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 An online correspondence course Some questions are so vital that we dare not ignore them. The answers we give to them will determine the whole course of our lives. No question is more important than that which Jesus asked the Pharisees. "What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he?" (Matt. 22:42.) If we grant that he is the Son of God, then we must also accept the testimony relating to his virgin birth, his miracles, and his bodily resurrection. We will obey his commands, live the life that he dictates, and expect the eternal home that he has promised. On the other hand, if we deny his deity we must consider him the grossest impostor of all time. We must likewise renounce his way of life and his promises of life after death. PROOF THAT JESUS LIVED. That a man named Jesus did live about the time ascribed to him in the Bible is too well established to be seriously disputed, even by atheists. We do not need the Bible for this evidence. The Jewish historian Josephus said of Christ, "Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day." (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapter 3.) It is only fair to state that the authenticity of this remarkable testimony by a non-Christian who was a contemporary of the apostles has been questioned by some since the historian makes so many surprising admissions regarding Jesus. However, whether or not we have the exact form of the statement of Josephus, it does seem certain that he testified that Jesus lived. The Roman historian Tacitus, born only twenty-five years after the crucifixion, stated that there was a person named Jesus who was executed by Pilate as a malefactor, and that the people known as Christians derived their name from him. Other non-Christians who confirmed the existence of Jesus were Pliny, a contemporary of Tacitus and governor of Pontus and Bithyania, and the Roman historian Suetonius, born about 70 A.D. THE CLAIMS MADE ABOUT JESUS. Our problem is to determine who this man Jesus was. Consider the claims which he made personally and those which were made about him by his friends. Jesus affirmed that he was both the Messiah promised to the Jews by the Old Testament prophets and the Son of God. In John 4:25, 26 is an account of part of his conversation with a woman at Jacob's well in Samaria. "The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he." When Jesus stood on trial at the court of the Jews the high priest said, "I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said." (Matt. 26:63 64.) Furthermore, when Peter acknowledged the deity of Christ by saying, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," (Matt. 16:16), Jesus placed his stamp of approval on his testimony by saying, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 16:17.) The writers of the four biographies of Jesus clearly considered him to be the Messiah, the Son of God. Of his gospel John said, "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book; but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." (John 20:30, 31.) The disciples of Jesus, the men who best knew him, taught that he was the Son of God. Peter declared, "Bessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:3.) John asserted, "Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3.) Again he said, "Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love." (2 John 3.) THE BASIS OF THESE CLAIMS. Upon what do the claims for the deity of Jesus rest? In John 5:33-39 Jesus himself based them upon four things. They are -- (1) the testimony of John the Baptist; (2) the testimony of the works Jesus performed; (3) the testimony of the heavenly Father; (4) the testimony of the scriptures. The testimony of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the savior, is to the point. "And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God." (John 1:34.) To those who knew John and had heard him preach, this witness was of great importance. The works that Jesus performed were his next source of evidence. To modern day man this is one of the strongest proofs of his deity. On one occasion the disciples of John the Baptist asked him who he was. Jesus in that hour performed many miracles and then said, "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached." (Luke 7:22.) Certainly, no ordinary human being could do these things. If Jesus performed these miracles including the raising of the dead, it is evidence that his claim to deity is true. Four biographers of Jesus have unequivocally declared that Jesus did perform the miracles. Is their testimony credible? Space forbids more than a bare mention of our reasons for accepting their affirmations. First, being contemporaries of Jesus, and in some cases his apostles, they had the means of knowing. Next, their credibility is established by the large number of witnesses. Not only the writers of the four gospels, but also the other four New Testament authors bear direct or indirect testimony to the claims made for Jesus. The number of witnesses is so large as to preclude collusion. Third, the honesty of these witnesses is established by the great candor of their writings and the extreme sufferings which they endured for what they believed. No man will give up his life as did these early Christians just to perpetuate a fraud. For these reasons the testimony of the New Testament writers must be accepted. Furthermore, the Jewish Talmud, a compilation of traditions begun in the second century, acknowledge that Jesus did perform many and great miracles. These writings claim that he derived his power from having learned the right pronunciation of the name of God, or from magic arts learned in Egypt. The important thing is that the Talmud, written by bitter enemies of Jesus, does not deny his miracles. Had there been grounds for denial the Talmud would have claimed them. Jesus' third claim to deity was the testimony of the Father. We have three accounts in the gospels of heavenly acknowledgment of Christ. The first was at his baptism when God declared, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Mark 1:11.) Then on the Mount of Transfiguration the Father spoke, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." (Matt. 17:5.) The third instance is found in John 12:28. Lastly, Jesus called the scriptures to testify on his behalf. This involves his fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies relating to the coming Messiah. This has been discussed in a previous lesson and will not be dealt with here except to point out that the dozens of prophecies which Jesus fulfilled constitute one of the strongest proofs of his deity. Another great proof of the deity of Jesus is his resurrection from the grave. No fact of ancient history is better confirmed than this. It is mentioned over one hundred times in the New Testament alone. Were there only one or two alleged appearances of Jesus after his resurrection we might suppose that the witnesses were deceived. But eleven appearances are recorded in the New Testament. Usually Jesus appeared to a number of people. This is too much testimony to explain away. WHAT THE EVIDENCE MEANS. What conclusions are we to draw from the foregoing? One of three things must be true. Either he was an imposter, or he was the Son of God as he claimed, or he must occupy a position somewhere between the two extremes. We cannot assign him any middle rank because if he could not perform miracles, raise the dead, and forgive sins as he claimed, he must have been a deceiver of the highest order. Then was he an imposter? If he was, he was evil instead of good, dishonest instead of honest. But this is completely at variance with everything that we know about him. One writer has said of him, "The most lasting impression made upon the reader of the Gospels is that of the superlative goodness and moral purity of Jesus. This moral purity shines upon us from every page like the sun in heaven, and is the chief means which gives to the common reader, the child, or the uncultured man, the unwavering belief that Jesus was divine. If the source of this impression is analyzed his moral uprightness is still more apparent. The benevolent and pure teachings of Christ could not have flowed from an impure heart and a guilty conscience. If corrupt at heart, some exigency of suffering, of studied affront, or of cold neglect, would have revealed, by word or deed his true character. Whether in public or private, entering Jerusalem in triumph, or bending beneath the imprecations of the Jews, he is the same patient, perfect one...It cannot be that that heart was corrupt and dark with guilt." (Everest, The Divine Demonstration, p. 99.) While many have attacked the claims of Jesus, his character has seldom been questioned. Many who deny his deity are the first to admit his moral goodness. Some will go so far as to say that he was the best man who ever lived. If so, he could not have been an imposter, and if he was not an imposter, his claims of deity must stand unchallenged. A word of warning is in order. Many theological liberals state that they believe in the divinity of Christ. By his divinity they do not mean his deity -- that he was and is God. They teach that divinity is the spark of the divine that is in each of us, and since Jesus had more of it than others, he was more divine, but still just a human being, not God's son. But Christ is more than a superman. He is the Son of God sent to this earth to redeem man. The implications of Christ's deity are overwhelming. If he is the Son of God, his words are authoritative and must be accepted without question. The church for which he died is perfectly founded, and although made of human stones, is divine. His promises are certain and through him we may attain salvation from sin and life everlasting. True or false:
Some of the following statements help prove the deity of Jesus. Some do not. Place an (X) before those which do:
In the blanks before each scripture write the person or persons who in that passage declare the deity of Jesus:
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