A thought by Charles R. Swindoll, from his book, Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series) (p. 12). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)
We strive to be so smart, don't we?
Charles says, "They readily accept that Jesus existed, that He was a Galilean Jew who lived and taught during the first century, that He was martyred for His teachings, and that those teachings were both radical and influential. But they deny Jesus’ miracles and reject even the suggestion that He is deity."
He goes on, "Unfortunately, this view of Jesus fails to explain why so many were willing to follow Him, even to a martyr’s death, and why He continues to impact the world so profoundly. Think of men like Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, and Constantine, men who conquered vast stretches of the known world. Think of Plato, Newton, and Einstein, men who revolutionized the thinking of humankind. Think of all the musicians, composers, philosophers, builders, and leaders who impacted the world so positively. Other men have conquered more, written more, and built more. But none has impacted the world more profoundly, permanently, or—for millions of people—more personally than the carpenter from Nazareth."
He continues, "Divorce Him from the supernatural, and we are left with a history that makes less sense, not more. Apart from the supernatural aspect of His life, Jesus was quite ordinary. And when you combine His deeds with His claims, you cannot avoid intellectual extremes and call yourself logical. C. S. Lewis explained the dilemma this way: '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’s 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 patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.' " (1)
Charles later says, "Who is this man? He is Jesus of Nazareth. He is God in human flesh. This is how He presented Himself to the world and, in the end, how we must either accept or reject Him."
It can be difficult to believe this to be true. It can. But if you really want to believe then keep searching. Okay? Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning.
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