Читать книгу Father Smith Instructs Jackson (Noll Library) - Archbishop John Francis Noll D.D. LL.D. - Страница 18

Instruction 5

Proof that Christ was truly God

Father S. Tonight, Mr. Jackson, I am going to present to you proof, plain and convincing, that Jesus Christ was truly God.

Mr. J. Why, Father, I have no reason to doubt that.

Father S. That may be true, but I want you to be able to defend your faith by arguments. Even if a person did not believe that the Bible was inspired, you could prove your point from it, because it is certainly reliable history. You would refer to Old Testament prophesies, fulfilled in Christ, to New Testament miracles, supporting His claim, and especially to Christ’s resurrection from the dead. And if your objector was so unreasonable as to spurn any argument taken from the Bible, you could prove the divinity of Jesus from what he is prepared to admit concerning His character.

Mr. J. I need just such argument for a man who works with me. He contends that ignorant and too credulous men wrote the Bible, and that their testimony cannot be relied upon.

Father S. They were far from being too credulous. They were accused by Christ frequently of being too slow to believe, they wanted to see and feel, and even then doubted; they would have been fools to doubt longer. Regarding the charge of ignorance, this was in their favor. God purposely chose the unlearned to convince the learned, because it would better prove that the cause they advocated was divine. It is easy for sharp and learned men to “deceive” others, while there is no testimony so strong as the convincing kind which comes from unlearned and simple folk. Unlearned and simple witnesses at a court trial always testify best when they relate what they actually saw or heard. Beware of the sharp fellow, if he has no conscience.

Mr. J. What proof of Christ’s divinity do the prophecies of the Old Testament furnish?

Father S. In harmony with the traditions of every nation of antiquity, they tell of a Redeemer Who would descend to earth from heaven, and they clearly describe His person, character, the principal circumstances of His life and death.

Mr. J. Just what is a prophecy?

Father S. It is the definite prediction of events, the occurrence of which depends upon either the free will of man or of God, and which could not, therefore, be foreknown by man or angel, but only by God.

Mr. J. Were there many prophesies that Christ fulfilled?

Father S. Yes. I’ll give you some references in the Scripture and you can compare the prophecy concerning Christ in the Old Testament with its fulfillment in the New.¹ For instance:

He would be a King: Isaiah 9:7, Luke 1:32.

He would be a priest: Psalm 109 [110]:4, Hebrews 7:24.

He would give a universal form of worship: Malachi 1:10; to all men: Isaiah 2:2, Luke 22:4, Mark 16:15.

He would descend from David: Jeremiah 23:5-6, Luke 3:32, Matthew 1:6.

He would be born of a virgin mother: Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:35.

He would be born in Bethlehem: Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1.

He would confirm His teaching by miracles: Isaiah 35:4-6, Matthew 9:4-5.

In a most striking manner the circumstances of His suffering and death were foretold:

That He would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver: Zechariah 11:12.

That he would be flogged and spit upon: Isaiah 50:6.

That His hands and feet would be transfixed: Psalm 21 [22]:17.

That He would die between criminals: Isaiah 53:12.

That he would be mocked: Psalm 21 [22]:7 and given vinegar and gall to drink: Psalm 68 [69]:22.

That His garments would be divided: Psalm 21 [22]:19.

That His legs would not be broken: Numbers 9:12.

It is evident that Christ was the promised Redeemer because the fulfillment of all these prophecies in Him could not have been due to chance or human trickery, but must have been the work of God.²

Mr. J. How do the miracles related in the New Testament prove that Christ was God?

Father S. As already noted, a miracle can be worked only by the omnipotence of God. It is an effect that is traceable to God alone. Now the New Testament records dozens of miracles which were performed by Christ with a view to prove His claim to divinity. They were wrought in open day, and almost always in the presence of a large number of people; yes, most of them were wrought in the presence of his very enemies — the Scribes and Pharisees — who did not doubt the genuineness of His miracles, but were envious of His success when they saw the people come to Him from far and near with their blind and deaf, their paralytics and lepers.³

For the past eighteen hundred years, criticism the most severe has been trained on the miracles of Christ, but with only one result, namely of establishing their truth. Well could the Savior say to His enemies: “For the works which the Father has given me to accomplish, these very works that I do bear witness to me, that the Father has sent me” (Jn 5:36). “If I do not perform the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do perform them, and if you are not willing to believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe the Father is in me, and I in the Father” (Jn 10:37-38).

Mr. J. You said that the “Resurrection” offers the best proof.

Father S. Yes, Christ’s own Resurrection, in support of which there is greater evidence and more weighty testimony than there is for any other fact of history, ought to establish His divinity beyond a doubt for the most skeptical. For how could Christ, in accordance with His prediction, return to life of His own power, unless He were God? His Resurrection is attested by nearly a dozen contemporary historians, who either witnessed or were positive of His death, and then saw him alive later. And as I say, they were men who themselves were slow to believe; in fact, they believed only after they saw Him, spoke to Him, ate with Him, touched Him. After they were convinced they appealed to the Resurrection as the foundation of all faith in Christ; they would accept no successor to Judas except one who could bear witness to Christ’s death and Resurrection; they braved every danger and cheerfully laid down their lives in defense of their Master’s glorious triumph over death.⁴

Mr. J. Are there clear statements in the Scripture in which it is claimed that Christ was truly God?

Father S. 1. Yes, Our Lord Himself claimed to be God. On Good Friday morning, standing before the High-priest of the Jews, He was asked: “‘Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed one?’ And Jesus said to him: ‘I am’ ” (Mk 14:61-62). Before He suffered, He uttered this prayer: “And now do thou, Father, glorify me with thyself with the glory that I had with thee before the world existed.” (Jn 17:5).

2. Scripture gives Christ the name of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1). Furthermore, this Word became the man who is Christ. “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us” (Jn 1:14).⁵

3. Christ claimed all the powers and perfections of God. “All things that the Father has are mine” (Jn 16:15). In particular, Scripture attests to His knowledge. Saint Paul, speaking of Christ, says: “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3).

4. According to Scripture, divine honor is due to Him. This is plain from our Lord’s own words: “For neither does the Father judge any man, but all judgement he has given to the Son, that all men may honor the Son even as they honor the Father” (Jn 5:22-23).

Mr. J. This is surely abundant proof for anyone willing to believe, but what if my objector refused to believe that the Bible was written by the ones to whom we ascribe the various parts?

Father S. Tacitus and Pliny, pagan historians, who lived during Christ’s time, wrote about these things, and reported to the Roman Emperor their effect on the people who lived far from Palestine. Then, from profane history you could prove that the historical character, called Christ, actually lived, and was regarded as the most perfect character ever known to the world. Infidels admit this much, and this admission alone contains proof that He was God.

Mr. J. How so, Father?

Father S. Well, they grant that He was everything short of God, a model of the highest perfection, the holiest person that ever lived, etc. Now if Christ was not what He claimed to be, i.e. God, how could He have been a “model of perfection?” Would He not rather have been the “most impious, the most irreverent, the most blasphemous man that ever lived” if His very profession was a lie? If Christ was not God then He was not only a false teacher, but the very greatest of the world’s imposters.

We cannot weigh the beautiful things the enemies of Christianity say about its Founder without discovering the clear, even if implicit, admission they contain of His divinity. And hence logic forces us to conclude that if His enemies do not, like Peter, recognize in Him the “Son of the living God,” it is because they are not willing, like Peter, to fall down on their knees and worship Him as their Lord and Master.

To sum up: The Gospel relates how on the occasion Christ asked the apostles what the people had begun to believe concerning Him. The people were aware of Christ’s sanctity and of His miracles, and hence knew Him to be an extraordinary personage; but seeing that in His exterior He resembled other men they regarded Him as another great prophet, some believing Him to be John the Baptist, others Elias or Jeremiah returned to earth. Then Jesus asked the apostles what they, by this time, believed concerning Him; whereupon Peter, speaking for all, answered: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). Both the apostles and the people were right, for Christ was both God and man. Had He not been God He could not have redeemed the world from sin; and had He not been man He could not have lived on earth, among men, nor have died for them.

When we weigh the evidence furnished by Holy Scripture, history and reason in favor of Christ’s divinity, and the groundless arguments adduced by the infidel to disprove the same, we become at once convinced that it requires vastly stronger faith to be an infidel than to be a believer in Christ’s divinity. The Christian sees Jesus foretold hundreds of years before He was born upon earth; sees the whole world anxiously awaiting His coming; hears even pagan philosophers tell that the world must have a teacher from heaven; sees fulfilled in Jesus all that the prophets have foretold concerning the Messiah; has before him the incomparable personality and the sinless life of Christ; hears of His many miracles and of his Resurrection, from a dozen simple-minded, holy men, who were His daily companions for several years; sees His religion planted, though all the powers of kings and emperors were employed to prevent it; sees millions of men and women of every condition of life not only honor His memory, but seek their happiness and find it in surrendering to him, their entire hearts.