Around this time of year, in churches all around the world, people are presented with a question. The same question that has been presented for over 2,000 years. Who do you believe Jesus is? If you consider the words He spoke there are really only three options. He was a liar, He was a lunatic, or He was and is, exactly who He says, the Son of God, He is Lord.
When I sat in the Good Friday service at my church today I pondered this question as we read over passages from the Gospel that recount Jesus' movements from just before Passover until the crucifixion.
The first part of the question is was Jesus a liar? There's far too much evidence to go over everything tonight but I'll bring up one point. People say that the best lies give some detail but not too much. If you give too much detail it's easy to forget and end up contradicting yourself. Jesus gave details though.
In Mark 14:13 "And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him."
I've read this passage countless times over the years but tonight, the pastor pointed out something I've never thought of before. In this time, Jewish men didn't carry pitchers of water. That was a woman's job. The pastor stated that this would be a lot like seeing a man walking around carrying a woman's purse, it's something you rarely see unless his wife has asked him to hold it. Yet, when the disciples went into the city they found the man. It makes sense that he wasn't hard to spot, he was probably the only one carrying a pitcher of water. Still, if Jesus was a liar, how did he know that the man would be there? At that time, in that place.
The next question on the list, was He a lunatic? Lunatics can very rarely hide their insanity for long periods of time. Perhaps they can do it for a while but the disciples were with Jesus for over two years. If he was insane then it seems very unlikely that He was able to deceive them for that long. And not just them but thousands of others, perhaps more. Plus, they weren't just deceived for a short time. Many of His followers chose to give up their lives because they believed that Jesus was who He said He was. Could a lunatic deceive that many people for so long? And still be deceiving them today? It seems unlikely.
In the words of Arthur Conan Doyle, "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."
So my question to you today, is how do you answer this question? Who do you say He was?
I'll offer one more thought on the subject then leave you to make your own conclusions. Tonight my pastor said something rather intriguing. "Grace is free, but it's not cheap." Jesus didn't have his life taken, He knew what was coming. We see that in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew the torture that He would endure, the time when God would turn His face away, and the brutal death He would endure. His life wasn't taken, He gave it up willingly. For you, for me, for anyone who chooses to believe in Him. Does that sound like the actions of a liar, a lunatic or the Lord?
