Faith?

"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." - Hebrews 11:6

It is not enough to believe that Adonai exists. A god's simple existence doesn't help me in any way and I doubt it that Adonai has anything to gain from my mere belief in His existence. 
If I go a bit further and I profess to believe that Adonai is exactly as The Scriptures say He is but I fail to believe that He is that way for me, my faith means nothing. How does it benefit me  to have a God that has eyes but cannot see me? What use is it to have a God that has a mouth but says nothing to me? Does it help me in any way to know that He's a father if He doesn't know my name? What use is it to me a God that has ears but fails to hear me crying? What use is it to me a God that has a heart if I have no room in it? What use is it to me His mere existence if I seek Him but cannot find Him?
If I profess to have faith, then I must believe not only in His existence but also that HE REWARDS THOSE WHO SEEK HIM. Believing in His mere existence means nothing.
It isn't hard to believe that He exists even if you can't see Him... what is really hard to believe is that from 7 billion people that cry out to Him or against Him, He recognizes your voice and that sound moves Him so much so that He answers you right away regardless of how long it would take for His answer to reach you.
If I believe that He only exists I reduce Him to the same status as an idol. "They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat." (Tehillim/ Psalms 115:5-7)
Adonai is alive! His ears are not just accessories. He can hear my voice whether I call out to Him or if I just whisper His Name and before I even finish what I have to say He already sends me help! If He created whales that can hear sounds from Hawaii to Japan, then I know for sure His ears can hear my voice even if the sound of my prayers would have to travel through a billion worlds and spaces to reach Him.
If He created sharks that can sense the smell of blood from more than a mile away, then I know for a fact that He whom is closer to me than my own skin, can sense when I suffer or I am in pain. I have to give Him at least the same amount of credit I would give one of His creatures.
Adonai's hands are not the hands of a statue. His hands have formed me in my mother's womb, His hands cover me as a shield, His hands sustain me, touch me and help me!
His feet ... His feet are ready to run from one end of the heavens to the other just to find me. His feet walk before me on this road that I couldn't have followed otherwise.
Everything He is, He is for me! Everything He does is for my sake! He locked me away in His heart and threw away the key!
My faith doesn't consist of me believing in His existence, because even demons believe, but my faith consists in believing that He rewards me for seeking His Face!

Bat Melech בת מלך
 Cristina כריסטינה

One Man's obedience

"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned--" - Romans 5:12

"For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous." - Romans 5:17-19


Adam had sinned. In the eyes of Adonai, his sin made it so that every man that came after him would be a defiled creature the same way Adam was.
A single action of a single man had a consequence on all man kind. Through Adam's disobedience we are all disobedient.

How can something like that be fair? I wasn't even close to Adam's time, so how is it fair that Adonai should see me as a sinner because of one who lived thousands of years before me? But whether I like it or not, the actions of a single man can affect all generations after him.
Take Avraham for instance. He believed Adonai and that was considered righteousness in the eyes of Adonai. A single action of one man made it so that Adonai chose to bless and protect all those that were born from the seed of Avraham.

It is not fair that we should all be counted as sinners because of one man. It is not fair that all Jews should be blessed by the obedience of one man and most certainly it is not fair that by the obedience of one man many are righteous. It is not fair that I get the same reward as the One that deserves reward, but that is how Adonai does things.

If I can believe that I am a sinner because of Adam's sin, then i must also believe that I am righteous because of Yeshua's obedience. Even if I don't feel righteous and I find it much easier to believe and accept that I am a sinner, I must understand Adonai's way of doing things and believe that Yeshua's action was at least as powerful as Adam's.
If by sinning, Adam was able to influence my condition 6000 years later, then I know for a fact that Yeshua and His obedience can make me righteous 2000 years later.
Yes, I was not the one that broke Adonai's commandment, I was not the one that ate from the tree, still I feel the consequence of that transgression as if I was the one who did it. The same way, I was not the one that obeyed The Father by dying on the cross, still... I live the consequence of Yeshua's obedience as if I had been obedient.

 "... so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" - Romans 5:21


Bat Melech בת מלך
 Cristina כריסטינה

My Rock

"To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit." - Tehillim/ Psalms 28:1

Do you have any idea what it's like to talk to a rock? To stand before something completely different from your own nature, something that you can't attribute feelings to let alone mercy and hope with all your heart that it will listen to you, that it will have mercy for you and it will do something to help you?
Having a nature completely different from mine, Adonai, to whom I can't find the equivalent in my world, Adonai whom asks "To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him" (Yeshaiahu/ Isaiah 40:18) He chooses to confess to me that He is Tzur Israel (Rock of Israel) knowing full well that I've seen many rocks and none acted like it had heard me.
He had stretched my heart and my mind, my faith and my entire being to the point that I now see Him as a Rock even if I don't quite understand what that means, but even so, what do I do with all the information I have about rocks? All I know about them is that they are unmovable, that they allow you to see everything from the top, but I also know that if you try talking to them, they won't hear you, they won't be impressed by your words, they won't comfort you in any way and most certainly they will not help you. That is all I know about rocks. If He is a rock, then how do I find the faith within me to talk to it and believe that it had heard me, but not just that... to believe that it will do something to help me?
I find it as hard for me to understand Adonai's nature as it is for a blind man to understand what a rainbow looks like.
 It would be quite pointless to tell a blind person that a rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection of light in water droplets in the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky and it takes the form of a multicoloured arc and has the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. The blind man doesn't understand what a multicolored arc looks like because he has no definition of an arc nor of colors not even a definition of the sky. In order to make him understand what a rainbow is, you need to use his functioning senses and the things currently defined in his mind so that he can come up with an image of what you're talking about even if that image isn't accurate nor complete, so you can use his hearing and attribute musical instruments to every color so that it would make sense to him.
Adonai isn't a rock in the literal sense, but I am blind to His reality, so in order to help me understand Him and His nature, He had to use notions and definitions from my reality. He used my notion of a "father" in order to make me understand part of His nature. He used my understanding of a "King" so that I understand Him. He used my notion of "justice" to help me understand He is just, although every notion that I have is distorted and corrupted by the reality I live in, still I can at least imagine what He is like. But just as the blind man cannot understand the rainbow with his current senses, I cannot understand Adonai with my current senses.
Although He saw everything I know about rocks and He saw how hard I struggle to believe that a rock can listen to me, He still compared Himself to a rock.
I do not find it hard to believe that if I am on Him I am above and I don't find it hard to believe that if I am in Him I am protected and if one wants to get to me he first needs to climb Him... but how do I believe that this rock... (even if it's Him) can listen to me?
It was exactly because I couldn't believe that, He sent me 'ambassadors' to tell me about this Rock, but I wouldn't believe them, so Yeshua came. He told me like He told Moshe (Moses) that even though in reality the rock is unmovable and you can't manipulate it, I should just talk to it, and it will give me water. He pointed to Himself and said to me "truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."
 I believe with all my heart that Adonai is unmovable in His decisions and you can't make Him move by any other means except by faith. I cannot convince Him, plead with Him or threaten Him. I can only believe that He loves me so much that He moved from His rightful place in heaven and came to me just to tell me: "if you have faith in Me all you need to say to me is "move from here to there" and I will move!"


Bat Melech בת מלך
 Cristina כריסטינה

Are you suffering? - Be quiet!

I believe that one of the hardest things to do when you're in pain or when you suffer is to be quiet.
Adonai is distorted before our eyes due to the pain we experience and everything we know as being true at that moment becomes zero.
If before experiencing pain you can proclaim that you know for a fact that "The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them." (Psalm 34:7) when you're in pain you think that "He has kindled his wrath against me and counts me as his adversary. His troops come on together; they have cast up their siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent. " (Job 19:11-12)
If before you were in pain you believed that Adonai is everywhere as it is written: "If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me." (Psalm 139:8-10) the moment you suffer you believe that Adonai is nowhere to be found: "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him" (Job 23:8-9)
If before the test of pain you used to think that "Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him." (Proverbs 30:5) the moment you get tested you think "For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me." (Job 6:4)
If before suffering you thought that "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8), when you suffer you think (about Adonai) "And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me." (Job 10:16)
If pain, or suffering or watching your dreams die convince you that all you knew about Adonai is a lie, then I'm sorry to tell you this, but you still have a long way to go. Untested faith is no faith at all.
For more than 2 months I was in constant pain, day and night and I mean the kind of pain that draws all life out of someone and renders one powerless and desperate. When my pain began thanks to an ulcer, I thought "well this is unfair because there is no reason under the sun for which I should experience this and so it's not fair."
Adonai didn't come to shake me and scream at my unbelief  "I knew your faith was shallow!" He kept quiet even if He was in pain, suspected by this mortal that He is everything He's not, but one night when I was crying and kept repeating "I don't know how much more of this I can take" I felt He came to me and asked me "If you believe that I am good only when your eyes tell You I am good and only when everything works out the way you want it, what is unusual about your faith? Don't pagans do the same? How is your faith any different?" I placed my hand over my mouth and said nothing.
You see, in this relationship that He and I have, He loves me and is unmoved and unchanged in His decision to stay by my side no matter what; no matter if i make Him feel good or not and sadly more often than not, He suffers because of me. Everyday my enemy goes before Him with solid proof of my unfaithfulness and tells Him that He is entitled to believe the worst about me, that I deserve for Him to abandon me and never even look my way again, still... He looks at Yeshua that stands between me and Him, and because of His regard for the price Yeshua paid, Adonai never lets go even if He would be better off without me.
Even though He sees me exactly as I am, He always looks at me through faith. He's not unsure in this relationship and He always sees beyond what I show Him, hears more than what I tell Him and loves for the both us.
I can never thank Him enough for what He does, it would only sound like cheap words. All I can do is look at Adonai through Yeshua, through faith and not through pain. Is that an easy thing to do? As easy as trying to imitate Monet when you lack any form of talent. All I can do is imitate Him in this relationship and hope that one day I'll be able to make Him feel loved, at least 0,1% of how loved I feel by Him.

If pain makes you see Him different than He said He is, then close you eyes and place a hand over your mouth and be quiet until the pain is gone because only now you see the real measure of faith that you have.


Bat Melech בת מלך
 Cristina כריסטינה

Barefoot

But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, weeping as they went. - 2 Samuel 15:30

David was on the run because of his son, Absalom. He was broken, humiliated, defeated, disappointed, cheated and deserted by everyone. He was walking up the mountain crying, barefoot and with his head covered. As one that had lost everything. As someone that never had anything.
In Judaism, the only time one takes his shoes off (except in one's home) is when they acknowledge Adonai's presence in that place.
What a weird time to take your shoes off and acknowledge Adonai's presence on a road you take to escape... to acknowledge Adonai in disappointment and tears and uncertainty.
Those walking up the mountain together with David felt almost the same pain as he did. They also walked crying and had their heads covered, but the only one that was barefoot, was David... as if through the tears he was the only one able to see that Adonai was in control, present, Almighty and ready to become a way under his feet.
To acknowledge God in your walk you must also be ready to cover your head in shame and not just to cry your tears but to take your shoes off and hurt your feet on a way you know it's right.
I want to honor Him in my walk. More than I wish to be shielded from pain and tears, more than I wish not to be put to shame, even more than I wish to love and be loved, I wish to acknowledge Him in all my ways no matter how my feet hurt because He is worthy. He hurt more than just His feet to come and find me... I will not cry about how my feet hurt to follow Him because it's not like He's somewhere far away looking at me walking, but He's right in front of me hurting His feet just like me and He does it just so that He can bring me back to The Father. This painful road is not because He had to punish me for running away, but because it's the way I used when I left Him and it's The Way... The only Way back.

Bat Melech בת מלך
 Cristina כריסטינה

Bat Melech's theory

According to Chaos Theory, even something as insignificant as a butterfly flapping it's wings can cause a typhoon at the other end of the world. This is also known as the butterfly effect. Small differences in initial conditions (such as those due to rounding errors in numerical computation) yield widely diverging outcomes for chaotic systems, rendering long-term prediction impossible in general. This happens even though these systems are deterministic, meaning that their future behavior is fully determined by their initial conditions, with no random elements involved. In other words, the deterministic nature of these systems does not make them predictable. This behavior is known as deterministic chaos, or simply chaos.

In this context the chaotic system is me. My deterministic nature does not make me predictable and my behavior make me apparently chaotic.
Many times I tend to think that things happen and change and move without any purpose... that there is no purpose in my tears, that I am heading on to nothing, but Baruch HaShem (Blessed be God) my world is not governed by the Chaos Theory, it's not determined by the chaos around me and not even by the law of gravity that I seem to acknowledge every time I hit rock bottom.
The law governing my world says that chaos rules only until the moment Adonai speaks into my darkness and declares 'Let there be light!' and there is light. The law that applies to my world says that although gravity is pulling me towards the ground, Ruach HaKoddesh (The Holy Spirit) lifts me up to the heavenly places together with HaMashiach.
If a natural law can understand the meaning behind every little thing, even something like a butterfly flapping it's wings causing a chain reaction that can cause a typhoon at the other end of the world, then how much more must I understand that according to The Law of The Spirit of Life, even a butterfly flapping it's wings will cause a chain reaction that will work for my well being wherever I am.
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God." - Romans 8:28
I know that Adonai will somehow orchestrate all things to work together for my good, starting with the sunset in Australia that will cause a butterfly to fly apparently chaotic, or the bus that is late in the morning, or the experiences that someone will live through that will change my life forever.
There is no coincidence. There is no chaos. Nothing is without purpose. This is my theory according to The Law of Adonai.

Bat Melech בת מלך
 Cristina כריסטינה

Within me

With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me have I sought Thee earnestly... - Isaiah 26:9

Adonai... please forgive me for every time I didn't find You. Only now do I understand that I have been searching for You in things that charmed my eyes even though I always felt You near. I found You only when I began searching for You earnestly within me. I found You in every character trait that You've changed showing me how much I have to change yet.
I found You in every tear that I've cried unable to tell You how I felt... You were there whispering only: "I know".
I found You at the end of my strength, You carried me on Your shoulders and told me that You will never move on without me.
I found you in the gutter that I kept within me for every broken dream that I couldn't believe for anymore... You were there, gathering each one of it as if they were treasures.
I found You smiling when I was rebelling against You and telling You that You overlook my rights ... You knew I was talking in pain and chose to look at me through Yeshua, believing in what I will be and not what I am.
I found You when I felt that there was nothing left of me anymore... You told me: "I AM AND ALWAYS WILL BE".
I found You when I was counting all the words I knew and although they were many I couldn't come up with a way to put them together in order to utter my prayer.... You told me that You are The Word, the only one I need to say and You won't resist me.
I found You within me when I was broken, imperfect and helpless and I can only be amazed by Your love even though I can't understand what kind of love moves You to do all this for me. It's beyond my understanding. What kind of eyes must You have to see even the insignificant good within me and treasure it? What kind of heart makes You never let go of me? What kind of strength do You posses that makes You move past my rebellion and forgive me way too many times? What kind of ears are Yours that hear all the stupid words I tell You and think them worthy to record them in Your books as if they are worth remembering? What kind of hand is Yours that holds me without getting dirty in the process? Who is like You my Lord? You humble Yourself to the extent that You allow me to find You in this messed up world of mine... Even these darkened eyes of mine can see Your greatness... even this incomplete heart of mine can feel Your love... even I can see You are worthy of praise Adonai.
Thank you HaShem for staying within me and letting me find You when I get lost on everything that's in the outside world.

Bat Melech בת מלך
 Cristina כריסטינה

Can you count the stars?

And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."- Bereishit/ Genesis 15:5

Avram only wished for one son but even one seemed impossible. He didn't dare to wish for two sons or three, only one... if he could have only one son... but it was not possible.
Adonai sees him and knows that Avram understands his own circumstances better than anyone else. He sees him tormented by his unfulfilled desire and sees him as he starts counting, but he stops at one and one seems and infinite and impossible number.

Adonai calls upon him "Fear not, Avram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." Then takes him outside and tells him "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." In other words "Avram, do you think that your impossible is too much for Me? Is that all you got? JUST THE IMPOSSIBLE?" Avram listens and he starts counting: 100, 1000, 1000000.... then stops and suddenly gets it that even if he were a mathematician he couldn't come up with the impossible for Adonai.
Maybe you began wishing for the impossible and I mean the kind of impossible that there is no way on earth to make it possible; the kind that no way, no how and by no means can be accomplished. But you can't help but wishing for that impossible. You can't rest at night because of it and all day long your thought is just at how impossible found it's way in your heart and everything it is represents everything you are. I don't mean having a great car or an airplane landing on your lawn, but the kind of dreams and desires that look beyond your body or soul. The kind of dreams that make you break down at His feet pleading for fulfillment.
And maybe you start counting and you stop at 1 because it feels like even 1 is too big of a number even for Adonai.
I think that if it's within His plan, the pattern is the same as with Avram. If you feel like challenging Him then try a bit harder because I assure you that humanity was not able yet to issue a big enough number that would leave Adonai breathless and say to Himself  'this is too much, seriously!'
Think about the most impossible thing you can come up with and I am sure that He will think 'is that all?'
You can never wish for more than He can give, but He doesn't give you your dream only because you wish for it, but He grants it only when you know, that you know, that you know that you've asked a limited thing to an unlimited God.

Bat Melech בת מלך
 Cristina כריסטינה

Behold your God!

Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!" - Yeshayahu / Isaiah 40:9

Rabbonim (the rabbis) say that there is a passuk (Bible verse) in the Kitvey HaKodesh (Holy Scriptures) for every man that ever existed, that exists and will exist. I believe that this verse in Yeshayahu 40 is my verse, because I hope with all my heart to undo the wrong that Pilate did.
Many years ago when I was reading about Yeshua's trial I reached the part that spoke about how Pilate dressed Yeshua with a purple robe and placed a crown of thorns of His head and took Him before The Jews and declared in a loud voice 'behold the man!' (John 19:5). That's the image that was stuck in the Jewish mind ever since. The vulnerable man, pushed and beaten by the Romans, suffering, bleeding and utterly helpless. A goy (non-Jew) took my Lord before His people and yelled 'behold the man!' I think that from where Pilate stood that's all he could see: a simple man, so he declared only what he saw. Pilate brought God down to the same level as his.
You can only declare what you see Him from where you stand. If you look at Him through your humanity then all you can see is what Pilate saw and you declare the same 'behold the man!' But if you are born from Adonai  you can't help but see that Yeshua is Ha Elohim shel Tzion (The God of Zion) and then all you can do is declare with everything you have 'HINEH HA ELOHEICHEM!' (Behold your God!)
In order to see more than His humanity you have to stand on the highest mountain which is Adonai and you must climb that mountain not thinking that you want to be high but in order to have the best acoustic to tell all Tzion the good news!
I do not know where Pilate was standing but I know he wasn't standing on Adonai when he introduced Yeshua to the Jews. You see the Jews are unlike any other nation on earth... you do not convince them with words alone and you do not disguise Yeshua in a beautiful blond man with blue eyes that walks around always smiling and hugging everyone and then go about and declare 'behold you God!' and when they reject him you accuse them of blindness. One goy declaring 'behold the man!' was enough, there is no need for others.
Jews know their God. They will recognize Him when they will see Yeshua, the Jew, their Mashiach, but until then all I can do is declare as loud as I can "Hineh ha Eloheichem!'


Bat Melech בת מלך
 Cristina כריסטינה

Born again

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. - John 1:12-13

I was not born again because I one day decided that this is the best way to live. Neither did my flesh come up with the brilliant solution that I should be born again. I was not born again because someone out of the blue decided to 'evangelize me' or to increase the number of his congregation. It wasn't even because a Church council decided to approve my request to become member in their Church or decided that I was changed enough and thus deserve to be baptized. Nothing like that!
Adonai carried me within Himself, not for 9 months like a pregnant woman would, but for years and years. It's been hard for Him because I wasn't an easy burden, for my sins have made it hard for Him, but He did not give up on me. He waited... and when I finally was ready to be born, meaning to know His Truth, He gave birth to me and not without pain. There are people that are born again easily, but I was not an easy birth and Kadosh Baruch Hu (The Holy One, blessed is He) endured a lot of pain to bring me to life and because He knows how He struggled to give birth to me, He does not give up on me, not even when I fail to understand what it is that He is doing.
What I am today does not resemble anything known and more than once I've heard people asking me 'what are you? you don't believe like that denomination or that one!' My answer is that I would resemble a denomination if a denomination would have given birth to me and if a set of principles would have given birth to me then I would resemble a certain school of thought, but that's not the case and because I was given birth by Adonai the only One entitled to expect me to resemble Him, is only Him.
It was not a denomination that carried me when my heart was so heavy that nothing could lift it... only The Holy One of Israel. He didn't send anyone else but He, The King of kings came personally and gave birth to me in a pain that broke His heart. He cleansed me. He cut my umbilical cord. He wrapped me up in a holy cloth. He fed me with milk. He stayed up late with me when I was sick with self disappointment. He stood by my side when I was crying my heart out and He stood by my side when I was laughing. He brought me back to life and only He can expect me to resemble Him. And that is my greatest desire: to resemble Him so much that if someone should look at me they would know I take after my Father.
I know that at this point I resemble Him so little that He always needs to reassure me 'yes, you are My daughter!' but I hope that one day there will be no need for words, because the resemblance will be obvious.

Bat Melech בת מלך
 Cristina כריסטינה

Lord, liar or lunatic?

“Then comes the real shock. Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He claims to forgive sins. He says He has always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time. Now let us get this clear. Among Pantheists, like the Indians, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with God: there would be nothing very odd about it. But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God, in their language, meant the Being outside the world, who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips.

“One part of the claim tends to slip past us unnoticed because we have heard it so often that we no longer see what it amounts to. I mean the claim to forgive sins: any sins. Now unless the speaker is God, this is really so preposterous as to be comic. We can all understand how a man forgives offences against himself. You tread on my toe and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announced that he forgave you for treading on other men’s toes and stealing other men’s money? Asinine fatuity is the kindest description we should give of his conduct. Yet this is what Jesus did. He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if He was the party chiefly concerned; the person chiefly offended in all offences. This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. In the mouth of any speaker who is not God, these words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness and conceit unrivalled by any other character in history.

“Yet (and this is the strange, significant thing) even His enemies, when they read the Gospels, do not usually get the impression of silliness and conceit. Still less do unprejudiced readers. Christ says that He is ‘humble and meek’ and we believe Him; not noticing that, if He were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute to some of His sayings.

"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 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, 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 patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

(Mere Christianity - C. S. Lewis)