Prove Jesus is God

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010417.cfm
1 John 3:7-10
John 1:29-51

"Prove to me that Jesus Christ is God. I dare you.”

I have had this challenge put to me many times. Only a few times have I done the right thing. The Spirit-filled answer to the question of whether Jesus Christ is God is not what you’d expect, or what many of us have proposed.  

Once again I was asked, earlier this week, from a dear friend who had been challenged to explain to a Muslim friend of his when Jesus said that he was God. The first step in Jesus Christ being God, it appropriately seems, begins with evidence that Jesus acknowledged that’s who he is. Then, after that happens, the veracity of Jesus’ claims can be argued, defended, and then prosecuted. This reflection will judge only my witness for Jesus, because any proof from me, or any of us, is improbable. 

The proof that Jesus is God? Please do not be offended regarding your own personal debating capabilities and more weighty spiritual credentials than mine, or imagine that my answer is a buck-passing exercise in intellectual dishonesty. Though many of us believe we have enough data, plenty of facts, and innumerable instances of evidence — all which is true — the proof that Jesus the Christ is God rests in the relationship of each person to Jesus himself, not their relationship to us. Our relationship to Jesus establishes the proof for each of us, and may raise the matter of proof from someone who knows us, which defines our willing witness. No other proof than each person’s relationship to Jesus is required, necessary, or even conclusive.

We do not need to prove to others that Jesus is the only begotten son of God, and the second person of a triune God. We do not need to defend Jesus’ position as one with the Holy Spirit and one with the Father. We are not expected to argue with non-believers that God who became man, God incarnate, was intimately involved in the creation of our universe. 

The proof, the defense, and the argument belong to God. God will prove, defend and argue the divinity of Jesus for anyone who asks to be convinced. Our witness and testimony, while laudable, proves nothing.

In addition, if our mature conviction of faith took five, ten, twenty-five, or fifty years, another’s may take more, or less. Who are we to calculate or monitor the conversion of another’s relationship to God? Who are we to measure one woman’s obsession with the Holy Spirit, a man’s angst over the Father, or a child’s innocent notions of Jesus as examples of spiritual immaturity necessitating our correction? 

Even though we might be motivated from very good intentions to ask God to step back and let us handle the challenge, such hubris is ridiculous.  “I’ve got this. You can get on with something more important.” Besides being an affront to the author of all existence, we postpone and will probably hinder the cosmic, holy awareness of God with our physical presence and arrogant, impudent character. 

Some of us do not come across as arrogant and impudent, of course. Not all of us are like me. Kindness wrapped in an austere nature, though, still arrogantly supplants the unlimited resources of the Holy Spirit and impudently manipulates the thoughts and desires of others into our sphere of power. 

Cruel? Perhaps. Focusing instead upon our witness and testimony, stripped of argumentative comparisons and evidentiary presentations, draws another to the one we love, rather than to our selves. 

The marketing and sales department of Christianity has no budget, no employees, and no goals and objectives for 2017, or any other year. The recruitment analysis of believers and martyrs, and the enumeration of Saints by Church and social science only estimate the populations of creation for our inspiration and encouragement. We witnessing Christians are willing members of a Body that gathered us together. It’s not the other way around. All efforts are interesting, but God’s work in us as our Father, brother, and comforter counts for everything.

The institution of defense, debate, and proof resides in the authority of the Father, the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and the presence of the Son. And all three are available and accessible at the drop of our knees and the opening of our hearts.

Here’s why I believe this to be true. These points are the ones that I wrote to my dear friend about his Muslim pal’s inquisitive concerns. Scripture proofs were at the root of the discussion. Both men are familiar with the Quran and the Bible. The points I made to my friend were not to list out the battle lines in a scriptural sword fight, or to offer subsequent prosecutions regarding the true God and the false God. Any conversation between notions of divinity and the chess board assignment of the players, even if done fairly, must operate from God’s active presence. 

No matter who we discuss the matter with, our constant reliance and partnership with God, as Christian believers, will be as much for our own edification as our friend.

1. The scriptures are understood as the Word of God in the sense of more than just inspired words. They represent a multi-millennial collection of faith stories, historical records, prophetic proclamations, and even a phone book (Book of Numbers) that God deems revelatory. In both John’s gospel and in the book of Revelation, John calls Jesus the Word. In essence, he explains, both the Old and New Testaments are about Jesus. If seen through the lens of God’s eye, Jesus can be seen on practically every page. Without that lens, they are an odd construct of sayings, legends, and historical curiosity.

2. In order to hear and read the scriptures through God’s eye we require the gift of faith. We cannot decipher scripture as a proof of Jesus as Christ, the Son of God, and the second person of the Holy Trinity without the gift of faith. This prerequisite is essential to our Christian faith, or what we assume to be kernels of our faith in almost every other religion. We cannot save ourselves from death. We cannot reconcile the world from our sin. We cannot stop evil in its tracks. We cannot reveal God to another. All of these things are the work of the Holy Spirit in us, as sent by the Father, and prepared by Jesus Christ. Consequently, nothing we can argue will convince another of the truth about Jesus Christ. The light of the faith they have been given, or have had squelched, surely requires our witness, but the God relationship is up to God.

3. Number two is as it should be. We Christians are critical instruments of Christ. We can witness to our own conversion, and our own understanding of the Trinity. We can only do that by honestly admitting our inability to do all that God will do and does do. Few of us have the articulate manner of holiness and truth-telling that awakens the world. All of us, nonetheless, have the ability to let the Holy Spirit flow through us as a beacon to everyone around us. That allows for those to whom we witness to turn to God, and not us. God converted us in a way that we each would understand. He does this continually as the doubts surround us and fill our heads with unfulfilling answers for another’s understanding. It is our witness, though, that can give another courage to allow God to speak to them. Our courage and love of God allows God another lit candle to point to.

4. As Christians, we actively pray for each other — albeit with infrequency and incapable efficiencies. We also pray for those who are not believers, or partial believers. Aren’t we too surely partial believers? We pray that God will strengthen us too, as he reaches out tirelessly for our loved ones and our friends. Of course, God is already doing this, but our special witness draws Christians together in a communal effort to do our bit, play our part, and further witness where God lives among us, and reveals his love for us.

5. Each lovely encounter with another person who seeks out God is God’s opportunity to let the Holy Spirit speak through us, and through them to us. By trusting God with the task of conversion and infilling, our holiness and love will be God’s instruments to employ. We may never need to speak at all. We listen as a large part of our witness, calling out another to reveal their faith understanding for at least two reasons. First, because they may believe we lack some understanding of God which they can share with us. And second, our will for another’s life with God actively helps to gather believers for all eternity. Trusting God countermands everything. We should never fear these opportunities, nor should we take credit beyond our courage and quiet surrender to God’s work in and with us. 

It’s already too much said. 

God did so much more in us while I rattled on, which I trust him to do.