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Preparing For Sunday
As we begin chapter 7 of
John's Gospel this week we are confronted with two views of who Jesus is. John describes them in verses 12 and 13:
12Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about
him. Some said, "He is a good man."
Others
replied, "No, he deceives the people."
This difference of opinion has been used throughout the years
and made into a "trilemma" by some modern apologist. The best known of these is C.S. Lewis.
Here is one presentation of the trilemma on the website by
Campus Crusade known as Global Media Outreach:
http://www.greatcom.org/resources/areadydefense/ch21/default.htm
THE TRILEMMA LORD, LIAR OR LUNATIC?
Jesus' distinct claims
of being God eliminate the popular ploy of skeptics Who regard Him as just a
good moral man or a prophet who said a lot Of profound things. So often that
conclusion is passed off as the only one acceptable to scholars or as the
obvious result of the intellectual process. The trouble is, many people nod
their heads in agreement and never see the fallacy of such reasoning.
C. S. Lewis, who was a
professor at Cambridge University and once an agnostic, understood this issue
clearly. He writes:
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 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.
Then Lewis adds:
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 up with any patronizing
nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to
us. He did not intend to.
In the words of Kenneth
Scott Latourette, historian of Christianity at Yale University: "It is not
His teachings which make Jesus so remarkable, although these would be enough to
give Him distinction. It is a combination of the teachings with the man
Himself. The two cannot be separated."
Jesus claimed to be God.
He didn't leave any other option open. His claim must be either true or false,
so it is something that should be given serious consideration. Jesus' question
to His disciples, "But who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15) has
several alternatives.
First, suppose that His
claim to be God was false. If it was false, then we have only two alternatives.
He either knew it was false or He didn't know it was false. We will consider
each one separately and examine the evidence.
Was He a Liar?
If, when Jesus made His
claims, He knew that He was not God, then He was lying and deliberately
deceiving His followers. But if He was a liar, then He was also a hypocrite
because He told others to be honest, whatever the cost, while He himself taught
and lived a colossal lie. More than that, He was a demon, because He told
others to trust Him for their eternal destiny. If He couldn't back up His
claims and knew it, then He was unspeakably evil. Last, He would also be a fool
because it was His claims to being God that led to His crucifixion.
Many will say that Jesus
was a good moral teacher. Let's be realistic. How could He be a great moral
teacher and knowingly mislead people at the most important point of His
teaching -His own identity?
You would have to
conclude logically that He was a deliberate liar. This view of Jesus, however
doesn't coincide with what we know either of Him or the results of His life and
teachings. Wherever Jesus has been proclaimed, lives have been changed for the
good, nations have changed for the better, thieves are made honest, alcoholics
are cured, hateful individuals become channels of love, unjust persons become
just.
William Lecky, one of
Great Britain's most noted historians and a dedicated opponent of organized
Christianity, writes:
It was reserved for
Christianity to present to the world an ideal character which through all the
changes of eighteen centuries has inspired the hearts of men with an
impassioned love; has shown itself capable of acting on all ages, nations,
temperaments and conditions; has been not only the highest pattern of virtue,
but the strongest incentive to its practice.... The simple record of these
three short years of active life has done more to regenerate and soften mankind
than all the disquisitions of philosophers and all the exhortations of
moralists.
Historian Philip Schaff
says:
How, in the name of
logic, common sense, and experience, could an imposter-that is a deceitful,
selfish, depraved man-have invented, and consistently maintained from the
beginning to end, the purest and noblest character known in history with the
most perfect air of truth and reality? How could He have conceived and
successfully carried out a plan of unparalleled beneficence, moral magnitude,
and sublimity, and sacrificed His own life for it, in the face of the strongest
prejudices of His people and age? 70/9495
If Jesus wanted to get
people to follow Him and believe in Him as God, why did He go to the Jewish
nation? Why go as a Nazarene carpenter to a country so small in size and
population and so thoroughly adhering the undivided unity of God? Why didn't He
go to Egypt or, even more, to Greece, where they believed in various gods and
various manifestations of them?
Someone who lived as
Jesus lived, taught as Jesus taught, and died as Jesus died could not have been
a liar. What other alternatives are there?
Was He a Lunatic?
If it is inconceivable
for Jesus to be a liar, then couldn't He actually have thought Himself to be
God, but been mistaken? After all, it's possible to be both sincere and wrong.
But we must remember that for someone to think himself God, especially in a
fiercely monotheistic culture, and then to tell others that their eternal
destiny depended on believing in him, is no light flight of fantasy but the
thoughts of a lunatic in the fullest sense. Was Jesus Christ such a person?
Someone who believes he
is God sounds like someone today believing himself Napoleon. He would be
deluded and self-deceived, and probably he would be locked up so he wouldn't
hurt himself or anyone else. Yet in Jesus we don't observe the abnormalities
and imbalance that usually go along with being deranged. His poise and
composure would certainly be amazing if He were insane.
Noyes and Kolb, in a
medical text, describe the schizophrenic as a person who is more autistic than
realistic. The schizophrenic desires to escape from the world of reality. Let's
face it; claiming to be God would certainly be a retreat from reality.
In light of the other
things we know about Jesus, it's hard to imagine that He was mentally
disturbed. Here is a man who spoke some of the most profound sayings ever
recorded. His instructions have liberated many individuals from mental bondage.
Clark H. Pinnock asks:
Was He deluded about His
greatness, a paranoid, an unintentional deceiver, a schizophrenic? Again, the
skill and depth of His teachings support the case only for His total mental
soundness. If only we were as sane as He!
A student at a
California university told me that his psychology professor had said in class
that "all he has to do is pick up the Bible and read portions of Christ's
teaching to many of his patients. That's all the counseling they need."
Psychiatrist J. T.
Fisher states:
If you were to take the
sum total of all authoritative articles ever written by the most qualified of
psychologists and psychiatrists on the subject of mental hygiene -if you were
to combine them and refine them, and cleave out the excess verbiage - if you
were to take the whole of the meat and none of the parsley, and if you were to
have these unadulterated bits of pure scientific knowledge concisely expressed
by the most capable of living poets, you would have an awkward and incomplete
summation of the Sermon on the Mount. And it would suffer immeasurably through
comparison. For nearly two thousand years the Christian world has been holding
in its hands the complete answer to its restless and fruitless yearnings. Here
... rests the blueprint for successful human life with optimism, mental health,
and contentment.
C. S. Lewis writes:
The historical
difficulty of giving for the life, sayings and influence of Jesus any
explanation that is not harder than the Christian explanation is very great.
The discrepancy between the depth and sanity ... of His moral teaching and the
rampant megalomania which must lie behind His theological teaching unless He is
indeed God has never been satisfactorily explained. Hence the non-Christian
hypotheses succeed one another with the restless fertility of bewilderment.
Philip Schaff reasons:
Is such an intellect
-clear as the sky, bracing as the mountain air, sharp and penetrating as a
sword, thoroughly healthy and vigorous, always ready and always self-possessed
-liable to a radical and most serious delusion concerning His own character and
mission? Preposterous imagination!
Was He Lord?
I cannot personally
conclude that Jesus was a liar or a lunatic. The only other alternative is that
He was the Christ, the Son of God, as He claimed.
When I discuss this with
most Jewish people, it's interesting how they respond. They usually tell me
that Jesus was a moral, upright, religious leader, a good man, or some kind of
prophet. I then share with them the claims Jesus made about Himself and then
the material in this chapter on the trilemma (liar, lunatic, or Lord). When I
ask if they believe Jesus was a liar, there is a sharp "No!"
Then I ask, "Do you
believe He was a lunatic?"
The reply is, "Of
course not."
"Do you believe He
is God?"
Before I can get a
breath in edgewise, there is a resounding, "Absolutely not."
Yet one has only so many
choices.
The issue with these
three alternatives is not which is possible, for it is obvious that all three
are possible. Rather, the question is, "Which is more probable?" Who
you decide Jesus Christ is must not be an idle intellectual exercise. You
cannot put Him on the shelf as a great moral teacher. That is not a valid
option. He is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord and God. You must make a
choice. "But," as the apostle John wrote, "these have been
written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God;
and" -more important- "that believing you might have life in His
name" (John 20:31).
The evidence is clearly
in favor of Jesus as Lord. Some people, however, reject this clear evidence
because of moral implications involved. They don't want to face up to the
responsibility or implications of calling Him Lord.
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Women's Beach Walk Canceled in Support of Walk For Life Network
Life Network's 19th Annual WALK FOR LIFE
Date: July 25th, 2009
Time: 9am - 11pm
Location: Casa Las Palmas, Chase Palm Park,
323 E. Cabrillo Boulevard
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Why?: Because Life is Valuable
More Information: Visit www.friendsoflifenetwork.org or click HERE
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Verdugo Day
Verdugo Community Church is an inner-city congregation in our Southern California region. It is an historic church with a small
congregation that has been unable to keep up their facilities. On August 15th our church along with 20 other
churches in our region are gathering together to help
upgrade their facilities. We will be painting, removing a block wall and
cement, replacing electrical, removing an old piano, and the like.
We need volunteers to make this happen!! We will leave the
church parking lot at 7:30 am on Saturday August 15Th and carpool down to Verdugo Community Church. We will be doing some painting and some electrical work as
well as just good old clean up work. Lunch will be provided and we should be
back in Santa Barbara by 5:00. It will be a day of working together as well as
fellowship and blessing a church that needs some help.
For more information, please contact the church office at 965-1338 x221.
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Men@Nacimiento 2009
Free Methodist Men's Retreat
September 18-20th
Come To The Water!
If you would like to join in a preparatory prayer time for this retreat, join us in the Counseling Center at 10:35am on Sunday mornings. For more information contact Don Farnsworth at 455-8880 or don.farnsworth@cox.net
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Attention Women: Save This Date, March 19-21 2010!
SAVE
THE DATE: Ladies, plan on joining us in Cambria
March 19-21, 2009 for our Women's Retreat weekend and start saving just $5 per
week now and it will be paid!
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Santa Barbara Meals on Wheels Needs Volunteer Drivers
Can you spare 2 hours one day a week to deliver hot, nutritious
meals to the elderly and homebound of Santa Barbara? The hours are from
approximately 10:15 am - 12:15 pm, and Meals on Wheels (MOW) currently has both
weekday and weekend routes available. They are also in need of "on
call" drivers that can fill in if the regular driver is unavailable. You
will use your own car - and MOW will reimburse you for mileage!
The rewards for delivering Meals on Wheels are
so great. They deliver 7 days a week 365 days of the year. They are a
non-profit all volunteer organization except for one hired staff person
and the contracting of food preparation from Valle Verde. If you can
spare a couple of hours one day per week or can volunteer occasionally please
call the MOW office at 683-4565 Monday through Friday and ask for Leanna. You
can also call or email Mark Huston for more information. His contact
information is: markhuston1311@gmail.com
or cell # 895-1262.
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Church Finances
In this time of financial struggle, Thank you for remembering
your church family!
Offerings Needed YTD: $355,238.71
Offerings Receive YTD: $345,516.25 (97.26%)
Still Needed YTD:
$9,722.46
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FMCSB
Our Mission is to win
people to Christ, establish them in the faith, and equip them for ministry.
Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara
1435 Cliff Drive
Santa Barbara, California 93109
805-965-1338
www.fmcsb.org
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Important Dates
Sat. July 25th: Life Network Walk
Sat. Aug. 15th:
Verdugo Day
Tues. Sept. 1st: Last day to register for the Church Reformation Trip in 2010
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Church Reformation Trip Deadline is September 1st
With the difficult times we have decided to only do the European
part of the church trip with the sights of Luther, Calvin and Oberammergau's
Passion Play. We have a small group of 14 going at this time and have a
few openings if you would like to join us. The cost has changed to $4747
for the 12 days, which includes all travel, meals, lodging, the play ($800 is
for the play). Here is our trip:
Jun 20 LAX/Frankfurt
Jun 21 Frankfurt/Worms - Rhine cruise together with the London
extension people.
Jun 22 Worms/Eisenach/Erfurt
Jun 23 Erfurt/Eisleben/Leipzig
Jun 24 Tour Wittenberg & Torgau from Leipzig
Jun 25 Leipzig/Rothenburg Overnight inside the walled city
Jun 26 Rothenburg/Augsburg/ Visit one of the Castles / Oberammergau
- Check in at the Passion Play desk by 6:00PM (Overnight in Pensions &
Guest Houses)
Jun 27 Oberammergau Full day performance
Jun 28 Oberammergau/Lucerne
Jun 29 Lucerne/Geneva
Jun 30 Geneva sightseeing
Jul 01 Geneva/LAX
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Congratulations to the Fewells!
Jessica and Kevin Fewell welcomed baby Trey into the world during the early morning hours of Thursday July 23rd. Congratulations!!
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Aaron Perdue Coming to the Lobero Theater
Aaron Perdue just
finished his undergraduate studies at Carnegie Mellen University in
Pittsburgh and will begin graduate studies this fall at the Shepherd
School of Music at Rice University in Houston. He recently
was a winner of the concerto competition held at the Music Academy of the
West. He will perform his winning piece with full orchestra at the Lobero
this Saturday night, the 25th. Four other winners will do the same,
a pianist, a violinist , a cellist and a trombonist. Eighty musicians entered
the competition. A terrrific evening!
Aaron is from Colorado Springs where his father is a pastor of a
small church and his great great grandather was an intinerant horseback
preacher in Eastern Colorado and Western Kansas. Flute
masterclasses are held each Thursday at 3:15pm in the Singher Studio at the MAW
under the direction of Tim Day. Four flutists are in this year's class.
Aaron will
likely bring along a pianist to play with him. The pianist is Min
Young Kang who is from South Korea and also attending the MAW this
summer. Min Young is a student at the Eastman School of Music in
Rochester NY.
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Memory Verse
John 3:16 & 17
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did
not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him."
John 1:1-18
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that
life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness
has not understood it.
6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a
witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might
believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did
not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not
receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God- 13children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the One and Only,[d] who came from the Father, full of grace and
truth.
15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of
whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'
" 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing
after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,who
is at the Father's side, has made him known.
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