Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
I don’t remember how it came about, but several years ago at a business meeting with some friends from work the theme of the verse above came into our discussion. One of my friends had trouble with the exclusivity party of Jesus’ claim. She asked, isn’t it possible that there is more than one way when there are so many other religions in the world?
How many people do you know who are willing to accept Jesus as a good teacher, a wonderful example to follow, a compassionate man? Have we believed a cultural lie about Jesus?
Was Jesus a great teacher? Was he a wonderful example? Was he a caring, compassionate man? The answer is yes, but if that is the end of your view of Jesus then your view is distorted and wrong. What are the implications for your life if the following is true?
“I am trying here to prevent anyone from 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
Even a casual reading of any of the four Gospels gives a very different view of Jesus than what we often hear in our culture.
If someone asked you to describe your thoughts today, how would you respond?
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