IS JESUS A LIAR, LUNATIC OR LORD?

Jesus is totally unique from any other personality and so is clearly worth knowing. But is there more to him? Is Jesus worthy to be the center of our life? The answer is yes. There is something more to Jesus than to any other person. He is worth paying more attention to than any other man. It is because HE IS GOD.

How do we know that he is God? Is it by his miracles? Miracles only show that God is working through a person. A man could work miracles and not be God. “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (Jn 14:12).

How then do we know? The answer simply is that Jesus himself told us so. Time and again throughout his public ministry, Jesus claimed to be God (Mk 14: 61-62). In John, Jesus time and again speaks of his divinity (Jn 12:45, 10:30, 8:58). Jesus’ claim to divinity is a far different claim than Buddha or Confucius or Mohammed ever made. None of them ever claimed to be God. Jesus also claimed that he could forgive sin. Remember the story of the paralytic at Capernaum (Mk 2: 3-12), Jesus said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Jesus’ claim to be God must either true or false. If false, then we have two and only two alternatives. Either he knew it was false, in which case he would be a liar, or he did not know it was false, in which case he would be a lunatic.

Could Jesus have lied? If he lied, then he would have been deliberately deceiving his followers. Not only would he have been a liar, he would also be a hypocrite, because he told others to be honest, whatever the cost, while he himself taught and lived a colossal life. He would also be a demon, because he told others to trust him for their eternal destiny. If he could not back up his claims and knew it, then he was unspeakably evil. He would also be a fool, because it was his claim to being God that led to his crucifixion.

We need only to look at his person, his words and his work to conclude that he could not have been a liar. Look at his moral purity, dignity, sound intellect, and air of truth. Consider his character that is so original, consistent, perfect, high above human greatness. He carried out a plan of unparalleled beneficence, moral magnitude and sublimity, and sacrificed his own life for it. Would he die for a lie? The results of his life and teachings have been lives changed for the better, thieves made honest, hateful individuals becoming channels of love. Such a man cannot be a liar.

Could Jesus have been a lunatic? In Jesus we do not see any abnormalities or imbalance that usually go along with being deranged. In fact, his poise and composure would be amazing if he was insane. He spoke some of the most profound sayings ever recorded. Such a man cannot be a lunatic.

If not a liar or a lunatic, the only alternative left to us is that Jesus did speak the truth. He was, and is, the Son of God as he claimed. Throughout the Sacred Scripture, we can read about a number of Jesus’ contemporaries coming to the realization that he was God (Mt 16: 13-16, Jn 11:27, Jn 1:49, Jn 20: 27-28, Mt. 27: 54, Mt. 8:29, Mk 1:24, Mk 3:11, Lk 4: 41).

As many as there were who accepted the divinity of Jesus, there were also others who refused to accept him. How can we have confirmation of Jesus’ divinity? God Himself confirmed it. In the miracle of the raising of Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11: 41-42), Jesus was giving a demonstration. To the Jews, God lone was the one who had the prerogative to give life or to take away life. But the most conclusive proof is Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead. The tombs of Buddha, Muhammed and the founders of all the great world religions are still with us. Only Jesus’ tomb is empty.

Jesus is making claims that affect us. If he is not God, then we should have nothing to do with him, because we do not want to be followers of a liar or a lunatic. However, if he is God, then we should seriously consider him. Our response will have eternal consequences. Is Jesus a Liar, Lunatic or Lord? The choice is yours.