The weekend was busy. 65 people were in town for the latest session of the UK, Ireland and Nordic School of Missions. My responsibility was to arrange the event and teach classes on Church History. That was fun, but after my sessions were over it was a relief to relax and listen to someone else teach.
Perhaps the most ‘entertaining’ class, if that’s the right word, was taught by my friend Chris Reed. He laid out an argument championed by C. S. Lewis as to the identity of Jesus. Was he a lunatic, a liar, a legend or, indeed, LORD?
Jesus made some remarkable claims. He said the scriptures were about him (Jn 5.39-40), that he was the light of the world (Jn 8.12), that he had not sinned (Jn 8.46), that he and God the Father were one (Jn 10.30), that those who believed in him would never die (Jn 11.25-26), that his words would be used to judge the souls of all people (Jn 12.48-50), and that he was the only way to God (Jn 14.6).
Anyone else saying these things might be pitied, committed to an asylum or laughed at, but they could not be called a ‘good teacher’. Jesus said they were evidence for his Lordship. What do you think? Whatever your conclusion it cannot be that was simply a good person. A good person does not make those claims if they are not true. Jesus simply did not leave us with that option. He was a lunatic, a liar, a legend or the LORD. Which was he in your opinion – and why?
Malcolm Cox
