Matthew 16:15-16 New Living Translation
Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter
answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Have you ever noticed that there isn’t a problem with any other
“religion” except Christianity and Judaism.
In general the problem is the belief that our God is the one and only
true God. There is only one way to
heaven, not a multitude of ways, as other religions would have you
believe. The one “religion” that is
called out and mocked over any other “religion” is Christianity. Why is that?
It’s Jesus. It’s who he said he
is. It’s the exclusivity of our
beliefs. We believe if you reject Christ
you will not enter heaven. No other
religion shares that belief. So when Peter, the unofficial spokesman for the
disciples, uttered the words “you are the Messiah (the anointed one, the
anticipated savior of the Jewish people), the Son of the living God” he was
acknowledging what was already known in heaven.
It is a historic fact that a man by the name of Jesus lived among
men. This is according to Jewish
Historian Flavius Josephus, who dedicated several lines to him. While it isn’t a lot, it shines a light on
the fact that the man did exist.
Josephus wasn’t a Christian, so he had no specific reason to mention
Jesus in his writings other than to chronicle what took place on his watch. Jesus says in scripture he is the Son of
God. It is said of him that he is
not only God’s Son, but also the appointed Savior of the Jewish people. He didn’t give us any other options. He either is who he said he is or he’s a
liar.
CS Lewis, the great Christian apologist and lay theologian was once an
atheist. Here is what he had to say on
the topic of what he refers to as the great Jesus Trilemma: “I am trying here to
prevent anyone 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 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. 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.”(1) Until next time, walk
with the King and be a blessing!
(1) CS Lewis; Mere Christianity; HarperOne
– Harper Collins Publishers.
Resource:
The Life Application Study Bible; published by Tyndale House.
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