Trilemma
Matthew 27:57-66
57When it was evening, there came
a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.
58He went to Pilate and asked for
the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him.
59And Joseph took the body and
wrapped it in a clean linen shroud
60and laid it in his own new
tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance
of the tomb and went away.
61Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
62The next day, that is, after
the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before
Pilate
63and said, “Sir, we remember how
that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’
64Therefore order the tomb to be
made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and
tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse
than the first.”
65Pilate said to them, “You have
a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.”
66So they went and made the tomb
secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
The Pharisees have gotten what they wanted. Jesus is dead.
One of Jesus’ followers, Joseph of Arimathea, asks Pilate for the body and
buries Jesus in the tomb he had made for his own family. The women who were
numbered among Jesus’ followers faithfully remain by the tomb and watch the
burial. They sit vigil for as long as Jewish laws allow being forced to return
home before dark because it was the Sabbath. The Pharisees, in the meantime,
continue their obsession with Jesus and ask Pilate to seal the tomb and place a
guard. Pilate makes them do it themselves. I think he’s done with these guys
and their persistent need to deal with this Jesus.
Many have speculated throughout the last 2,000 years that
Jesus and His disciples perpetrated a huge ruse and faked His death and
resurrection. The person most recently famous to do that was Hugh Schonfield in
his book The Passover Plot. He
speculates that Jesus purposely, throughout His life, sought to make it look
like He was fulfilling Old Testament prophecy so that it would look like He was
the Messiah. For Schonfield, Jesus was the master deceiver. Schonfield has been
discredited although there are still many who see him as a genius. He is
certainly not the first to posit such a theory. As we can see from our reading
for today, the Pharisees were already afraid of that possibility and sought to
make sure no such deception could be happening to them. The word “impostor” in
verse 63 gives them away.
Jesus was not an impostor. C.S. Lewis first offered up what
he called a “trilemma”. Jesus was a lunatic, a liar, or Lord. He could not be
all three. Only a lunatic would allow
himself to be treated the way Jesus was treated. It would be insane to allow
yourself to be tortured and crucified just for fun. No one would follow such a
person; at least not for long. Only a liar
would perpetrate such an outlandish ruse just to make a point. No one would
follow such a person; at least not for long. Only a Lord could suffer and
die after fulfilling all of the Old Testament prophecies thus securing our salvation
for eternity. Millions have followed Him for over 2,000 years. Which of the
three choices do you find most appealing?
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