 15:14-19 (NKJV)
But if the story is true, then this world has been hit with extraordinary news of earth-shaking consequences. Have you taken the trouble to decide which it is? In a matter this weighty, it is in your interest to explore the truth or falsity of Christ's claims. Amazingly however, many people who don't believe have never bothered to explore the evidence in support of Jesus but to the contrary, often run away from it. At the same time, many Christians themselves are not sure, at bottom, whether the claims of their faith are solid. Is the Christian claim a hoax? Is it just wishful thinking? Or is it actually true?
This study will demonstrate that the story of Jesus, and of his Resurrection in particular, rests on solid historical grounds. So wherever you may be in terms of belief, unbelief, doubt, or indecision, I invite you to take a new look at this evidence.
What do other religons (cults) say about Jesus?
Mormonism : Jesus is the brother of the devil begotten through sexual intercourse from God the father and his goddess wife. Jesus (according to Mormon teaching), celebrated his own marriage to "Mary and Martha, and the other Mary, " at Cana of Galilee, "whereby he could see his seed, before he was crucified". Brigham Young taught that the sacrifice made upon the cross by Jesus Christ in the form of His own blood was ineffective for the cleansing of some sins.
Jehovah’s Witnesses: Jesus is Michael the Arc Angel who became a man, died on a stake, not a cross, rose in a spirit body, and returned to heaven to be an angel again. Jesus was the first and direct creation of Jehovah God. "Jesus was the ‘Son of God.’ Not God himself!"
Islam: Jesus was a sinless prophet although not as great as Muhammad. "Jesus…was only a messenger of Allah…Far is it removed from His transcendent majesty that He should have a son" (Surah 4:171). Jesus did not atone for anyone’s sins, although He was himself sinless and is one of those who are near to God. Jesus did not die on the cross.
Christian Scientists: Jesus Christ is not God, as Jesus himself declared, but is the Son of God. The spiritual Christ was infallible; Jesus, as material manhood, was not Christ. Jesus was not dead, but hidding in the tomb.
New Age: Jesus was only one avatar (or Son of God) among many. All of them, including Jesus, had been prepared for their station as avatars by living and working through countless reincarnations. Just as Hercules, Hermes, Rama, Krishna, and Buddha.
The Unification Church (Sun Myung Moon): Jesus, on earth, was a man no different from us except for the fact that he was without original sin. After his crucifixion, Christianity made Jesus into God.
Scientology: Jesus was a legend.
Of the great religious leaders of the world, Christ alone claims diety. It really doesn’t matter what one thinks of Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius as individuals. Their followers emphasize their teachings. Not so with Christ. He made Himself the focal point of His teaching. The central question He put to His listeners was "Whom do you say that I am?" When asked what doing the works of God involved, Jesus replied, "The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent" (John 6:29). There are many ways to Christ, but if we are to know the true and living God in personal experience, it must be through Christ, the only way to God. "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).
What does History say about Jesus?
If the Bible accurately portrays the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, wouldn’t Pontius Pilate, of all people, have made some reports about it? The fact is, we have no official record of Pilate sending any report to Rome. However, Justin Martyr (an early Christian), writing in approximately A.D. 150, informs emperor Antoninus Pius of the fulfillment of Psalm 22:16:
But the words, "They pierced my hands and feet," refer to the nails which were fixed in Jesus’ hands and feet on the cross; and after He was crucified, His executioners cast lots for His garments, and divided them among themselves. That these things happened you may learn from the "Acts" which were recorded under Pontius Pilate.
Justin’s statement is a bold one if in fact no record existed.
Probably the best source from Jesus own time was Flavius Josephus. Josephus was a Jewish historian, became a Pharisee at age 19; in A.D. 66 he was commander of the Jewish forces in Galilee. After being captured, he was attached to the Roman headquarters. He had this to say about Jesus:
Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call Him a man, for He was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to Him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned Him to the cross, those that loved Him at the first did not forsake Him; for He appeared to them alive again in the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other worderful things concerning Him. And the tribe of Christians so named from Him are not extinct at this day.
Jesus said He was the Son of God
As you look at the life of Jesus, is soon becomes apparent that He made shocking and startling statements about Himself. He identified Himself as far more than a remarkable teacher or a prophet. He said clearly that He was God. When Peter answered a question about who Jesus was, Peter stated : "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. 16:15-16). Jesus was not shocked, nor did He rebuke Peter for his statement. On the contrary, He commended him!
When he made the claim explicitly, His hears got the full impact of His words. We are told "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" (John 5:18). On another occasion He said, "I and My Father are One." (John 10:30-33). Immediately the Jews wanted to stone Him.
Jesus clearly claimed attributes which only God has. When a paralytic was let down through a roof and placed at His feet, He said, " Son, your sins are forgiven you." (Mark 2:7-11). Only God can forgive sins.
At the so-called trial before His cruxifician, when asked point blank if He was "the Christ, Son of the Blessed One?", he replied, "I am". "I am" is a name for God. (Mark 14:61-64).
So close was His connection with God that He equated a man’s attitude to Himself with the man’s attitude to God. Thus, to know Him was to know God (John 8:19; 14:7). To see Him was to see God (12:45; 14:9). To believe in Him was to believe in God (12:44; 14:1). To receive Him was to receive God (Mark 9:37). To hate Him was to hate God (John 15:23). And to honor Him was to honor God (5:23).
Messianic Prophecies fulfilled in Jesus
One credential often overlooked when supporting Jesus’ claims to being Messiah, God’s son, is the fulfillment of prophecy in His life. We talked in the first study (Is the Bible true?) about the prophecies that Jesus fulfulled so I will only list a few of them here:
Born of the seed of a woman – all others are born of the seed of a man (Genesis 3:15)
Messiah from the lineage of Shem (Genesis 9 & 10)
Messiah from the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah (Genesis 17, 21, 28)
Messiah from the house of David.
Hands and feet will be pierced, i.e. crucified (Psalm 22:6-18, Zechariah 12:10)
Born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
Betrayed by a friend, for thirty pieces of silver, that will be cast onto the floor, of the Temple, and used to buy a potter’s field (Zechariah 11:11-13, Psalm 41, Jeremiah 32:6-15, Matthew 27:3-10).
Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
Born while the Temple of Jerusalem is still standing (Malachi 3:1). The Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 and has not been rebuilt.
Only Four Possibilities
As we face the claims of Christ, there are only four possibilities. He was either a liar, a lunatic, a legend, or the Truth. If we say He is not the Truth, we are automatically affirming one of the other three alternatives, whether we realize it or not. You’ve probably heard it put another way: Liar, lunatic, or Lord. C.S. Lewis (a one time agnostic) 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." 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."
Liar
Few people hold this position. Even those who deny His deity affirm that they think Jesus was a great moral teacher. They fail to realize those two statements are a contradiction. Jesus could hardly be a great moral teacher if, on the most crucial point of His teaching—His identity—He was a deliberate liar. Someone who lived as Jesus lived, taught as Jesus taught, and died as Jesus died could not have been a liar.
Lunatic
A kinder, though no less shocking possiblity, is that He was sincere but self-deceived. However, looking at the life of Christ, we see no evidence of the abnormality and imbalance we find in a deranged person. Rather, we find the greatest composure under pressure. Even when His very life was at stake, before Pilate, He was calm and serene.
Legend
The legend theory says that all of the talk about Jesus claiming to be God was invented by His overly enthusiastic followers in the third and fourth centuries. This theory has been significantly refuted by many discoveries of modern archaeology. The Gospel have been proven to have been written within the lifetime of contemporaries of Christ. For a mere legend about Christ, in the form of the Gospel, to have gained the circulation and to have had the impact it had, without one shred of basis in fact, is increadible.
Lord (Truth)
The only other alternative is that Jesus spoke the truth. From one point of view, however, claims don’t mean much. Talk is cheap. Anyone can make claims. Several others throughout history have claimed to be God. The question we must ask is, "What credentials does Jesus bring to substantiate His claim?"
What were Jesus’ Credentials?
His moral character coincided with His claims
Jesus Christ was sinless. The caliber of His life was such that He was able to challenge His enemies with the question, " Can any of you prove Me guilty of sin?" (John 8:46). He was met by silence, even though he addressed those who would have liked to point out a flaw in His character. It is also striking that John, Paul, and Peter, all of whom were trained from earliest childhood to believe in the universality of sin, all spoke of the sinlessness of Christ: "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth" (1 Peter 2:22); "In Him is no sin" (1 John 3:5); Jesus "knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21).
Christ demonstrated a power over natural forces
This power could only belong to God, the Author of these forces. He stilled a raging storm of wind and waves on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:41). He turned water into wine, fed 5,000 people from five loaves and two fish,, gave a grieving widow back her only son by raising him from the dead, and brought to life the dead daughter of a shattered father. He raised an old friend (Lazarus) from the dead. It is most significant that His enemies did not deny this miracle. Rather, they tried to kill Him . "If we let Him go on like this," they said, "everyone will believe in Him" (John 11:48).
Jesus demonstrated the Creator’s power over sickness and disease
He made the lame to walk, the dumb to speak, and the blind to see. Some of His healings were of congenital problems not susceptible to psychosomatic cure. A man blind from birth could only answer the skeptics with the statement, " One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" (John 9:25). To him the evidence was obvious.
Jesus accepted worship
(Matthew 14:33, John 20:28).
Jesus’ supreme credential to authenticate His claim to deity was His resurrection from the dead.
Five times in the course of His life He predicted He would die. He also predicted how He would die and that three days later He would rise from the dead and appear to His disciples. If the Resurrection happened, there is no difficulty with any other miracles. And if we establish the Resurrection, we have the answer to the big question of God, His character, and our relationship to Him. An answer to this question makes possible answers to all subsidiary questions.
Conclusion
I'll close with the words of C.S. Lewis. He writes,
"Among the Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He were God. He claims to forgive sins. He says He has always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time. Now let us get this clear. Among pantheists, like the Hindus of India, anyone might say that he is part of god or one with god. There would be nothing very odd about that. But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God in their language meant the Being outside of the world who had made it and was infinitely different than anything else. And when you have grasped that concept you will see that what this man said was quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips."
I agree.
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