Quote Source – C.S. Lewis
A Biblical Christian worldview perspective – Lewis went on to say …
“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 … 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 … 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.”
Last night, in his return to late-night TV, Jimmy Kimmel offered an 18-minute monologue that included what seemed a sincere agreement with the “I forgive him” statement from Erika Kirk in reference to her husband’s assassin. The underlying intent, of course, was a request by Kimmel, directed to his remaining audience, that they forgive his comments from the previous week. In that address Kimmel referenced Jesus, as follows:
“If you believe in the teachings of Jesus as I do….”
With little information on Jimmy Kimmel’s theology, one cannot offer an opinion on this statement other than to remind the reader of the underlying point made by C.S. Lewis. One cannot accept Jesus as a “great moral teacher” and, at the same time, ignore His divinity. Christ did not give us that option. The moral teachings of Jesus must be merged with the rest of His ministry, where He identified Himself as God and part of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
John 8:58-59 - Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
Those who rejected Jesus tried to kill Him because this, and other quotes from Scripture, made it clear that He was referring to Himself as God incarnate. As Lewis famously summarized in the book Mere Christianity … Christ was either a lunatic, liar, or Lord.
“Jesus [. . .] told people that their sins were forgiven. [. . .] This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. [. . .] 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 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 patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
My point is not to criticize Jimmy Kimmel but to use his contrition to make a point to us all. Those who choose to pick selected red-letter verses from the Bible to form their unique religious worldview but reject those parts they disagree with are in jeopardy of missing the kingdom of Heaven.
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
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