"ISSUES OF DISTINCTION"
The Identity Of Jesus Of Nazareth
INTRODUCTION
- So far we have considered two "Issues Of Distinction":
- The Existence Of God - which differentiates between...
- Atheists and agnostics on the one hand
- Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Moslems, Christians, etc., on the
other hand
- The Identity Of God - which distinguishes between...
- Buddhists, Hindus, etc.
- Jews, Moslems, Christians, etc.
- In doing so, we briefly surveyed evidence that supports a belief...
- That God does exist
- That the God of Abraham (i.e., the God of the Bible) is the one
true God
- Our next "issue of distinction" concerns "The Identity Of Jesus Of
Nazareth"...
- Jews and Moslems believe he was just a good man, perhaps even a
prophet
- But Christians profess much more, that He was the Messiah, even
the Son of God!
[In this study, we shall briefly review the claims made about Jesus,
and some evidence which supports these claims...]
- THE CLAIMS MADE ABOUT JESUS
- THE NEW TESTAMENT MAKES BOLD CLAIMS ABOUT JESUS...
- Presenting Him to be the Messiah, foretold by the Old
Testament
- As seen in the confession of Peter - cf. Mt 16:13-17
- As seen in Luke's description of Jesus' conversation
following His resurrection - cf. Lk 24:25-27,44-48
- Presenting Him to be the very Son of God!
- Again, as confessed by Peter - Mt 16:16
- As introduced in John's gospel - Jn 1:1-3,14
- THE NEW TESTAMENT ALLOWS ONLY TWO ALTERNATIVES...
- Jesus is everything the New Testament authors claim
- The Christ, the Son of God
- Indeed, the King of Kings and Lord of lords - cf. 1Ti 6:14-16
- The New Testament is a carefully orchestrated fraud, written
purposefully to deceive!
- The authors leave us no other choice - cf. 2Pe 1:16-18
- Either their story is true, or they were false witnesses!
- cf. 1Co 15:14-15
- WE CANNOT SAY THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN SINCERELY DECEIVED!
- Especially in reference to the resurrection of Jesus, which is
offered as the ultimate proof of His deity and Messiahship
- They claim they ate and drank with Him afterwards - Ac 10:39-41
- They claim they saw and touched Him - 1Jn 1:1-4
- They leave us NO ROOM for saying they were but MISTAKEN or
DECEIVED!
- Some skeptics have tried to offer this as an alternative
- That perhaps in their grief and loss over the crucifixion
of Jesus they "hallucinated" or saw grief-inspired
"visions" of Jesus
- But "hallucinations" and "visions" are highly
individualistic experiences
- One person might see the hallucination or vision
- But several or many people don't see the same vision at
the same time!
- As outlined in the gospels and also 1Co 15:4-8, the
resurrection appearances of Jesus were often witnessed by
many at the same time (over 500 on one occasion!)
[So we really have no other choice; either the New Testament with its
claims about Jesus is a "Book Of Truth," or it is a "Book of Lies."
Which is more reasonable to believe? To help us decide, consider...]
- IMPLICATIONS IF CLAIMS ABOUT JESUS ARE NOT TRUE
- THE NEW TESTAMENT IS A CAREFULLY ORCHESTRATED LIE!
- With great accuracy the authors described events, places, and
people (at least those we can confirmed by archaeology) - Lk
2:1-5
- If the record of miracles and the resurrection is false, then
they very carefully intertwined fact and fiction!
-- IS IT REASONABLE TO BELIEVE THAT?
- THE AUTHORS SUFFERED EXTREME HARDSHIP FOR WHAT THEY KNEW WAS A
LIE!
- Many people will lie if they can get something out of it (such
as money, power)
- But what did the apostles get out of it? - cf. 1Co 4:9-13
- What did Paul get for holding to his testimony? - cf. 2Co 11:24-29
- How do we know they really suffered this hardship?
- The fact that the letters of the New Testament were even
saved!
- For example, consider the letters 1 & 2 Corinthians...
- These letters are filled with rebuke of the Corinthians
- The Corinthians would have every reason not to save
these letters which exposed their faults
- The Corinthians had first hand knowledge as to whether
the apostles and Paul really suffered the hardship
spoken of in their letters
- If they knew the accounts of such hardship to be false,
they would have quickly destroyed these letters written
by a liar who embarrassingly wrote about their problems!
- So especially the author of half the books of the New
Testament (Paul) suffered extreme hardship for a lie, if the
New Testament is not true
-- IS IT LOGICAL TO BELIEVE THAT?
- THE AUTHORS WHO WERE MARTYRED KNEW THEY WERE DYING FOR A LIE!
- True, many people in history have died for what was actually a
lie...
- They sincerely believed it be true; sadly, they were
mistaken
- But we have seen that the nature of the apostles' testimony
as eyewitnesses of the resurrection does not allow for the
possibility they were sincerely mistaken
- History and tradition record that:
- JAMES was stoned to death
- PAUL was beheaded
- PETER was crucified
- If the New Testament is a lie, they went to their deaths
KNOWING they were dying for a lie!
-- IS IT RATIONAL TO BELIEVE THAT?
- IN SUFFERING AND DYING FOR A LIE, THEY WENT AGAINST EVERYTHING
JESUS AND THEY THEMSELVES TAUGHT!
- "But let your 'yes' be 'yes', and your 'no' be 'no'." - JESUS
(Mt 5:37)
- "Therefore, putting away lying, each one speak truth with his
neighbor..." - PAUL (Ep 4:25)
- "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisy,
envy, and all evil speaking" - PETER (1Pe 2:1)
-- DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO BELIEVE THAT?
- THE BOOK WITH THE WORLD'S HIGHEST STANDARD AND LOFTIEST GOALS WAS
COMPOSED BY LIARS, FRAUDS, AND DECEIVERS!
- What book presents a higher standard of love and morality than
the New Testament?
- For example, Jesus' "Sermon On The Mount" (Mt 5-7) and Paul's
"Discourse On Love" (1Co 13)
-- CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?
CONCLUSION
- This is what one MUST believe if they do not believe the New
Testament when it speaks of the miracles, fulfilled Messianic
prophecies and resurrection accounts of Jesus:
- It is a carefully orchestrated lie!
- The authors suffered extreme hardship for what they KNEW was a
lie!
- Those authors who were martyred KNEW they were dying for a lie!
- In suffering and dying for a lie, they went against everything
Jesus and they themselves taught!
- And somehow, these liars, frauds, and deceivers came up with a
book containing the world's highest standard morality and
loftiest goals!
- I am convinced that those who do not believe the New Testament are
those who:
- Have never read the New Testament carefully
- Have not considered the logical implications of simply regarding
it as a mixture of fact and fiction!
- But to those who will read it, I believe that they will find...
- That it has "the ring of truth" to it
- That it will convince one of the true identity of Jesus of
Nazareth!
- As John wrote toward the end of his gospel:
"And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His
disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are
written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."
(Jn 20:30-31)
- What is YOUR view of Jesus of Nazareth?
- Are you willing to accept the evidence that "Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God"?
- If so, then with such faith you have the right to become a child
of God, and have "life in His name"! - cf. Jn 1:12; Ga 3:26-27