The Jesus we read about in the Gospels makes claims about himself that are inconsistent with those of a man who was merely a Jewish prophet or a good teacher. This seems to be the basis why so many people do not accept His teachings or follow His example—they consider Him a mere man.But the man who said these things could not have been a “mere man”— a prophet or simply a good teacher. Either he was, as he claimed to be, the eternal Son of God, or He was completely deluded about Himself.The choice is clear: either you accept and believe that Jesus was a liar or a lunatic or you believe that He was God’s Messiah and our Lord. We see in scripture that people either believed what he said, or they used his words as proof of his blasphemy or his lunacy. What they didn’t do was classify him as a mere man, a prophet or simply a good teacher.Now we may find that surprising, but those who lived during the time of Jesus recognized the radical nature of Jesus’ claim as to who He was— is! So their choice was simple either believe who He claimed to be or reject Him.Jesus’ claim rests solely on His claim to be the Son of God. John’s Gospel is filled with “I am” claims by which Jesus links himself to God. “I am” recalls God’s name “Yahweh” that was connected to this verb “I am.” But Jesus draws other inferences as to His nature: “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), “I am the door [to salvation]” (John 10:9), “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11), “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and “I am the true vine” (John 15:1).These claims reach a climax when Jesus assures a group of skeptical religious leaders, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). At that statement, the religious leaders rejected His claim and charged Him with blasphemy which is made clear by their response: “They picked up stones to throw at him” (John 8:59).To know Him is to know God; not to recognize Him is not to recognize God. Thus, in his last public discourse, Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in Him ...
