Alpha Week 1: Who is Jesus?

Transcription

1 Alpha Week 1: Who is Jesus? I grew up with a mother who is Roman Catholic and a dad who remains agnostic (no definite belief about God). My first experiences of Jesus Christ were 3-fold: 1. Inside the Church Cathedral on columns were lots of dead guys, all with beards, hanging on a cross in underwear (Superman had undies on too, he had more appeal to me as a young boy), and 2. Outside the church building was a small bookstore where they sold necklaces, crosses, cards and I remember many of the books having this pasty, pale skinned, metro-sexual looking guy in a dress, often with a halo over his head on the front covers. My experience was that both were unrealistic imagery for a young boy to relate to! 3. My third exposure to Jesus came in the Army through music, more specifically in the lyrics of the music a friend of mine played in his dorm, in his car - they were singing about something completely different to anything I had heard before. I didn't know it at the time but the words to these songs were directly about the person of Jesus!! You may ask the question: Why do we need to look at Jesus when I'm not even sure if God exists? Aren't you jumping the gun Grant? Stick with me for 30 minutes as there is an important link! So what is the proof for Christianity? We can't prove the Christian faith like a mathematical proof (A+B=C, A+D=C therefore B=D), rather it's more like legal evidence put before a jury. The evidence leads, points toward the truth. You see it's not a blind leap, rather a faith step based on faith in some evidence. What is the evidence that Jesus existed? Do we know for certain that he even existed? The Russian Communist dictionary defines Jesus as a mythical figure who never existed 1. Let us look at Historical evidence: The Roman Historian & Senator Tacitus spoke directly about Jesus, in particular the role of Pontius Pilate in the crucifixion of Jesus in his work Annals in ~AD164. Scholars consider this work authentic. Another Roman Historian Suetonius spoke about the spread of Christianity in Rome and indirectly about Jesus in his work Lives of the Twelve Caesars in ~AD121. Most convincing was the Jewish Historian Josephus in his work Antiquities of the Jews written in ~AD93 said: Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man if it's lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth

2 with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. And then he went on to write about his crucifixion and his alleged Resurrection. He also spoke about John the Baptist. There is authentic, historic, recorded evidence for the existence of the person of Jesus Christ. No historian could deny this fact. 2. Let us look at the New Testament: The NT is a very reliable source of historical evidence about Jesus. But how do we know it hasn't been changed over the years? Science of Textual Criticism: the earlier an original document and the more copies of the original there are, the more reliable the text. Let's take a look at some examples: Herodotus was an Ancient Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC. Widely referred to as the Father of History, his masterpiece The Histories was written between BC. The earliest copy made of his work was in AD 900, some 1,300 years later and only 8 separate copies were ever made!! Om the other hand the New Testament had thousands of copies made of the original texts within a very short period of time of the originals being produced. This makes the NT texts extremely reliable and authentic as per the original documents. Therefore the NT is an extremely reliable historical source of evidence. One of the greatest textual critics ever, F.J.A. Hort, said this: In the variety and fullness of the evidence on which it rests, the text of the New Testament stands absolutely and unapproachably alone amongst ancient prose writings. No secular historian would disagree with that conclusion. No historian would ever agree with the Russian dictionary that Jesus was a mythical figure either.

3 We can conclude that the New Testament scriptures are as they were originally written. So Historical evidence proves that Jesus existed as a man...no one can deny that, historical fact! He had a body, ate, drank, slept, got tired, experienced pain, joy, sadness, he grew up in a family, he had a real, biological mother and an adopted dad! He grew in physical stature from a young boy to a grown man, grew in intellectual capacity, he had a job, he had friends, he was tortured, and he experienced death. But was he GOD or just a good moral teacher? Dan Brown (author of Da Vinci Code) suggests Jesus was not God. Bono (U2) as odd as it sounds I believe Jesus is the son of God So the BIG ISSUE: is Jesus more than just a good, moral teacher? Matthew 16 Who do the people say the Son of Man is? Who do you say I am?... Peter said You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God Nicky Gumbel and Paul Ackford (England Lock 1991 Rugby World Cup)...It's possible to be with someone a long time and not know who they are! There are 2 parts to the argument as to whether Jesus is God? A. Who did Jesus believe He was (say about himself)? If he went around saying I'm just a good moral teacher, a mere man - well then we have no need to carry on!! He also didn't go around in a T-shirt saying I am God But when you look at the life of Jesus you are left with little doubt that he was conscious of being a man whose identity was God. B. What evidence do we have to substantiate His claims? A. What did Jesus say about himself? His teachings centered on himself Most religious teachers say don't look at me look at God. Although the most humble of people ever to have lived Jesus kept pointing people to himself by saying it's through me that you come into a relationship with God

4 Psychologists agree people are hungry... Freud: People are hungry for love (acceptance, love) Jung: People are hungry for security (peace) Jesus: I am the bread of life (spiritual hunger!!) Addiction is a big problem in our society today... Jesus: If the Son [Jesus] sets you free, you will be free indeed Many people today are depressed, disillusioned, in despair, in a dark place... Jesus: I'm the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life (Many people when they come to put their faith in Christ for the first time use the expression it's like a light came on [suddenly their own world and that around them begins to make sense]). Conversations about death, the unknown, many fear it and avoid thinking or speaking about it... Jesus: I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die. Materialism doesn't satisfy. People are looking for spiritual reality. Oprah, Dr. Phil and Noleen (3-Talk) will tell you in their very persuasive words that's the way, that's life, that's truth... Jesus: I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life If you receive me, you receive God. If you welcome me, you welcome God. If you have seen me, you have seen God. *** Child drawing picture of God He forgave sins (indirect claim to be God) Jesus: Your sins are forgiven Stepping on toes example (only God could forgive others) His direct claims (John 20) Thomas and Disciples Thomas: My Lord and my God

5 Jesus never said Hang on Thomas, you're taking it a bit far calling me God, easy does it Thomas! Jesus: Because you've seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Claims like these need to be tested (many have claimed they are the real Elvis) B. What evidence do we have to substantiate His claims? When you begin to test the direct claims Jesus made, the eventual outcomes or conclusions about Jesus can be boiled down to ONLY one of three possibilities: What Jesus said wasn't true: Jesus knew it was all a lie and therefore He was an impostor, a fraud. He was deluded: Jesus merely thought he was God (insane), but never realized that it actually wasn't true. He is God: Jesus is who he said he was. C.S. Lewis (a well-known Christian author) said this when coming to his conclusion about who Jesus is: A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said wouldn't be a great moral teacher; he'd either be insane or else he'd be the devil. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God or else insane or something worse. But don't let us come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He hasn't left that open to us. He didn't intend to. Evidence to support what he said, that Jesus is God: 1. His teachings Greatest teachings ever to fall from the lips of humans: Love your neighbor as yourself. Do to others as you would have them done to you. Love your enemy. Turn the other cheek. The foundations of our entire civilization in the West are based on Jesus's teachings. Many of our Laws are based on the teachings of Jesus. Immense progress has been made in the field of Science and Technology (over 2,000 years) but NOT on the Moral teachings of Jesus!! Our world today is as debauched and wicked as it was 2,000 years ago and no single individual has come anywhere near as close to the moral teachings

6 of Jesus. In fact many non-christian moral and ethical activists today will agree that the world needs to get back to the teachings of Jesus as our only hope!! Q: Are these teachings that of an evil or imbalanced man? 2. His lifestyle Never boring! Wedding, Picnic, Funeral, Hospital, His Love for the Loveless (prostitutes, sinners, mute, lame, dumb, diseased, demon possessed). He set people free. Q: Is this the lifestyle of an evil or imbalanced man? 3. His character Time Magazine: Jesus: the most persistent symbol of purity, selflessness and love in the history of Western humanity. Jesus was full of compassion, humility, and courage... Father forgive them for they don't know what they're doing His character has impressed millions of people who wouldn't even call themselves Christians. Q: Is this the character of an evil or imbalanced man? 4. Fulfillment of OT prophecies (>300) Whoever in the world has had a whole bunch of books written about them before they were even born? The Old Testament has over 300 prophecies about Jesus, written hundreds of years before his existence on earth, and every single one of these prophecies were fulfilled, including 29 in a single day (the day of his death). For example: Psalm 34:20 David speaks about the fact that not one of the bones of The Lord would be broken, which is referring to the activities around Jesus's death. If after a few days the person on the cross being crucified was still not yet dead the Roman soldiers would literally break their legs in order that they no longer could support themselves from suffocating to death. They never needed to do this with Jesus because they found he was already dead when they came to inspect (John 19:36). Isaiah 53:5 references Romans 4:25 (his being pierced with a sword in his side). Isaiah 53:9 references Matthew 27:57, 60 (the rich man who provided Jesus with a tomb) Some say he was a con-man who knew all the prophetic words and made them happen: how do you predict the way you will die, or where you would be born (it was prophesied Jesus would be born in Bethlehem). 5. His conquest of death Absence from the tomb People say some things regarding His death: He didn't die he recovered and got out! People didn't survive Roman crucifixion (massive stone, water and blood gushing from his side is medical evidence for death).

7 Disciples stole his body! Why would they have been tortured to death if they stole it and could prove they had his body in order to get off (every single one of Jesus's disciples were killed for their belief that Jesus came back to life!!). Nobody could show the body!! (Tomb guarded, no one could say he hasn't risen from the dead!) (Saddam Hussein's sons when killed were very quickly shown to the world as dead - people wanted others to know they were dead). Robbers stole his body. Grave clothes were left in the tomb (most valuable), folded up head-piece, a sign it is finished (like knife and fork)!! Jesus presented himself to the disciples after his resurrection Jesus presented himself to his disciples on 11 different occasions, at one time to 500 people in a single gathering. Ghost? Touched him, he ate a meal in front of them. Immediate impact When Jesus was crucified his disciples were disillusioned, discouraged, depressed, fearful, hiding!. Peter denied he knew Jesus to a young girl. Then suddenly Jesus is Alive. Peter's life changed radically, the Church began. Within 300 years Christianity had spread across the entire known world. You're here tonight because Jesus is Alive!!! Christian experience down through 2,000 years People of every ethnicity, continent, nationality, every economic, social, intellectual background, from all walks of life: they unite in this common experience of the risen Jesus - millions of Christians all around the world today experiencing this same relationship with Jesus Christ. How is that possible? Only if He truly is who he said he was. You may be uncertain as to whether real purpose and meaning can ever come into your life. You may be uncertain or skeptical that it can come from Jesus. You may believe your life will become miserable if you become a Christian. Millions and millions of people around the world have come to experience the peace of God through a personal relationship with Jesus. Sherlock Holmes: When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Jesus cannot be evil or insane, that's impossible. What remains is that it is true! My search suddenly became Yes and it all made sense. I have experienced 26 years of his love and power through a loving relationship with Jesus. He really is alive.