I am amazed, really, by the
take-it-or-leave-it attitude that so many people have toward Jesus. Okay, so maybe not everyone is ready to
believe in him as Son of God. I won’t
push or insist. But there is something
radically unique about Jesus and I am amazed how anyone can brush him off and
what he represents.
Most people admire him. Thomas Jefferson appreciated his moral
teaching though he was not, himself, a Christian. He couldn’t accept the miraculous. Interesting, for all of Jefferson’s
admiration for Jesus’ morality, he was not particularly moral when it came to
his opinions about slavery. You might
excuse Jefferson as simply being a product of his times, reflecting the values
of his age. Meanwhile, people like John Wesley and John Wilberforce of the
same generation were arguing for the abolition of slavery. And both Wesley and Wilberforce considered
Jesus as Son of God and accepted the miraculous as inevitably a part of his
nature. Perhaps Jefferson would have
been a more moral man if he had considered Jesus MORE than a great teacher.
An old argument goes like
this: Jesus was either a great imposter,
was crazy, or was what he claimed to be.
If he was an imposter it seems unlikely he would have kept up the
charade to the point of dying. If he was
crazy why is there no evidence of erratic behavior. As Gary Collins, a psychologist quoted * in
Lee Strobel’s, The Case for Christ, says,
He was loving but didn't let his compassion immobilize
him; he didn't have a bloated ego, even though he was often surrounded by
adoring crowds; he maintained balance despite an often demanding lifestyle; he
always knew what he was doing and where he was going; he cared deeply about
people, including women and children, who weren't seen as being important back
then; he was able to accept people while not merely winking at their sin; he
responded to individuals based on where they were . . . and what they uniquely
needed. All in all I just don't see signs that Jesus was suffering from any
known mental illness.
So, if he was
not an imposter or crazy, then he must have been what he claimed to be. However, what he claimed for himself was
always veiled in symbolic language. He spoke
of himself as the “Son of Man,” and rarely made any self-promoting claims to be
God. Yet, those who followed him saw God
in him. They saw in him what countless
generations have seen – an authentic life lived in perfect integrity for the
sake of others – such integrity of life that he has been the inspiration for
imitators throughout history.
You could do
worse than follow a man like that. So,
maybe you’re not ready to call him Son of God.
But don’t make Jefferson’s mistake and simply say he was a great teacher
with nice ideas. For all his brilliance Jefferson’s lack of integrity is no example to follow.
So, maybe you’re
not ready to embrace the miracles. What
about the very miracle of his incredible life?
Who else has ever lived with such integrity?
What you gonna do about Jesus? In this take-him-or-leave him world I just
can’t imagine anyone leaving him, ignoring him, dismissing him. Yet they do.
Now tell me who’s crazy.
*Lee Strobel, 1998, The Case
for Christ, Grand Rapids Michigan/Zondervan Publishing House, p. 147
