Why Would?
John's gospel records this incident in the life of Jesus. John writes,
"Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade.
"The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."
Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
I and the Father are one."
Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." John 10 22-33.
John also records,
"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
It has always been my contention that if Jesus was simply a mere man why would the gospel writers put such things as I quoted above into their writings. After all they were in the process of building a new movement. To claim Jesus was the Son of God, God incarnate would run counter productive to their cause.
C. S. Lewis wrote this,
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
That being said the choice is yours. You can either believe Jesus is all he claimed to be or not.
Before make your choice however I would recommend you read at least the New Testament and see for yourself what the early believers believed about Jesus.
I would also recommend C. S. Lewis’s book Mere Christianity. A book although written decades ago is as relevant today as ever.
Please think about it.
John's gospel records this incident in the life of Jesus. John writes,
"Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade.
"The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."
Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
I and the Father are one."
Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." John 10 22-33.
John also records,
"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
It has always been my contention that if Jesus was simply a mere man why would the gospel writers put such things as I quoted above into their writings. After all they were in the process of building a new movement. To claim Jesus was the Son of God, God incarnate would run counter productive to their cause.
C. S. Lewis wrote this,
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
That being said the choice is yours. You can either believe Jesus is all he claimed to be or not.
Before make your choice however I would recommend you read at least the New Testament and see for yourself what the early believers believed about Jesus.
I would also recommend C. S. Lewis’s book Mere Christianity. A book although written decades ago is as relevant today as ever.
Please think about it.
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