Jesus Confronts Us with His Claims
McGrave having coffee with my friends.
Peter: Hey, McGrave. Don’t get to serious about this Jesus stuff. Anyway, it doesn’t matter which God you believe in because all religious lead to the same God. They’re simply called by different names, that’s all
Johnson: Yeah. I don’t know why people get so worked up about Jesus. He’s great teacher- no doubt about it. But Jesus never claimed to be God. It was his followers who made a great fuss about it.
McGrave is confused. He doesn’t know how to answer his friends. Worse, he begins to wonder if they might right after all. McGrave goes to look for Jerry. Ever since Jerry became a Christian and joined a discipleship group, McGrave noticed that Jerry became another man- warm and loving, diligent in his work, and confident about his faith. McGrave had always wanted to know what happened, and this is good time to ask.
Jerry is very glad when McGrave consults him about the questions Peter and Johnson raised. He shows McGrave several Bible passages that are relevant to the issues.
a. Who Did Jesus Claim He Is?
(John 8:48-59)
What was the issue being discussed by the Jews and Jesus?
Who Did the Jews say Jesus was? –v 48
Who did Jesus claim He is? –v 54, 58
*john 8:48-59 means the Gospel according to John, chapter 8, verses 48-59.”Why did Jews want to stone Jesus?
b. Jesus –the only way to God (read John 14:1-7)
In John 14:1-7, Jesus discuss with His disciples about going to the father’s house (HEAVEN). In verse 6, what is Jesus’ claims?
Why didn’t Jesus say, ”I am one of the ways to God the Father?” Why did he emphasize that He is the only way?
Leaders of the religious say “I will show you the way.” Why didn’t Jesus say that?
c. Logical Conclusions
From the discussion above, McGrave sees that not only did Jesus claim to be God, He claimed to be the only way to God the Father. From this, McGrave conclude that not all religious lead to the same God. Either what Jesus says is true, or some other religious are true. These statements cannot both be true the same time.
Jerry says further, “I have read the Bible form beginning to end. It emphatically says there is only on true God, and Jesus Christ is the manifestation of that God.”
“But you’ve been using the Bible as basis,” said McGrave. “Many seekers do not believe the Bible as the Word if God. How do you tell them that Jesus’ claim is true?”
“Yes. Many people make fantastic claim,” answer McGrave. “We should find out which ones are real and which are false.” We read in John 8:54 that Jesus Christ claims to be God.
There are only three possible Explanations:
a. He is not God but a liar
b. He is not God, but lunatic
c. He is really God
Some say Jesus in not God, but just a man and a good teacher. Why is this self-contradictory?
Some say Jesus is just a good man who sincerely believed (imagined) Himself to be God. If such is the case, what kind of person would Jesus be?
Is we read about Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and become familiar with what Jesus Christ has said and done, we will be convicted that Jesus is neither a liar nor a lunatic. What is the only logical conclusion left?
“Many of my friends sat that is does not really matter what you believe as long as you are sincere,” says McGrave. “Are they right?”
“No,” says Jerry.
“why not?” asks McGrave
*if you were Jerry, how would you answer?McGrave asks again, “Supposing I’m a ‘segurista’, and just to be sure of my eternal destiny, I believe in three religious plus Jesus Christ. Is it all right ”
“No,” says Jerry.
“why not?” asks McGrave
*if you were Jerry, how would you answer?How is Christianity different from all other religious?
Conclusion: We have seen that Jesus Christ claims to be God. He also claims to be “only way” to God the Father. We can on accept or reject his claims. If we reject them, we are saying that Jesus is a liar or lunatic. If we accept that his claims are true, we should give Him our single-hearted devotion.
Reflection: What significant insights have I learned from today’s study?
For Discussion:
- Is Jesus Christ the only way to God?
- How do we know?