Lord, Liar or Lunatic?

“He told people to be honest whatever the cost, promised them eternal life without sorrow or pain and said he could forgive sin.”

So Jesus really did claim to be God. Now what?

Simply put, his claim can either be true or false. If it’s false, then he was a liar, deliberately misleading people. Or, he was a lunatic — a man who sincerely believed himself to be God when he wasn’t.

If we accept Jesus as a liar, then we must also call him evil. Let’s face it. He told people to be honest whatever the cost, promised them eternal life without sorrow or pain and said he could forgive sin. Meanwhile, he was living a colossal lie? Not likely.

As for the lunatic option, it too is out of the question. Jesus’ words and actions just aren’t consistent with those of a deluded or disturbed man. Even his harshest critics cannot find fault in his teaching. Instead, he is most often regarded as a man of penetrating insight.

Lord? It’s the only option left. If Jesus wasn’t a liar or lunatic, then he could only have been who he said he was — God in human form. The principles of logic demand that conclusion. More than that, it explains why unprecedented and miraculous things happened in Jesus’ presence.

Consider the man who’d been lame for 38 years and who, after one conversation with Jesus, was healed (John 5:1-13). Or the man who’d been born blind and started seeing after Jesus touched his eyes (John 9:1-15). Or Lazarus, who’d been dead for three days, but came back to life at Jesus’ command (John 11:38-44).

It’s hard to imagine what it would have been like to witness these amazing events, but nevertheless, they happened. Even Jesus’ enemies said so. They saw the lame man walking (John 5:9-10) and questioned the blind man about his sight (John 9:8-34).

Not understanding who Jesus was, some people wondered: “How could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” (John 9:16).

But the former blind man knew the true answer. “If this man were not from God, he couldn’t do it” (John 9:33).

Next Steps:
Get to Know Jesus Personally

Further Reading:
The Audio Drama - Watch the Jesus Film
Take a more in depth look at Jesus’ life
The Gospel of John