What is So Special about Jesus?

Transcription

1 Believing in Jesus

2 What is So Special about Jesus? To many, Jesus seems just one of dozens of great teachers from the past. Most in our age think that they already know all about Jesus, and don t need to give his claims a second thought. Here are some reasons for the world to look at him again.

3 Jesus Has Blessed the World 1. Hospitals 2. Orphanages 3. Charity institutions 4. The end of slavery 5. The concept of human rights

4 5. The Concept of Equal Rights Friedrich Nietzsche in The Anti- Christ The poison of the doctrine equal rights for all this has been more thoroughly sowed by Christianity than by anything else, [section 43]

5 Jesus Has Blessed the World 1. Hospitals 2. Orphanages 3. Charity institutions 4. The end of slavery 5. The concept of human rights 6. The great universities

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8 Jesus Has Blessed the World If you are benefiting now from Western Culture, you should at very least give thanks for the influence of Jesus of Nazareth. If you are a thinking person, you may well wonder on this basis alone if Jesus was not more than just a man.

9 Jesus Finishes the Old Testament When will God restore His Kingdom and make it fill the whole earth? Answer: The world-wide spread of Christianity fills all those predictions to overflowing.

10 How can God have fellowship with people who are never perfect? Answer: The cleansing blood of Christ provides a satisfying answer.

11 How can the Kingdom of God be built on the Law of Moses, which Israel failed to keep over and over? Answer: Jesus offers to God perfect obedience to the law on our behalf.

12 If the Messiah is another David, who builds yet another kingdom on blood and death, how can it endure any longer than other such kingdoms? Answer: Jesus kingdom is built on the king s blood. His subjects are won by gratitude, not force, and they obey out of love, not fear.

13 Jesus Has Risen from the Dead The resurrection of Jesus has amazing historical support compared to other events from the first century. 1. Multiple accounts 2. Early accounts 3. Hostile witnesses 4. Circumstantial evidence

14 Multiple Accounts Compare the resurrection with the story of Socrates drinking Hemlock Only two accounts, and only one from someone claiming to be an eyewitness. Compare with Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon River to start the Civil War Four accounts, all written over a hundred years later.

15 Many Resurrection Accounts 1. Paul (7 documents) 2. Mark 3. Matthew 4. Luke/Acts 5. 1 Peter 6. John 7. Hebrews

16 Early Accounts Alexander the Great The two earliest biographies are 400 years after the fact Buddha No records until over 200 years after his death No miracles in the records until 450 years after his death

17 Resurrection Accounts Paul: twenty plus years after the facts Mark: thirty plus years after the facts Matthew, Luke/Acts: fifty years after the facts John and Hebrews: sixty years after the facts

18 Hostile witnesses: James John 7:5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him. I Cor. 15:7a then he appeared to James; Acts 1:14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

19 Hostile witnesses: Paul I Cor. 15:8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

20 Circumstantial evidence The Empty Tomb The Change in the Apostles The Growth of Christianity in Jerusalem during the lifetime of eyewitnesses. Sunday as the Christian Day of Worship Christian use of Lord s Supper and Baptism

21 The Evidence Stands the Test The resurrection of Jesus has been studied more intensely than any other event in history by scholars with deep commitment to the view that it did not happen. Yet, to this day, no one has come up with a convincing non-miraculous explanation for what happened on the third day after Jesus died.