The Claim

Yes or no.
The claim demands an answer.
He is or is not.
Our response has meaning,
Consequences for now
and forever.
He is either a madman
Or, who He said He was-but
Not just a good man
Offering wise and prophetic words
And doing deeds beyond explanation.
Not written off that easy
As one of many who have
Come and gone.
Full of truth or deception,
He claimed to be The Truth.
If He was not, then, He was not good
But a deceiver, and, not a holy man.
Either one of many ways, or, as He claimed,
The Way.
More than a giver of life,
He claimed to be The Life.
And, if it was so then,
It is so now, for the claim is that
He is Alive!
Risen from the dead to die no more-
Proof that He is the Lord.
We must either believe Him or not,
And, if we believe Him,
Accept His claim on our lives.
Then, we will know Him
As a lover knows the beloved
Even as we become His beloved
Whom we have, unknowingly, always
Wanted to become.
It is personal, intimate, not academic-
The heart and the head together-
Together as one.
Our being is transformed
And no longer merely human
But a Divine sharing in se-
A communion, not only with Love
But also with those who are part
Of the sharing.
There is no middle ground-
To believe a little and
Not seek the more,
Is to not believe,
To not be real,
To not be true, but,
To be lukewarm-false.
So, if you believe,
Accept the Truth,
Follow the Way,
Live the Life.
If you do not,
Are you really a believer?
But, if, as a believer,
You decide to choose self over others,
To take and not give,
To worship at another altar,
seek forgiveness,
For, He knows your weakness,
Has borne your offense
And, has paid for your redemption.
It is yours for the asking-
To start anew, in joy,
On the path of re-creation,
Transformation.
It is a road less traveled,
Led by the Spirit
Into the Light
Beyond imagination.
So, think about it.
He asks:
Who do you say I am?
Deceiver, madman or Messiah?
Yes or no.
True or false.
The answer is forever.