...it all falls apart.
As a child, I once heard a speaker say, "I don't believe Jesus was the Messiah, but I believe He was a good man." This "good man" part was somewhat meant to mollify the mostly nominal Christian audience, and everyone politely let the statement stand. It wasn't until years later that I understood it can't. It doesn't pass the logic test.
I've heard it claimed more than once that Jesus never owned up to being the Messiah, but He certainly did. When He was speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, she said, "I know that Messiah is coming; when that One comes, He will tell us everything," and He responded, "I who speak to you am He" (John 4:25-26). It doesn't get any clearer than that.
At the beginning of His public ministry, He went into the synagogue at Nazareth and read aloud the messianic prophecy from Isaiah 61:1-2: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. To set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." Then He sat down and said to the people, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." They knew exactly what He meant to imply, because some began to grumble, "Isn't this just Joseph's son?"
Jesus stated many times that He came from God, was One with God, and wrapped up His discussion of Abraham by telling the Jewish leaders, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, before Abraham was born, I Am" (John 8:58).
Before the Sanhedrin, when asked, "Are You the Son of God, then?" Jesus replied, "It is just as you say" (Luke 22:70). When Pilate asked, "Are You the King of the Jews?" He again answered, "It is just as you say."
Here's the rub, though: someone who would falsely claim to be the Messiah, to be One with God, isn't a good man. At best he's deceived, which would mean he is a false teacher. Long ago, someone said, and I paraphrase, "Jesus is either exactly Who He claimed to be, or He's a phony, a fraud, mentally ill. You must put Him in one camp or the other. There is no middle ground. He didn't intend there to be."
That's not all. Jesus fulfilled every Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah, as Matthew went to great lengths to demonstrate in his gospel. If the Messiah were anyone else, that one would also have to fulfill every single prophecy (and also live a sinless life). A mathematician named Peter Stoner calculated that out of 60-some prophecies, the chance of one man fulfilling even EIGHT of them was 1 out of 10 to the 17th power--in other words, impossible except by supernatural means. To make a serious claim for a different Messiah, one would then have to give a plausible explanation for why God would bring about this supernatural fulfilling of all Messianic prophecies twice--and allow this to happen even though one of them wasn't Messiah.
It doesn't make sense.
I will also argue it's a slam against God's goodness and trustworthiness.
Some vary the argument a bit; instead of opining that Jesus is good but not Messiah, they say there's no hell and maybe no heaven either. But then things fall apart even more completely. If there's no hell, then there's nothing to be saved from, there's no need of a Messiah, Jesus died for nothing, and God is not good. I suppose if people are willing to follow their belief to its logical conclusion, that's their prerogative. But I've found that most aren't, or don't realize the implications.
Yes, faith is huge in Christianity. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith in Christ it is impossible to be saved. But it's never blind faith. And maybe that's a point we should be trying harder to get across.
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