Liar, Lunatic, Or Lord
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
Series IV, Cycle B
Object:
Liar, Lunatic, Or Lord
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.... And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.... No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known. (vv. 1-2, 14, 18)
While traveling on an airplane, author and speaker Jim Burns was reading his Bible. This caught the eye of the passenger sitting beside him. She struck up a conversation with him. Terming it a "conversation" would be misleading. She was curt as she bluntly asked him if he really believed that Jesus was the Son of God. Burns replied that was indeed his belief. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
She then asked, "Isn't it difficult for you to intellectually believe such a preposterous statement as Jesus being God's only Son?"
Burns responded, "In the Bible, Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God, that leaves me with only three options. He was either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord who he claimed to be."
She was not satisfied with any of those three options. She expressed her belief that Jesus was "a great teacher of faith in God, but not equal to God."
Burns replied, "He didn't leave that option open for us. He said that he was equal with God. He either lied about that statement or he actually believed he was God but was crazy. Or else he really was God. There are no other options."
The woman was still not convinced of Burns' argument. However, he could tell that she was contemplating all that Burns had said -- struggling with the implications.
In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote about the school of thought that Jesus was a great teacher but nothing more. He wrote, "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."
If we believe scripture and what Jesus has said in scripture then we believe that Jesus is not a liar or a lunatic. He is the Word from the beginning of time who became flesh to live among us as God's only Son, full of truth and grace and close to the Father's heart.
(Jim Burns, Getting In Touch with God [Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1986], pp. 41-42.)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.... And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.... No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known. (vv. 1-2, 14, 18)
While traveling on an airplane, author and speaker Jim Burns was reading his Bible. This caught the eye of the passenger sitting beside him. She struck up a conversation with him. Terming it a "conversation" would be misleading. She was curt as she bluntly asked him if he really believed that Jesus was the Son of God. Burns replied that was indeed his belief. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
She then asked, "Isn't it difficult for you to intellectually believe such a preposterous statement as Jesus being God's only Son?"
Burns responded, "In the Bible, Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God, that leaves me with only three options. He was either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord who he claimed to be."
She was not satisfied with any of those three options. She expressed her belief that Jesus was "a great teacher of faith in God, but not equal to God."
Burns replied, "He didn't leave that option open for us. He said that he was equal with God. He either lied about that statement or he actually believed he was God but was crazy. Or else he really was God. There are no other options."
The woman was still not convinced of Burns' argument. However, he could tell that she was contemplating all that Burns had said -- struggling with the implications.
In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote about the school of thought that Jesus was a great teacher but nothing more. He wrote, "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."
If we believe scripture and what Jesus has said in scripture then we believe that Jesus is not a liar or a lunatic. He is the Word from the beginning of time who became flesh to live among us as God's only Son, full of truth and grace and close to the Father's heart.
(Jim Burns, Getting In Touch with God [Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1986], pp. 41-42.)
