If a man were to walk around the countryside shouting at the top of his voice: “I am God! I am God!!”, the chances are that most people would think him to be crazy. I would too. True, there are plenty of people gullible enough to believe crazy men and crazy women and to and follow them. My dad used to say if you think you’re somebody special there will always be someone who will believe you.
However, if a man were to wander the countryside causing blind people to suddenly see perfectly, and lame people to jump up and run around, and dead people to come back to life you may, if you had any sense, take a lot more notice of what he had to say. Jesus Christ did all those things and far more. Not like charlatans of today who claim to be healing but never heal the people who clearly need it, Jesus astounded multitudes and caused them to flock from all over the land to get in on the action.
These facts alone are evidence enough for me that Jesus was no mere man. Neither was he “just” another prophet. No magician can match what he could do by just speaking the word, and more than the healings and miracles, Christ spoke words that no other man has spoken. You can dismiss it all as false reports and made-up stories if you want, but the manuscript evidence and the record of history is overwhelming when compared with literature covering any other ancient or historical figure. Skeptics have traditionally claimed that a concept of Christ’s divinity was forced on the Church at Nicaea, but that attack has been firmly debunked in a number of ways.
Something and someone caused a gigantic stir in the first century and following centuries, and the followers of this someone, prepared to die for the message that they would have known was false if it was false, turned the world upside down. Martyrs of today die and kill for something they believe or feel strongly about: the apostles died for something they knew to be true. You can’t just dismiss Jesus Christ, unless you’re determined to ignore the issues, and unless you’re bereft of all wisdom.
The people who insist that Jesus never claimed to be God are showing their ignorance and their blinkered bias. The Bible is full of evidence and even statements to the effect that Jesus Christ is not only the son of God, but God in the flesh, and yes, he said it himself. They are written in the earliest manuscripts and in the earliest writings of the Church Fathers. He came to live among those he had created, then died for us all. He rose from the dead because in him was unquenchable life. He was and is the Master of life and cannot die. His body – human flesh – was “killed”, but being God the son, he could not remain in death. For this reason he is more than capable of also raising our mortal bodies when that incredible time comes for those who have loved him to be blessed, by his mercy, with immorality.
If we love him we are believing in him. We are choosing him because we love what he said, what he did, who he is, and what he stands for. Those who do not love him and his words are rejecting all that he taught and all that he is. It isn’t about building up enough blind faith no matter what the truth is in order to earn his favour, it’s about loving the person, the work and the words of Jesus Christ. He will do the rest.
Next time I will highlight some of the references to the divinity of Jesus I have found in Luke’s gospel alone.
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 