More amazing than the miracles Christ performed are the words that He spoke. He spoke with authority and life (Matt. 7:28-29; John 6:63). Many great world leaders have left words of wisdom to posterity, but no one in history has ever affected as many lives as Christ has with His words. His words give life to millions and have caused countless numbers of people to die and be martyred for Him. Napoleon was able to persuade his soldiers to die for his cause when he was alive, but when he died, his cause died with him. However, two thousand years after Christ’s death, men and women all over the world are still willing to live and die for Him. His words are quoted in books, libraries, congress halls, and schools all over the world. His teaching on morality and human relationships becomes the foundation for a just and humane society (Matt. 5—7). But the most amazing part of His teaching was not the wise and moral teachings that He spoke, but His extraordinary claims about Himself. He said, “I am the way and the reality and the life” (John 14:6). He also said, “I am the resurrection” (John 11:25). He told men that He was the light of the world, and that those who follow Him will not walk in darkness (John 8:12). He said that He is the bread of life and that those who eat Him will not hunger (John 6:35). In fact, we can say that the main part of His teaching is just concerning Himself. Most religious leaders teach men doctrines, but the doctrines have nothing to do with the teachers themselves. For example, Buddhism teaches concerning reincarnation, but reincarnation has nothing to do with the founder of Buddhism himself. But Christ’s teaching has everything to do with the person of Christ. If we take Christ away, there is no more doctrine to the Christian faith. The Christian faith is centered on what Christ is. The person of Christ is the doctrine. Without Him, there is no doctrine.
Gandhi could not say that he was the light of the world, nor could Aristotle say that he was the way and the reality and the life. The greatest philosophers of the world can at most say that they point others to the way; they can never say that they are the way. But Christ said that He is the way and the reality and the life. One French philosopher once said that if the record of the Gospels were a forgery, the one who forged the records would be qualified to be Christ Himself.
Christ’s life on earth was a sinless life. Once a woman caught in adultery was brought before Him. The Jewish law at that time required that everyone caught in the act of adultery was to be stoned to death. The people around Him tried to put Him to the test. He told the crowd that whoever had no sin should cast the first stone at the woman. At such a word, all the people left one after another, beginning with the older ones. In the end, only Jesus remained (John 8:1-11). He was able to challenge the others because He Himself is sinless. If He too had sin, He would not have had the boldness to challenge all the others in that way. Among those who were with Him while He was on earth were His mother and brothers in the flesh. None of them challenged His claim to sinlessness. This proves that He is God, for only God can be without sin. The Bible says that when He lived on earth, He was like us in every way, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). When He was taken before the Roman governor, the governor declared that he could not condemn Him for any sin according to the strictest Roman law (Luke 23:4). The thief who was crucified together with Him also declared that He had done nothing wrong (Luke 23:41). Judas, the disciple who betrayed Him, confessed that he had delivered up innocent blood (Matt. 27:4), and the centurion who crucified Him exclaimed, “Certainly this man was righteous” (Luke 23:47). Before His death He was judged and examined by nine groups of people: 1) the elders among the people, 2) the chief priests, 3) the zealous Pharisees, 4) the unbelieving Saduccees, 5) the political Herodians, 6) the legalistic lawyers, 7) the Roman governor Pilate, 8) Herod, and 9) the high priest. Through all these examinations He was proven to be sinless. Christ’s sinlessness proves that He is God.
(Christ is God, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)