📖 Utetezi wa Imani (Apologetiki) — Sehemu ya 6: Nafsi na Madai ya Kristo📖 Apologetics — Unit 6: The Person and Claims of Christ

Andiko: Mathayo 16:15Text: Matthew 16:15

Swali AnalolilazimishaThe Question He Forces

Mapema au baadaye kila njia katika apologetiki hufika kwa Nafsi moja na swali moja. Yesu aliwageukia wanafunzi wake mwenyewe na kuliuliza waziwazi: "Nanyi mwasema mimi ni nani?" Ni swali ambalo bado anamwuliza kila mtu, naye amepanga mambo kiasi kwamba hatuwezi kulikwepa kwa nusu-jibu la adabu. Ulimwengu ungependa sana kumweka Yesu kando kama mwalimu mkuu wa maadili, rabi mpole, sauti moja ya hekima miongoni mwa nyingi. Lakini hatoshei katika droo hiyo, kwa maana mwalimu mkuu wa maadili hasemi mambo ambayo Mtu huyu alisema. Alisamehe dhambi ambazo hazikutendwa dhidi yake. Alikubali kuabudiwa, jambo ambalo hakuna nabii aliyewahi kuthubutu kulikubali. Alisema, "Kabla Ibrahimu hajakuwako, mimi niko," akilitamka kwa midomo yake mwenyewe jina takatifu la Mungu. Aliwaambia watu kwamba Yeye na Baba ni umoja, na kwamba kumwona Yeye ni kumwona Baba. Mwalimu wa maadili hasemi hivi. Ama haya ni maneno ya kichaa ya mtu aliyedanganyika, au uongo wa mtu mwovu, au ni kweli tupu.Sooner or later every road in apologetics arrives at one Person and one question. Jesus turned to His own disciples and asked it plainly: "Who do you say that I am?" It is the question He still asks every man, and He has arranged matters so that we cannot dodge it with a polite half-answer. The world would love to file Jesus away as a great moral teacher, a kind rabbi, one wise voice among many. But He will not fit in that drawer, for a great moral teacher does not say the things this Man said. He forgave sins that were not committed against Him. He accepted worship that no prophet ever dared accept. He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM," taking on His own lips the holy name of God. He told men that He and the Father were one, and that to see Him was to see the Father. A teacher of morals does not talk this way. Either these are the ravings of a deluded man, or the lies of a wicked one, or they are simply true.

Mwongo, Mwendawazimu, au BwanaLiar, Lunatic, or Lord

Hii ndiyo njia panda maarufu. Mtu aliyesema juu yake mwenyewe yale ambayo Yesu alisema hatuachiwi kuwa mwalimu mwema tu na si zaidi; chaguo hilo moja, lile la starehe, amelifunga kwa maneno yake mwenyewe. Ikiwa madai yake ya kuwa Mungu yalikuwa ya uongo na alijua kwamba ni ya uongo, basi alikuwa mwongo wa aina mbaya kabisa, akiwadanganya watu wale wale aliowaambia wamtumaini. Ikiwa madai yake yalikuwa ya uongo naye hakujua, ikiwa aliamini kwa dhati kwamba Yeye ni Mungu wakati sivyo, basi alikuwa mwendawazimu kwa kiwango cha mtu anayeamini kwamba yeye ni yai la kuchemshwa, na hakuna misemo ya hekima ambayo ingeweza kuukomboa wazimu wa namna hiyo. Lakini ikiwa madai yake yalikuwa ya kweli, basi Yeye ni sawasawa na vile alivyosema — Bwana. Mwongo, mwendawazimu, au Bwana: hiyo ndiyo milango, na mlango ulioandikwa "mwalimu mzuri tu" ulizibwa kwa matofali na Yesu Mwenyewe. Kazi ya mtetezi wa imani ni kumbana mtu mnyoofu kwenye njia panda hii na kutomwacha apite kando yake.This is the famous fork in the road. A man who said about himself what Jesus said is not left to us as a good teacher and nothing more; that one option, the comfortable one, He has closed with His own words. If His claims to deity were false and He knew they were false, then He was a liar of the blackest kind, deceiving the very people He told to trust Him. If His claims were false and He did not know it, if He sincerely believed He was God when He was not, then He was a lunatic on the level of a man who believes he is a poached egg, and no wise sayings could redeem such madness. But if His claims were true, then He is exactly who He said He is — the Lord. Liar, lunatic, or Lord: those are the doors, and the door marked "merely a fine teacher" was bricked up by Jesus Himself. The apologist's task is to press the honest man up against this fork and not let him slip past it.

Alama ya Kidole ya UnabiiThe Fingerprint of Prophecy

Tutajuaje ni mlango upi ulio wa kweli? Ushahidi mmoja mkubwa ni kile tunachoweza kukiita wasifu ulioandikwa kabla. Karne nyingi kabla Mtu huyu hajazaliwa, manabii walichora picha yake mapema. Mika alikitaja kijiji cha kuzaliwa kwake, Bethlehemu, miaka mia saba kabla. Zaburi ya ishirini na mbili ilieleza kifo kwa kutobolewa mikono na miguu na kupigiwa kura kwa mavazi ya mteswa — iliyoandikwa miaka elfu moja kabla Warumi hawajabuni hata kusulubisha kama njia ya kumwua mtu. Isaya, katika sura yake ya hamsini na tatu, alimchora mtumishi anayeteseka kwa usahihi mkubwa kiasi kwamba watu wameiita Injili ya tano. Hizi si utabiri wa nyota usio wazi unaomfaa yeyote; ni mahususi, na zote zinakutana katika maisha mamoja.How shall we know which door is the true one? One great evidence is what we may call the pre-written biography. Centuries before this Man was born, the prophets sketched His portrait in advance. Micah named the village of His birth, Bethlehem, seven hundred years early. The twenty-second Psalm described a death by the piercing of hands and feet and the casting of lots for the sufferer's clothing — written a thousand years before the Romans had even invented crucifixion as a way to kill a man. Isaiah, in his fifty-third chapter, drew the suffering servant so exactly that men have called it the fifth Gospel. These are not vague horoscopes that fit anyone; they are specific, and they all converge on one life.

Dola za Fedha za TexasThe Silver Dollars of Texas

Mwanahisabati Peter Stoner, akiandika katika kitabu kilichohakikiwa na Shirikisho la Wanasayansi wa Kimarekani (American Scientific Affiliation), alikadiria uwezekano wa mtu mmoja kutimiza kwa bahati unabii huu wanane tu kuwa moja katika kumi kipeo cha kumi na saba. Namba hiyo ni kubwa mno kwa akili kuihisi, kwa hiyo acha niipe umbo. Fikiria kulifunika jimbo zima la Texas kwa sarafu za dola za fedha zenye kina cha futi mbili. Weka alama ya rangi nyekundu kwenye sarafu moja tu, kisha uzichanganye zote. Sasa mfunge mtu kitambaa machoni, umwachilie mahali popote katika jimbo hilo, na umwambie anaweza kuinama mara moja tu na lazima aiokote ile sarafu yenye alama katika jaribio la kwanza. Nafasi yake ni takriban sawa na nafasi ya mtu mmoja kutimiza unabii wanane kwa bahati. Hesabu hii inategemea kuupa kila unabii uwezekano wake peke yake, njia ambayo baadhi ya wataalamu wa takwimu wameihoji, kwa hiyo inafaa zaidi kuchukuliwa kama kielelezo hai cha jinsi ambavyo bahati tu isingewezekana, badala ya kuwa takwimu kamili isiyopingika. Na kwa mapokeo Yesu anahesabiwa kuwa alitimiza si unabii wanane bali mamia kadhaa zaidi.The mathematician Peter Stoner, writing in a book reviewed by the American Scientific Affiliation, estimated the odds of a single man fulfilling just eight of these prophecies by chance at one in ten to the seventeenth power. That number is too large for the mind to feel, so let me give it a shape. Imagine covering the whole state of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep. Mark just one of them with red paint and stir them all together. Now blindfold a man, set him loose anywhere in the state, and tell him he may stoop just once and must come up with the marked coin on the first try. His chance is roughly the chance that one man should fulfill eight prophecies by accident. This calculation rests on assigning a probability to each prophecy individually, a method some statisticians have questioned, so it is best taken as a vivid illustration of just how improbable coincidence would be rather than an exact, uncontested figure. And Jesus is traditionally reckoned to have fulfilled not eight but several hundred more.

Mungu Pamoja NasiGod With Us

Ifuate nyuzi hii mpaka mwanzo wake. Muda mrefu kabla ya Bethlehemu, Isaya alimwambia mfalme asiye mwaminifu kwamba Mungu Mwenyewe angetoa ishara: "Tazama, bikira atachukua mimba, atazaa mtoto mwanamume, naye atamwita jina lake Imanueli" (Isaya 7:14). Na malaika alipomjia Yusufu, Mathayo anatuambia kwamba huo ndio ulikuwa utimilifu wake: mtoto angeitwa Imanueli, "yaani, Mungu pamoja nasi" (Mathayo 1:23). Hicho ndicho kiini cha jambo zima. Jina si "Mungu juu yetu," akitazama kutoka mbali, wala "Mungu dhidi yetu," mwenye silaha na hasira, bali Mungu pamoja nasi — Mwenyezi aliyekuja karibu kiasi cha kubebwa na msichana maskini wa kijijini na kulazwa horini. Madai na unabii vinaelekeza kwenye jambo lile lile la kushangaza: kwamba katika Mtu huyu, Mungu Mwenyewe alishuka ili kuwa pamoja na watu wake.Run the thread back to its beginning. Long before Bethlehem, Isaiah told a faithless king that God Himself would give a sign: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). And when the angel came to Joseph, Matthew tells us this was its fulfillment: the child would be called Immanuel, "which is translated, God with us" (Matthew 1:23). That is the heart of the whole matter. The name is not "God above us," watching from a distance, nor "God against us," armed and angry, but God with us — the Almighty come near enough to be held by a peasant girl and laid in a feeding trough. The claims and the prophecies point to the same astonishing thing: that in this Man, God Himself came down to be with His people.

Mwana-Kondoo na SimbaThe Lamb and the Lion

Hapa Myahudi anayepinga anauliza swali la haki: ikiwa Yesu ndiye Masihi aliyeahidiwa, iko wapi amani ya ulimwengu ambayo manabii walitabiri? Kwa nini bado kuna vita? Jibu ni kwamba manabii walitabiri si kuja kumoja bali kuja mara mbili, na walishuhudia juu ya Masihi mwenye kazi ya pande mbili. Anakuja kwanza kama Mwana-Kondoo — yule ambaye Isaya alisema "alijeruhiwa kwa makosa yetu" na "alichubuliwa kwa maovu yetu," ambaye kwanza lazima ashughulikie tatizo lenye kina kuliko yote, yaani dhambi ya mwanadamu. Anakuja tena kama Simba, Mfalme mshindi anayeleta amani ya dunia yote katika kuja kwake mara ya pili. Kumkataa Mwana-Kondoo kwa sababu bado si Simba ni kuikataa dhabihu ile ile inayomfanya mtu astahili kuishi chini ya Mfalme. Hori na msalaba vililazimika kuja kabla ya taji. Amekuwa hapa mara moja kama Mwana-Kondoo aliyechinjwa; anakuja tena kama Simba anayetawala.Here the Jewish objector raises a fair question: if Jesus is the promised Messiah, where is the world peace the prophets foretold? Why is there still war? The answer is that the prophets foretold not one coming but two, and they testified of a Messiah with a twofold mission. He comes first as the Lamb — the one of whom Isaiah said He was "wounded for our transgressions" and "crushed for our iniquities," who must first deal with the deepest problem of all, which is human sin. He comes again as the Lion, the conquering King who brings the peace of the whole earth at His second coming. To reject the Lamb because He is not yet the Lion is to refuse the very sacrifice that makes a man fit to live under the King. The cradle and the cross had to come before the crown. He has been here once as the Lamb who was slain; He is coming again as the Lion who reigns.

Tabia Inayolingana na DaiThe Character That Fits the Claim

Shahidi anayeaminika lazima awe na tabia inayolingana na maneno yake, na hapa pia Yesu anasimama peke yake. Alihubiri upendo unaowafikia hata maadui, kisha akawapenda maadui zake kutoka msalabani. Alifundisha kwamba wa mwisho watakuwa wa kwanza, kisha akapiga magoti na kitambaa na kuiosha miguu ya watu ambao punde wangemwacha. Alishikilia kiwango cha juu kabisa cha maadili kilichowahi kutamkwa, na tofauti na kila mwanzilishi mwingine, alikitimiza kikamilifu hadi mwisho, hata alipokuwa akiteswa hadi kufa. Maisha yake yalikuwa mahubiri yanayotembea; hakuna pengo kati ya mwenendo wake na maneno yake. Na tabia yake ilithibitishwa si na wanadamu tu bali na Baba, ambaye sauti yake ilivunja ukimya katika Yordani, "Huyu ni Mwanangu, mpendwa wangu, ninayependezwa naye," na tena juu ya mlima wa kugeuka sura, "Huyu ni Mwanangu; msikieni yeye." Hata Napoleoni, inasemekana, alipokuwa akitafakari uhamishoni katika kisiwa cha Mtakatifu Helena, alikiri kwamba aliwajua wanadamu, na kwamba Yesu Kristo hakuwa mwanadamu tu — kwamba kati ya Kristo na kila mtu mwingine wa historia hapakuwa na ulinganisho wowote unaowezekana.A reliable witness must have a character that matches his words, and here too Jesus stands alone. He preached a love that reaches even to enemies, and then He loved His enemies from the cross. He taught the last to be first, and then He knelt with a towel and washed the feet of men who would soon abandon Him. He held the highest ethical standard ever uttered, and unlike every other founder, He kept it perfectly to the end, even while being tortured to death. His life was a sermon in motion; there is no gap between His walk and His talk. And His character was certified not only by men but by the Father, whose voice broke the silence at the Jordan, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," and again on the mountain of transfiguration, "This is My Son; listen to Him." Even Napoleon, it is said, reflecting in his exile on Saint Helena, confessed that he knew men, and that Jesus Christ was no mere man — that between Christ and every other figure of history there was no possible comparison.

Mungu-MwanadamuThe God-Man

Kwa hiyo tunabaki na siri yenye kina kuliko zote na faraja iliyo hakika kuliko zote ya imani: kwamba Yesu ni Mungu kamili na mwanadamu kamili, asili mbili zikikutana katika Nafsi moja. Kama mwanadamu alichoka kando ya kisima, lakini kama Mungu alikuwa maji ya uzima. Kama mwanadamu alilala ndani ya mashua, lakini kama Mungu aliamka na kuituliza dhoruba. Kama mwanadamu alilia kwenye kaburi la rafiki yake, lakini kama Mungu alimwita mfu atoke nje. Kama mwanadamu aliona njaa nyikani, lakini kama Mungu Yeye ndiye mkate wa uzima. Kama mwanadamu alikufa msalabani, lakini kama Mungu alitoka siku ya tatu akiwa na funguo za mauti mkononi mwake. Asili mbili kamili, zisizochanganyika kamwe wala kutengana kamwe, zinakaa milele katika Bwana mmoja Yesu Kristo. Huyu ndiye Yule ambaye manabii walimtabiri, Yule ambaye madai yake yanamtenganisha mwongo na Bwana, Yule ambaye jina lake ni Mungu pamoja nasi. Swali alilowauliza wanafunzi wake sasa anakuuliza wewe. Baada ya kuona madai, unabii, na tabia vyote vikikutana katika Nafsi hii moja, wewe wasema Yeye ni nani?So we are left with the deepest mystery and the surest comfort of the faith: that Jesus is fully God and fully man, the two natures meeting in one Person. As a man He grew tired by the well, but as God He was the living water. As a man He slept in the boat, but as God He rose and stilled the storm. As a man He wept at the grave of His friend, but as God He called the dead man out. As a man He hungered in the wilderness, but as God He is the bread of life. As a man He died upon the cross, but as God He came forth on the third day with the keys of death in His hand. Two full natures, never confused and never divided, dwell forever in the one Lord Jesus Christ. This is the One the prophets foretold, the One whose claims divide the liar from the Lord, the One whose name is God with us. The question He asked His disciples He now asks you. Having seen the claims, the prophecies, and the character all converge on this single Person, who do you say that He is?

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