Jesus - was He a Liar, Lunatic or Lord Acts 1:3
Jesus claims to be God s actual Son Two Alternatives His claims were true His claims were false Two Alternatives He knew they were false He didn t know they were false
Jesus claims to be God s actual Son He knew His claims were false He didn t know His claims were false He made a deliberate mis-representation That made Him sincerely deluded That makes Him a liar That made Him a lunatic If He is a liar He s also a hypocrite He becomes a demon He s a fool because He died for a lie
Jesus claims to be God s actual Son He knew His claims were TRUE He is the Lord Two Alternatives You can ACCEPT Him as Lord of your life You can REJECT Him as Lord of your life Either way you can t IGNORE Him
Acts 1:3 - NIV 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
Acts 1:3 - NIV 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
Jesus claims can be proved three different ways 1) The words contained in the Bible 2) Fulfilled Prophecy 3) Through the resurrection
Could a Liar or a Lunatic teach like this? Matthew 6 25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
Could a Liar or a Lunatic teach like this? Mark 10: 17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. Good teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 18 Why do you call me good? Jesus answered. No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother. 20 Teacher, he declared, all these I have kept since I was a boy. 21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. One thing you lack, he said. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. 22 At this the man s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Could a Liar or a Lunatic teach like this? Luke 8: 26-28 26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don t torture me!
Fulfilled Prophecy נ ב וא ה Discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, revealing things hidden; especially by foretelling future events
Fulfilled Prophecy - The Old Testament was completed 450 years before the birth of Jesus - Contained in the Old Testament are over 330 prophecies fulfilled through the life of Jesus
Fulfilled Prophecy Critics would say that Jesus manipulated events so it would look like He was fulfilling prophecy eg - Zechariah 9:9 says... Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! See your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey
Fulfilled Prophecy But how did Jesus manipulate this prophecy in Micah 5:2?... (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, one whose origins are in the distant past. Jesus hadn t been born by then
Fulfilled Prophecy Facts about Psalm 22 and 34 They predict Jesus crucifixion David wrote these 750 years before the birth of Jesus Facts about crucifixion Crucifixion wasn t invented as a means of capitol punishment until 63BC 700 years after these Psalms were written
Fulfilled Prophecy Facts about Psalm 34 It predicts how Jesus would die 20 He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken. John 19: 31-33 31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
Obviously He couldn t manipulate it So maybe, it was coincidence Chances of winning Lotto through probability 40 x 39 x 38 x 37 x 36 x 35 = 3,838,380 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 1 chance in 3,838,380. Chances of one man from then to now being able to fulfil just six of these prophecies is: 1 chance in 10 to the 157 th power
Obviously He couldn t manipulate it So maybe, it was coincidence 1 chance in 10 to the 157 th power looks like this: 1 chance in 10 00,000,000,000,000,000 00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 and that s called coincidence
The Resurrection Critics say It wasn t a resurrection because Jesus fainted What would it take to prove someone had been resurrected? An empty tomb won t prove it as the body could have been removed
The Resurrection The proof would need to be that the one who dies, would need to reappear in the same body that they died in WHO DID JESUS APPEAR TO? REFERENCE Mary Magdalene Mk 16:9 John 20:14 To the women returning from the tomb Matt 28:9-10 Peter later in the day Lk 24:34-1Cor 15:5 To the Emmaus Disciples Lk 24:13-33 To the Apostles without Thomas Lk 24:36-43 To the Apostles with Thomas John 20:26-29 To the seven at the Lake of Tiberias John 21:1-23 To 500+ on a Galilean Mountain 1Cor 15:6 To James 1Cor 15:7 To the Eleven Matt 28:16-20 At the ascension Acts 1:3-12 To Paul Acts 9:3-6 To Stephen Acts 7:55 To Paul in the Temple Acts 22:17-21 To John at Patmos Rev 1:10-19