Jesus as a Witness

“Jesus Christ who is the faithful Witness.’ — Rev. 1: 5.

The two-fold proposition which we offer for your acceptance is this: JESUS CHRIST WAS NOT A PRODUCT OF THE AGE IN WHICH HE LIVED, BUT A NATIVE OF ANOTHER WORLD WHO CAME TO THIS WORLD FOR A PURPOSE; THAT HE WAS GOD AND MAN IN ONE. The geologist, finding a stone where there are no other stones like it, reasonably concludes that it was imported. The botanist, finding a flower where there are no flowers like it, concludes that its seed was brought from another place. A Chinaman, walking down a street of Shanghai, meets an American missionary. The missionary is a man like himself, but in all other respects totally different. His dress, his language, his religion, his thoughts are different from his. A foolish man that Chinaman, if he does not conclude that he has met a foreigner. Now, Jesus Christ was a man like other men, and yet, so different from all other men, that we are justified in believing he was more than man; so different as to warrant the conclusion that he was not a native of this world at all. Our first proof of this proposition is Jesus Christ himself in his claims, his character,and his work.

I. His Cuatms. 1. Jesus claimed that he was “the Son of Man.” — There had never been before him in the world such a Son of Man. His claim was not that he was A son of man, nor the son of A man, but THE Son of Man, of all men, of the human race, of humanity. ‘There is something,’ says F, W.

Robertson, ‘‘exceedingly emphatic in that expression, Son of Man. Our master is not called the Son of Mary, but as if the blood of the whole human race were in his veins, he calls himself the Son of Man. There is a universality in the character of Christ which you find in no other man. Translate the words of Christ into what country’s language you will, he might have been the offspring of that country. Date them by what century of the world you will, they belong to that century as much as to any other. There is nothing of nationalityabout Christ. There is nothing of that personal peculiarity which we call idiosynerasy. There is nothing peculiar to any particular age of the world. He was not the Asiatic. He was not the European. He was not the Jew. He was not the type of that century, stamped with its peculiarities. He was not the mechanic. He was not the aristocrat. But he wastheman. He was the child of every age and every nation. His was a life world-wide. His was a heart pulsating with the blood of the humanrace. He reckoned for his ancestry the collective myriads of mankind. Emphatically, He was the Son of Man.”’

Now was there anything in the environment of Christ to make out of him such a world-wide Son of Man? Just the contrary. He was raised in a mountain village, and village life tends to make men narrow. ‘Travel may correct this tendency, but Jesus did not travel out of Palestine. Born of the tribe of Judah, and, having a legal right to the throne of David, we would naturally expect him to share the narrow bitter feelings of his Jewish kindred, and like them chafe under the loss of national glory. On the other hand he shares none of their narrow feelings. He teaches them a lesson in brotherly love by condemning their priest and levite for passing by on the other side, while he praises the hated Samaritan who stops and helps the wounded man. All through his life there was a conflict between his universal sympathy and the narrow bigotry of his people. When Demosthenes thanked the gods that he was a man and not a beast, a man and not a woman, a Greek and not a Barbarian, he expressed the sentiments of all mankind till Jesus came with the thought of universal brotherhood. The

Jew thanked God that he was a Jew,and not a Gentile. The Roman thanked his gods that he was neither Jew nor Greek, while the Greek was just as thankful that he was neither Jew nor Roman. Every nation on earth thought that it was THE nation, and every man in it thought that he was THE man, because he was better than his neighbors. Jesus was not Jew enough for the Jew, nor Roman enough for the Roman, nor Grecian enough for the Greek. They all rejected him, because he belonged to all alike, and refused to belong to either exclusively. The forces at work in the world at that time did not produce such a man. He evidently brought into the world this new idea, which we find through revelation to be native to the world from which he came.

2. Jesus claimed that he was the Son of God. — The high priest said to him on his trial ‘*I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said unto him, thou hast said.’? (Matt. 26:63.) The high priest understood this answer as decidedly affirmative, for he at once rends his clothes, exclaiming ‘‘ He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses?’? When Pilate wanted to let him go, the Jews cried out, ‘‘ We have a law and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.’’? (John 19:7.) One of the charges flung into his face on the cross was that he said ‘‘I am the Son of God.’’? (Matt. 27:43.) Thus the enemies of Jesus testify that he claimed to be the Son of God. And his friends who were closest to him and best knew his mind admit the claim. ‘‘I saw and bare record,”’ says John, ‘‘ that this is the Son of God.’? (John 1:34.) Paul preached ‘‘Christ in the synagogues that he is the Son of God,”’ (Acts 9:20.) When the centurion, beholding the wonders of the crucifixion said, ‘‘Tru’y this was a son of God,’ he simply echoed the claim of Christ and his friends, and the charge of his enemies.

3. Jesus claimed that he was God. — As the Son of Man, he was truly man; and es the Son of God, he was truly God. He was not A but THE Son of God. It is evident that his friends and enemies understood him as claiming that in being the Son of God he was God. Jesus makes the claim so clear that it seems to me no candid mind can doubt it. Listen to these words: ‘‘ He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.’’ (John 14:9.) Again: ‘+ He that seeth me seeth him that sent me.” (John 12:45.) Many men before and after Christ have tried to demonstrate the existence of God. Jesus made no such attempt. His mission was to manifest God in his own person. His claim confirms the message of the angel, ‘* They shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us;’? and Paul shows that he had caught his true meaning when he wrote ‘‘God was manifest in the flesh.?? (1 Tim. 3:16.) Jesus was an agnostic to the extent that he taught the impossibility of knowing God the Father, except through himself. ‘*‘No man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he, to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.’’ (Matt. 11:27.) He claims identity of divine nature with the Father in the words ‘*I and my Father are one.’’ (John 10:30) In many places he calmly claims attributes which none but God can possess. He declares that he is eternal. To the cavilling Pharisees he said ‘‘Before Abraham was I am.’’ (John 8:58.) As a man he prays, but in one of his prayers we see a flash of his divinity. ‘* And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.’? (John 17:5.) And, with this eternity of nature, he declares that he has equal honor with the Father. ‘‘The Father hath committed all judgment to the Son, that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father that sent Him.’? (John 5: 22-23.) He claims to be omnipresent as to place and time. ‘¢ Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’’ (Matt. 18:20.) ‘+Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’? (Matt. 28:20.) He claimed that he had power to forgive sins. (Matt. 9:5-6.) And his enemies were right in their question, ‘* Who can forgive sins save God only?’? He claimed to be able to work miracles, even to the raising of the dead. ‘‘As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.?? (John 5:21.) Toanunprejudiced mind, there can be no shadow of doubt as to the fact that Jesus claimed to be God. And those nearest to him who knew him best admit and press this claim. John crowns him Creator of the Universe, ‘+In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made.’’ (John 1:3.) ‘* We are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20.) Those who were with him for three years believed that he knew all things. ‘‘ Now we are sure that thou knowest all things, and by this we believe that thou comest forth from God.’? (John 16:30.) Peter said; ‘‘ Lord, thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love thee.’’ (John 21: 17.) After Jesus had stilled the tempest on the sea of Gallilee ‘* they that were in the ship came and worshipped him saying, of a truth thou art the Son of God.’? (Matt. 14:33.) His receiving their worship proves that he claimed to be God; their giving their worship proves that they gladly admitted his claim. Paul’s ‘¢ Christ who is over all God blessed forever’? (Rom. 9:5) was the true Christ. So that all who to-day deny his divinity are out of harmony with Christ himself and the early church.

4, Jesus claimed that he was himself the antidote for all evil. — Men have presented their plans and philosophies for the remedying of earth’s ills, but Jesus stands alone in presenting - not a system, but his own personality as capable of supplying the need of the soul. To the hungry soul he says, ‘*‘ I am the bread of life.’? To men who stand perplexed about the way from earth to heaven he says, ‘‘I am the way.’’ To Pilate’s question: ‘* What is truth?’’ which is but the echo or the question of all the ages, he replies, ‘‘I am the truth.’? To the seeker after the secrets of life he boldly says, ‘‘I am the life.’’ To those who are groping in the dark he says, ‘¢I am the light, of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’ To a world crushed beneath burdens of guilt, superstition and ignorance he says, ‘‘ Come ‘unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and f£ will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden ig

ip light.’? Instead of systems of philosophy or plans of relief, he presents himself. This idea is not of the earth. It was not man’s way of doing before or since Jesus came. He stands alone as the one who offers himself as the remedy for all evil. There was nothing in the thought of his age to suggest this; nothing in his environment to foster it. The idea bears the superscription of another world, whose way of doing things is different from ours.

Il. His CHARACTER. To us who have accepted Christ as our teacher his claim is proof enough. The fact that he claims to be God with us settles the question. The fact that he offers himself a remedy for all evil sends us forth proclaiming him as such. The man who pretends to accept Christ as his teacher, and yet refuses to accept his claim to divinity, is grossly inconsistent. There are some, however, who demand more evidence than a mere claim. They wish to know the basis upon which the claim rests. We have a word for them. Indeed, it is for them that we feel most concern. Let me say to such in the outset, there are but three positions we can hold with reference to Christ. ‘*Some said, He is a good man, others said, nay; but he deceiveth the people.’? (John 7:12.) Jesus Christ was either a madman, a bad man, ora God. None but a God, ora madman, or a deceiver could have made the claims that he did. The strongest minds on earth stand with uncovered heads in the presence of his teaching. The sermon on the Mount, even infidelity is willing to admit, was the utterance of a clear head and a pure heart. The whole trend of his life indicates the soundest mind, filled with the healthy enthusiasm which a great mission inspires. The charge that he was a madman no one is foolish enough to defend. Then we are driven to one of two other positions. He was either God,or the worst of men. We have just seen that he claimed the attributes of divinity. A good man cannot claim to be what he knows he is not. A good man cannot be a hypocrite. Now, does anyone in this day contend that Jesus was a deceiver? I have yet to hear of such an one. A candid Jewish Rabbi of this city admitted in a sermon a few weeks ago that Jesus was a good man, whose object was to do good,and died a martyr to his mission. Such an admission puts a man who rejects the divinity of Christ in an embarrassing position, for now he must prove that a good man can be a hypocrite; that a good man can be the worst of men. There is no middle ground. Jesus pressed this fact home upon the young man who came to him saying ‘‘ Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life 2?’ when he replied, *‘ Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God??? (Mark 10:17-18.) **To say that I am good is equal to saying that I am God, and if you admit that I am good, your place is at my feet as a worshiper,and the place for your money is on the altar of my service.’? The question of Jesus, ‘* Which of you convinceth me of sin?’’ challenges not only his hearers, but all the ages; and their verdict has echoed the words of Pilate, ‘+ I find no fault in this man.’’? Friends and foes who lived close to him and inspected his words and actions confirm the claim that he was good. Peter says, ‘* He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.’’ (1 Peter 2:22.) ‘* Ye know,’’ says John, ‘‘that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him was no sin.’’ (1 John 3:5.) We believe that no man lives to-day bad enough to deny this claim, and assert that Jesus was a deceiver. If we could bring from the bottomless pit a man who had been there five thousand years and growing worse every year during that time,and lay before him the facts, I don’t believe that even he would be bad enough to claim that Jesus was a bad man. The very thought shocks the consciousness of one who is at all familiar with his character. If, then, no one can be found foolish enough to claim that he was a madman, or bad enough to assert that he was a bad man, surely the verdict that he was good is universal. AND IF GOOD, HE wAs God.

Ill. His work. His work was to establish a kingdom not of this world. (John 18:36.) Such a thcught was not of this world. The Jews were looking for a temporal king, to deliver them from Roman rule. If Christ had taken hold of their idea and used it for his own advancement, he would have acted like a man, and his success could have been explained as the success of Napoleon and Washington can be explained. On the contrary, he opposed the leaders of public opinion, and began the establishment of a kingdom which lives to-day after the kingdoms of Greece, Rome and Egypt have ceased to exist, except in memory. A young man, a poor mechanic, from a mountain village, with no rich, powerful allies, does this in three years! And he does it by the deliberate sacrifice of himself. Men have died martyrs to their mission. But man has never yet planned martyrdom as a part of his mission. Jesus told his disciples that he would go to Jerusalem and be crucified, and on the third day rise again. (Matt. 16:21.) He provides before his death for a memorial of that death. Men do not build monuments to their defeats. The French have no monument to call Waterloo to mind. But Jesus would have his followers remember not the Mount of Transfiguration, but Calvary; not his glory,but his shame. Indeed, He makes his shame the test of discipleship. He tells his followers that they must expect to be hated, persecuted, killed. Men do not try to establish kingdoms in this way. All these things go to prove that Jesus was not native to this world. He was more than man, and, as I see him standing out distinct from and above all others, I cannot resist the impulse to fall at his feet and say with Thomas ‘‘My Lord and my God.”’