Lord Liar Or Lunatic?

Lord Liar Or Lunatic ?                                       03-25-16

Revelation 1:12-18 (ESV) ¹²  Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,
¹³  and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
¹⁴  The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,
¹⁵  his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.
¹⁶  In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
¹⁷  When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,
¹⁸  and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.


Surely the most sobering day of the year is it not? What else can be said about this day that has not been said? Nothing really. At any rate, here's my take.

I remember a few years back, I was talking wih a group of folks and made this statement, "Jesus was not a good man." Well, after I said it, most if not all just stared back at me, their expressions screaming,"you have lost your ever loving mind!" As the seconds rolled on a few of them started grinning as if to concur with the popular opinion of my mental state. One hardy soul even made a gesture with his hands that implied that maybe I had been smoking something before I opened my mouth. He was mentally writing off the absurdity of my statement to the fact that I was floating around in lala land. (BIG SMILE) I actually had a point to make that day, but after that brief episode, all was lost, and we all had a big laugh. I tell you of that "faux pas" because that came to mind last night as I pondered on the title today.

The title is taken from a chapter in a book by Josh McDowell entitled "Evidence That Demands A Verdict." It was, if memory serves, the second Christian book that I ever read. In that chapter, McDowell, in arguing for the claims of Jesus contends that we don't have the choice of calling Jesus a good man. I will not belabor it here, for fear of a similar response(smile). However, our only choices,says McDowell when it comes to Jesus, are the ones offered in the title. Lord, Liar, or Lunatic. 

It's clear to me as I rove the web,or watch the news, that verily those three choices are still being offered. How so Ronnie? Glad you asked.

I have been on websites and even read a book a long time ago(The Passover Plot) that make Jesus out to be a tragic figure. A self deluded crazy with visions of grandeur. A lunatic,on the level of a poached egg(McDowell's words) who gave his life because he was living in his own imaginary world, believing himself to be the Son of God. There are any number of sources that peddle this pablum today. Only problem with that is when Jesus teachings are studied, His depth and insight into the human condition is so revealing that His teachings can hardly be written off as the ravings of a delusional who is disconnected from reality.

Well, if we can't make Him out a crazy, let's call Him a liar shall we? Those that seriously argue this, base such an argument on one statement of Jesus.Just one.

Matthew 26:63-64 (ESV) ⁶³  But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
⁶⁴  Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

You see all the accounts of Jesus's life, His teachings, His miracles, His death, burial, and resurrection are first hand accounts. Jesus isn't tooting His own horn. These are eyewitness accounts from those who followed Him. If Jesus were a liar, then a grand conspiracy of unimaginable magnitude was hatched. A conspiracy that dwarfs any of the popular conspiracy theories that abound today on every conceivable subject. A conspiracy mind you that has endured and grown exponentially over the last 2000+ years.  Given the weight of all the independent, objective evidence, I suppose that we must decide for ourselves if Jesus was who He said He was, or come to a much darker conclusion.......He was a liar from the pit of hell. What say you?

However, all that being said, it is the third and last option that is most relevant to us today as believers or even non believers. And I choose Good(?) Friday to declare that Jesus is Lord. You see, here is what happens much of the time. We leave Jesus on the cross. It is somehow inwardly moving to watch the movies and read the accounts of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. It is emotionally cleansing to identify with His pain and suffering. I remember watching The Passion for the first time. The scene of Jesus's flogging is etched permanently in my mind's eye. When It was over, I felt relieved. When the whole movie finished I had that catharsis that is the purpose of a good drama. We feel purged. And that is what we do with Jesus especially during this time of year. We identify more with His suffering than with His Resurrection. He IS the suffering savior. He IS the bruised reed. The lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world for our redemption. And truly, He was and is all of those things. But, now He is something entirely different. HE IS THE KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS. He has suffered all He is going to suffer. And while He loves us with a love beyond all others, He is the soon coming King that will rule the nations with a rod of iron. His position COMMANDS our respect, and one day soon not his position, but HE will DEMAND said respect.Not only is He the Lord of all the earth, He is YOUR Lord, He is MY Lord.Read the above Scripture again. The Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the End. He's not on the cross anymore brothers and sisters. Contrary to prevailing opinion about many different paths to God; opposing the imaginations that exalt themselves against the knowledge of the Son of God, JESUS CHRIST is the one and only way to the God of all the universe. We can call Him a delusional lunatic if it tickles our fancy. We can label Him a pathological liar, to remove the offense of the cross at our own peril. As for me and my house, I choose to call Him my risen Savior and Lord.
No other way but THE WAY.

John 14:6 (ESV) ⁶  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Psalm 2:7-9 (ESV) ⁷  I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
⁸  Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹  You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”


GOD BLESS