Dr. Rick Mandl - October 14, 2020
Lord, Liar, Lunatic?
Devotional Manuscript: Lord, Liar, Lunatic?
Message by Dr. Rick Mandl, October 14, 2020
Hey church family. This week I was thinking about a conversation that Jesus had with his disciples. It’s recorded for us in Matthew 16 in which Jesus asked them this question. He said to them . . . (Matthew 16:13-20 NLT) “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
The question that Jesus asked, as to who you would say that He is, is one of the most important questions that any of us will ever answer. Some would prefer to dodge the question altogether - - maybe try and change the subject when you broach that question. Others, not wanting to flat out deny that Jesus ever existed, will admit that he is an historic figure, as opposed to a fairy tale – they might even go so far as to say that he was a good teacher. They simply reject his claim to have been God’s only son - and as such that he was and is equal with God.
The problem with that position is that equality with God was exactly what Jesus claimed. He said that he was the Messiah, the Son of God. He claimed equality with God. And the result of that claim is that we are left with only three options. Perhaps you’ve heard these before. Jesus was either a liar, or he was a lunatic, or he was the Lord who He claimed to be.
To claim that he was a good man, or a great teacher, but not equal to God is not an option that he left open to us, because He claimed to be God’s Son, he claimed to be equal with God. He either lied about that statement, and was deceitful, or He actually believed He was God, but was crazy, or else He really was who he said he was God in the flesh, who had left heaven and come to earth to be our savior and die for our sins. There are no other options.”
Theologian C.S. Lewis wrote about this subject and he said: “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 a 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.” Then Lewis adds, “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 up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
To C.S. Lewis’ words, the only thing I would add is my own Amen!
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
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