Several people have told me that Jesus was “only a great teacher”, and He was not the Son of God. He was, at best, maybe a prophet.
Well, at least they do admit He existed in history, so that’s closer to the truth than those who deny Him completely! I almost never challenge those people, because I feel God is working on them and a confrontation will not do anyone any good. So, I will address the issue here.
Teachers are Great. He was much more!
If Jesus was only a great teacher, why did He let His followers believe that He: drove a herd of pigs insane; withered trees; raised the dead; gave sight to the blind; controlled the weather; multiplied food; walked on water; cast out demons, and the toughest … resurrected after 3 days?
How can any person who is only human make those claims, and not be considered insane? How can a person of integrity allow their followers to believe any or all of that?
If Jesus was only a great teacher, then how could he say any of the following, and not be considered mentally unstable? Also, it’s very hard to imagine a mentally unstable person being considered a “great teacher” even after so many, many years!
- Matthew 12:40: “The only proof of who I am that I’ll give you is the sign of Jonah. As he was in the belly of the whale three days and nights, so I will be in the heart of the earth for three days and nights.”
- Matthew 17:23: “They will kill me, and on the third day I will be raised from the grave.”
- Matthew 18:20: “Whenever 2 or 3 people come together in my name, I am there with them.”
- Matthew 25:31: “When I return in glory, with all my angels, I will sit on my throne.”
- Matthew 28:18: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
- Luke 12:49: “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.”
- Luke 22:19: (Giving his followers bread at dinner) “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Giving them a cup of wine) “This cup is the new agreement in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
- Luke 22:29: “I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.”
- John 6:48: “I am the bread of life. The Jews in the desert ate manna in the desert, yet they died. But I am the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world… I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”
- John 8:58: “I tell you I existed before Abraham was born.”
- John 10:30, 37: “I and the Father are One…(v37) Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you don’t believe me, believe the miracles, that you may learn and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
- John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
- John 18:37: “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact the reason I came into this world was to testify to the truth.”
I don’t understand how a “good teacher” can say any of those things. Let’s face it, Jesus was either totally insane … or He was who He claims He was … and still is!