December 12

Jesus and the Truth

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.”

John 14:6 (NCV)

… who is the Savior of all people …

1 Timothy 4:10 (NLT)

Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life—the Savior of all mankind. He is our salvation, our satisfier and our strength—if only we will believe. If only we will trust in Him. If only….

Too many dismiss Jesus as a mere prophet, a well-intentioned man with a sweet message of peace and love but not to be taken seriously. Yet with a little more effort, with some serious investigation, the truth about Christ becomes clear: He was not a great man.

Consider the words of C.S. Lewis, an Oxford scholar and one-time agnostic himself.

“ I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I am 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 of 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 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.”

Lewis gives us much to ponder, which should lead us to some serious questions. Is Jesus the Christ, the unique person of all history? Or is He something else? What will you believe? The decision is yours….

Father God, Your Son, Jesus, claimed to be the truth. Open our hearts and minds to Your truth. Amen.