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Why I Believe In The Resurrection Of Jesus Part 3

Evidence 4 easter part 2 from New Life Bible Chapel
THE EVIDENCE FOR EASTER

• EVIDENCE FOR JESUS
• EVIDENCE FOR RESURRECTION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART TWO 3
I. REVIEW 3
A. CREDIBILITY OF THE AUTHORS 3
1. LUKE 3
2. PAUL 3
B. CREDIBILITY OF THE DISCIPLES 3
C. HEARSAY RULE 3
D. CROSS-EXAMINATION PRINCIPLE 3
E. COWARDS TO COURAGEOUS DISCIPLES 3
II. “IT MUST BE PROVEN BY SCIENCE” 4
A. DEFINE: “SCIENTIFIC METHOD?” 4
1. TEST: DOES IVORY SOAP FLOAT? 4
2. LIMITATIONS OF SCIENTIFIC METHODS 4
3. “EVENTS” NEED OTHER METHODS FOR CONFIRMING PROOF 5
4. HOWEVER, SCIENCE CAN BE USED TO TEST THE VERACITY OF THE NARRATIVE 5
B. IAN HUTCHINSON. MIT 5
C. SCRIPTURE & SCIENCE: NARRATIVES COMPARED 7
III. LEGAL-HISTORICAL METHOD 10
“TRUE YET NOT SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN” 10
A. THERE ARE THREE KINDS OF TESTIMONY FOR LEGAL-HISTORICAL PROOFS 11
A. ORAL METHODS: IS THERE A DANGER OF CORRUPTION? 11
1. ORAL TRADITIONS CAN BECOME “LEGENDS”! 11
2. THE GAP BETWEEN THE EVENT AND THE WRITING OF THE DOCUMENT 11
B. WRITTEN: THREE PRINCIPLES OF HISTORIOGRAPHY 12
1. COMPARING HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS 12
2. BIOGRAPHICAL TEST 13
3. “INTERNAL CRITICISM” TEST 14
4. EXTERNAL EVIDENCE TEST 15
C. EXHIBITS 16
1. WHAT ARCHAEOLOGY CAN UNCOVER? 16
2. OVERWHELMING QUANTITATIVE EVIDENCE 16
3. DEAD SEA SCROLLS—TIMELESS TREASURES FROM QUMRAN 17
PART THREE 19
IV. LORD, LIAR OR LUNATIC? 19
A. WITHOUT THE RESURRECTION, JESUS WAS NOT A GOOD MAN 19
B. WAS HE WAS A LIAR 19
C. WAS HE A LUNATIC? 19
D. WAS AND IS JESUS, LORD? 19
E. QUOTE: C. S. Lewis 19
V. THE MESSIAH’S “ADDRESS” [MTAC. PG 98] 20
A. YOU NEED MORE FAITH TO DISBELIEVE 20
1. OLD TESTAMENT 20
B. GOD WROTE AN ADDRESS IN HISTORY 20
1. UNIQUE BIRTH 21
2. NARROWED BY 1/3RD 21
3. NARROWED BY ½ 21
4. THEN AGAIN BY ½ 21
5. NARROWED BY 1/12 21

PART TWO

I. REVIEW

• Internal evidence
• Legal-Historical evidence, and
• Liar, Lunatic or Lord.

A. CREDIBILITY OF THE AUTHORS

1. LUKE

• Orderly account
• 19 sermon transcripts in Acts.

2. PAUL

• Apostolic Creed passed on.

B. CREDIBILITY OF THE DISCIPLES

• Multiple eye-witnesses
• Willingness to die for their conviction
• A hypocrisy that is difficult to sustain.

C. HEARSAY RULE

• Personal witness [ not hearsay]
• Preaching in Jerusalem
• Closeness of writing to the events

D. CROSS-EXAMINATION PRINCIPLE

• Conversion of the opposition – James and Paul
• Witness of the women.

E. COWARDS TO COURAGEOUS DISCIPLES

• Theme of every sermon
• Cause of imprisonment
• Frequent mockery
• No fudging of Scriptures [the hard sayings or perceived discrepancies were not edited]

II. “IT MUST BE PROVEN BY SCIENCE”

“To prove anything, we must use science” – Is the premise of the modern sceptic.

• True, Science is a great way to prove or disprove the evidence.
• However, it has some limitations – this we explore here!

Q: CAN SCIENCE BE USED TO PROVE EVERYTHING WE BELIEVE?

• If so, list examples.
• If not, list examples.

A. DEFINE: “SCIENTIFIC METHOD?”

It is the:

• Measurement
• Experimentation, or
• Repeated observation

of a phenomenon

1. TEST: DOES IVORY SOAP FLOAT?

• It is testable
• It is repeatable
• It is observable

2. LIMITATIONS OF SCIENTIFIC METHODS

Scientific methods can only be used to prove:
• repeatable or
• observable things not events.

3. “EVENTS” NEED OTHER METHODS FOR CONFIRMING PROOF

• It cannot prove if George Washington lived or not.
• It is neither repeatable nor observable.

4. HOWEVER, SCIENCE CAN BE USED TO TEST THE VERACITY OF THE NARRATIVE

• The authenticity of the narrative can be proven using scientific methods.

Hear a scientific opinion!

B. IAN HUTCHINSON . MIT

I’m a professor of nuclear science and engineering at MIT, and today, I am celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. So are dozens of my colleagues. How can this be?

To explain how a scientist can be a Christian is actually quite simple.

Science cannot and does not disprove the resurrection.

Natural science describes the normal reproducible working of the world of nature.

Indeed, the key meaning of “nature”, as Boyle emphasized, is “the normal course of events.”

Miracles like the resurrection are inherently abnormal. It does not take modern science to tell us that humans don’t rise from the dead. People knew that perfectly well in the first century; just as they knew that the blind from birth don’t as adults regain their sight, or water doesn’t instantly turn into wine.

Maybe science has made the world seem more comprehensible – although in some respects it seems more wonderful and mysterious. Maybe superstition was more widespread in the first century than it is today – although the dreams of today’s sports fans and the widespread interest in the astrology pages sometimes make me wonder. Maybe people were more open then to the possibility of miracles than we are today.

Still, the fact that the resurrection was impossible in the normal course of events was as obvious in the first century as it is for us.

Indeed, that is why it was seen as a great demonstration of God’s power.

To be sure, while science can’t logically rule miracles in or out of consideration, it can be a helpful tool for investigating contemporary miraculous claims.

It may be able to reveal self-deception, trickery, or misperception.

If someone has been seen levitating on a supposed flying carpet in their living room, then the discovery of powerful electromagnets in their basement might well render such claims implausible.

But if science fails to find defeating evidence then it is unable to say one way or the other whether some reported inexplicable event happened, or to prove that it is miraculous.

Science functions by reproducible experiments and observations.

Miracles are, by definition, abnormal and non-reproducible, so they cannot be proved by science’s methods.

Today’s widespread materialist view that events contrary to the laws of science just can’t happen is a metaphysical doctrine, not a scientific fact.

What’s more, the doctrine that the laws of nature are “inviolable” is not necessary for science to function. Science offers natural explanations of natural events. It has no power or need to assert that only natural events happen.

So, if science is not able to adjudicate whether Jesus’ resurrection happened or not, are we completely unable to assess the plausibility of the claim?

No. Contrary to increasingly popular opinion, science is not our only means for accessing truth.

In the case of Jesus’ resurrection, we must consider the historical evidence, and the historical evidence for the resurrection is as good as for almost any event of ancient history.

The extraordinary character of the event, and its significance, provide a unique context, and ancient history is necessarily hard to establish.
But a bare presumption that science has shown the resurrection to be impossible is an intellectual cop-out.

Science shows no such thing.

C. SCRIPTURE & SCIENCE: NARRATIVES COMPARED

SO, WE CHECK THE VERACITY FOR SELF DECEPTION, TRICKERY, MISPERCEPTION.

• Description in the narrative with our scientific understanding: [Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19].

SCRIPTURE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION NOTES
Luke 22:44. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
HEMA-TID-ROS-IS:

Release of chemicals that break down the capillaries in the sweat glands, and the sweat comes tinged with blood. • Associated with high degree of psychological stress.
• Leaves the skin extremely fragile and sensitive
Jn 19:1. Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.

[Deut 25:3]
Romans did not always keep count or limit to 40.

Jn 19:28. After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”

Ps 22:15. “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws” HYPO-VOLE-MIC SHOCK:

Effects of losing large amounts of blood.

Causes 4 things:

i. Heart races to pump blood that is not there
ii. Blood pressure drops causing fainting & collapse
iii. Kidneys stop producing urine to maintain volume
iv. The person is very thirsty as the body craves to replace the lost fluids. • A whip of braided leather thongs with metal balls woven into them.
• When struck these balls would cause deep bruises or contusions and break open with further blows.
• Whip had pieces of sharp bone that would cut the flesh severely.
• The lacerations would tear the muscles to produce ribbons of bleeding flesh.
• Historians are unanimous that Jesus survived the flogging and went on to the cross.

SCRIPTURE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION NOTES
Psa 22:16. “They pierced my hands and my feet.

Jn 19:18. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.

THOMAS:
Jn 20:25. Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails,

NAILS PIERCED THE WRISTS

• Through the wrists locks the hands.
• Palms cannot take the weight of the person
• Nailed through where the median nerve runs for the highest pain point.
• [The funny bone is because of the ulna nerve. Now imagine pair of pliers squeezing the nerve]
• Repeat the same for the feet. • In the crucifixion narrative, we told Christ was “crucified” [no specific or direct reference to the use of nails].
• No reference to nails on his palms. [Hebrews considered wrists as part of the hand]
• However, Thomas clarifies it in his doubt.
• Archaeology confirms the practice of both tying and nailing for crucifixion.

Isaiah 52:14. “There were many who were appalled at Him—His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness.”

EXCRUCIATING

• “out of the cross” • The pain of the cross is so intense they had to create a new word.
• To exhale, the person would push up on his feet, causing the nail to tear through the foot.
• To inhale, the person would have to relax down putting the weight on the hands.
• Scraping each time his lacerated body against the coarse wood of the cross.
Psalm 22:14. “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.
[Prophecy fulfilled]
OUT OF JOINT
• Arms stretched probably 6 inches in length as the weight of the body pulls the torso down
• Both shoulders dislocate • Metherell: “This is simple mathematical equation”

SCRIPTURE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION NOTES
Psalm 22:14. “I am poured out like water…”

Luke 23:46. "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
RESPIRATORY ACID-O-SIS

• CO2 is dissolved as carbonic acid, causing the acidity in the blood to increase leading to erratic heart beat and eventual death. • Crucifixion is essentially an agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation.
Jn 19:34. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. PERICARDIAL EFFUSION:
• Fluid around the heart.

PLEURAL EFFUSION:
• Fluid around the lungs. • Spear would have pierced the lung and into the heart.
• The appearance of water is these fluids.
• The sequence of blood and water is not sequential but for its prominence or amounts.
Jn 19:33; 36. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs… For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” BREAKING OF LEGS:

• Prevents from pushing up with his legs to breathe leading to death by asphyxiation. • They break the legs of the other two
Mark 15: 44. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead.
THEY HAD “PRIMITIVE MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE OF DEATH”

• “How can one be sure of death when no doctor testified at the most – or with their primitive scientific knowledge.” • Roman soldiers were trained to kill.
• They would be killed if they let their prisoners escape.

SCRIPTURE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION NOTES
Luke 24:38-39. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” “FAKING DEATH”

• Did Jesus survive the crucifixion?
• Medically, “this” Jesus would never inspire the disciples to go out and proclaim that Jesus is the Lord of life who has triumphed over death.

III. LEGAL-HISTORICAL METHOD

Q: Archaeologists recently [2012] unearthed a pot of old mint coins in the outskirts of Jerusalem. The coins carried the date BC 4 on one side, and the image of Herod on the other. These coins could be valuable in piecing together information and evidence of times around the time of the birth of Jesus. However, the Archaeologists are convinced that these coins are fake and will not use them as a historical exhibit.

WHY? OR WHY NOT?

NO DEFEATING EVIDENCE WILL DO FOR US.
We look for evidence that can hold up in the court of law and to reasonable logic.

We understand there will be certain things we will not know; but what we know should not conflict with what is true – if that is ever true, walk away.

“TRUE YET NOT SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN”

We all hold as true many facts that cannot be proven using scientific methods.

These are proven using legal-historical proofs. The verdict is reached based on weight of the evidence; and these have no “rational basis” for reaching the evidence.

A. THERE ARE THREE KINDS OF TESTIMONY FOR LEGAL-HISTORICAL PROOFS

1. ORAL
2. WRITTEN
3. EXHIBITS

A. ORAL METHODS: IS THERE A DANGER OF CORRUPTION?

1. ORAL TRADITIONS CAN BECOME “LEGENDS”!

• “Oral evidence can be corrupted like the game of telephone.”

a. THE CASE OF JEWISH WHISPERS JUST DOES NOT EXIST

• a good pupil was like “a plastered cistern that loses not a drop” [Mishna, aboth, ii,8]

b. 2 TIMOTHY 2:2 PRINCIPLE

• There was an intention to pass along and an integrity to pass on the right information.

Blomberg :

“In the [game of] telephone half the fun is that the person may not have got it right or even heard it right the first time, and they cannot ask the person to repeat it. Then you immediately pass it along, also in whispered tones that make it more likely the next person will goof something up even more. So yes, by the time it has circulated through a room of thirty people, the results can be hilarious…..If you really wanted to develop that analogy in light of the checks and balances first-century community, you’d have to say that every third person, out loud in a very clear voice, would have to ask the first person, ‘Do I still have it right?” and change it if he didn’t….the community would constantly be monitoring what was said and intervening to make corrections along the way. That would preserve the integrity of the message, and the result would be very different from that of a childish game of telephone.”

2. THE GAP BETWEEN THE EVENT AND THE WRITING OF THE DOCUMENT

• If the gap is not significant, it is possible to “limit” the corruption of the story.

a. GERMAN CRITIC, FERDINAND CHRISTIAN BAUR:

• He assumed that most of the NT Scriptures were not written until late in the second century AD from myths and legends that had developed during the lengthy interval between the lifetime of Jesus and the time these accounts were set down in writing.

b. ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES IN THE 20TH CENTURY

• Early papryri manuscripts [the Josh Ryland manuscript. AD. 130; the Chester Beatty Papyri. AD 155; and the Bodmer Papyri II. AD. 200] bridged the gap between the writing the incident.

c. READ BOOK:

• John A T Robinson. Book: “Redating the New Testament”

B. WRITTEN: THREE PRINCIPLES OF HISTORIOGRAPHY
[Testing Historical Documents]

i. Bibliographical test
ii. Internal criticism test
iii. External evidence test.

1. COMPARING HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS

• Q: What do we learn from observing the data below?

ORIGINAL ORIGINAL
DATES # OF COPIES avail. COPIES
DATED GAP
[Between original & copies available]
History of Thucydides 460-400 BC 8 AD 900 1300 Years
Aristotle-- Poetics 343 BC 5 AD 1100 1400 Years
Caesar-- Gallic wars 58-50 BC 9-10 1000 YEARS
Tacitus.
Annals of Imperial Rome. 116 AD 1-6 books in 1 doc Ad 850
11-16 books in 1 book AD 1100
7-10 Books are lost
Josephus.
The Jewish war In Greek Copies from 10,11,12 centuries
Latin 4 AD
New Testament 35-100 AD 5600 Greek docs. 100-150 AD 5-30 years
[Most early MSS are fragments]

a. OBSERVATIONS

• More the documents available, the greater the difficulty in fudging the documents
• More the documents available, the greater the accuracy of the documents.

2. BIOGRAPHICAL TEST

“It is the examination of the textual transmission by which ancient documents reach us from the past”

Since we don’t have the original, we ask four questions:

i. CORRECTNESS: How reliable are the copies that were made?
ii. COPIES: How many survived?
iii. CONSISTENCY: How consistent are the copies?
iv. CLOSENESS: What is the time interval between the original and the extant copies?

a. CORRECTNESS: SINGLE WITNESS INADEQUACY

• If the original were preserved – a sceptic can easily deny the “single witness”.
• God in His wisdom uses multiple evidences.
• It is more important to corroborate the accuracy of multiple copies than to defend the veracity of the single copy as being authentic.

b. COPIES : Daniel Wallace.

• In 1975, in a hidden compartment of St. George’s Tower in Sinai was uncovered -- 50,000 fragments; 200 biblical manuscripts; 30 NT manuscripts.

c. CLOSENESS: OMISSION OF THE DEMISE OF JERUSALEM AND PAUL

• Since both Jerusalem and Paul are key players in the book of Acts, it seems strange that their demises would be omitted.
• The best explanation seems to be that Paul's death and Jerusalem's destruction are omitted because the book of Acts had been completed before they happened.
• This means that Acts was written before 64, when Paul died.
• Since Acts is volume 2 of Luke's writings, the book of Luke being the first, then the Gospel of Luke was even earlier, perhaps 62.
• And since most scholars agree that Mark was the first gospel written, that gospel would have been composed even earlier, perhaps in the late 50s.
• This brings us within twenty years of the events, which is not enough time for legends to develop.

3. “INTERNAL CRITICISM” TEST

THE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TEST determines only that the text we have now is what was originally recorded.

• Determine not just that the record is credible but also to what extent it is credible.
• This is the task of the internal criticism [ Chauncey Sanders].

a. IMPORTANCE OF INTERNAL CRITICISM

• Any barrier to Scriptural “criticism” with religious diktats; or because of personal concerns of unearthing shocking and conflicting information, works in fact to draw intense attention to the very thing it is seeking to prevent. [vr]
• However , Bible has been the object of intense scrutiny; and
• Under the most honest microscope it has proven to be the unfeigned and uncorrupted Word of God.

b. THE AUTHOR:

• Credibility: The ability of the author or witness to tell the truth is helpful to historians in their effort to determine credibility “even if it is contained in a document obtained by force or fraud”
E.g. Luke 1:1-3.

• Closeness: The ability to tell the truth is closely related to the witness’s nearness both geographically and chronologically to the events recorded.
• If there was any discrepancy “hostile witnesses” to their testimony would have immediately shut down discussion [MTAC. Pg.51]
E.g. 2 Peter 1:16; 1 Jn 1:3: Jn 19:35; acts 4:20

• Coercion: They did not change their testimony even in the face of punishment. But challenged them that their listeners knew what the apostles were talking about.
E.g. Acts 2:22; Acts 26:24-26

c. HISTORIAN WILL DURANT [Caesar and Christ. Pg. 557]

“That a few simple men should in one generation have invented so powerful and appealing a personality, so lofty and ethic, and so inspiring a vision of human brotherhood, would be a miracle far more incredible than any recorded in the gospels…”

4. EXTERNAL EVIDENCE TEST

The third test of historicity is that of external evidence.
• The issue here is whether other historical material confirms or denies the internal testimony of the document themselves.

a. AUTHENTICATION BY “OTHER” AUTHORS

• Historian Eusebius, preserved the writing of Papias, bishop of Hierapolis. Friend of John.
• Irenaeus writes about Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna. Disciple of John

b. ARCHAEOLOGY [MTAC. PG 54]

The testimony of eminent architects:
• Joseph Free
• Sir William Ramsay

c. QUOTE: Clark H Pinnock

• Scepticism regarding the historical credentials of Christianity is based on an irrational [i.e. supernatural] bias.

C. EXHIBITS

Ancient historian Paul Maier: "Many facts from antiquity rest on just one ancient source, while two or three sources in agreement generally render the fact unimpeachable…

Archaeology is a good way to test the authenticity of an ancient document – cross referencing locations, objects, cultural nuances, collaborative documents etc.

1. WHAT ARCHAEOLOGY CAN UNCOVER?

a. NUMISMATIC EVIDENCE (METALLIC COINAGE)

• Sometimes coins can help us date other finds discovered at the same place.

b. EPIGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE (INSCRIPTIONS)

• Official inscriptions, seals etc.

c. PAPYROLOGICAL EVIDENCE (WRITINGS)

• Private letters mention medical problems or suggest ancient medical practices

d. STRUCTURAL EVIDENCE

• Roads and harbor remains suggest commerce.

2. OVERWHELMING QUANTITATIVE EVIDENCE

• These are examples of those that have been found and collaborated.
• No archaeological confirmation does not equate to false evidence.
• It is true that Political figures are generally easier to identify for ancient history than many other ancient real figures

a. HISTORICAL LINGUISTIC AND LITERARY EVIDENCE: Names in History
[I’ve picked only Egypt as a location, and some. See resources: PPT for more]

• Potiphar (Gen. 37:36 and Gen. 39:1)
Egyptian name means “belonging to the Sun”
Similar Egyptian name “Poti-Pherah” means “Ra gave him”
• Land of Goshen (Gen. 45:10, Gen. 47, Ex. 8:22, etc.)
Identified as 20th nome of Egypt (in Eastern Egyptian Delta)
• Abishai (1st Sam. 26:6)
Semitic name also in depiction at Khnum-hotpe tomb
Khnum-hotpe tomb about 900 years prior to Bible’s Abishai
• Goliath (1st Sam. 17)
Comparable name discovered at Gath
Some suspect “Goliath” could be a title for a particular military office.
• Rulers
Pharaoh Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I (2nd Chronicles 12:2-9)
Pharaoh “So” Osorkon IV (2nd Kings 17:4)
King Taharqa (2nd Kings 19:9)
Pharaoh Necho II (2nd Chronicles 35:20)
Pharaoh “Apries” Hophra (Jeremiah 44:30)

3. DEAD SEA SCROLLS —TIMELESS TREASURES FROM QUMRAN

• In 1947, a Bedouin stumbled upon ancient scrolls when he tossed a rock into a cave opening and heard pottery shatter. This discovery led to the search for more scrolls.
• Between 1947 and 1956 some nine hundred manuscripts were discovered in eleven caves around Qumran, along the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea.
• Over two hundred scrolls were portions of the Bible itself, dated 250 BC–AD 68.
• Amazingly, every Old Testament book except Esther was represented.

a. AUTHENTICITY TESTED

• Several scrolls were carbon-14 tested in the 1990s.
• Of particular interest is the Great Isaiah Scroll , the only complete book of the Bible found in the Qumran caves, dated to 125 BC, which was confirmed by two independent tests.

b. WHY DO SOME OLD SCROLLS MATTER?

MANUSCRIPT 4QMMT (ALSO KNOWN AS SOME OF THE WORKS OF THE LAW)

“We have written to you so that you should understand the Book of Moses and the Books of the Prophets and David.”

• This text, dated around 150 BC, is possibly the oldest existing document making reference to a closed three-part Old Testament canon.
• It supports the words of Jesus in Luke 24:44 referring to the Old Testament as “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms.”

NO BOOKS ADDED AFTER EZRA

• This text fits with the claim of the first century Jewish historian Josephus that no new books were added to Scripture after the time of Ezra around 425 BC

NO CORRUPTION THROUGH TIME

• Prior to the discoveries in 1947–1956, the earliest surviving Old Testament manuscripts dated to around AD 900 .
• The scrolls match the Masoretic Text tradition which modern Hebrew and English Bibles are based upon.

PART THREE

IV. LORD, LIAR OR LUNATIC?

YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH
JN 8:32

A. WITHOUT THE RESURRECTION, JESUS WAS NOT A GOOD MAN

• Without the resurrection, Jesus Christ was a human monstrosity.
• Either he was the world's greatest deceiver and deserved to die,
OR
• He was who He claimed to be, the God-Man Savior of the world.
• And it is the resurrection which makes the difference.

B. WAS HE WAS A LIAR

• If He was a liar then He’d also be a hypocrite for He taught others to be honest whatever the cost
• If He was lying, He was a demon, for He told others to trust Him for their eternal destiny.
• If He was lying, He was a fool, for His claims to deity led Him to be crucified. A claim He could have backed away from even at the last moment.

C. WAS HE A LUNATIC?

Could it be possible that He was sincere and wrong?
• The skill and the depth of His teaching only support the case only for His total mental sanity.
• He cared about women and children who weren’t important in the society of the times

D. WAS AND IS JESUS, LORD?

• How will you deal with this trilemma—Liar, Lunatic or Lord.
• Jn 20:31

E. QUOTE: C. S. Lewis

“If Jesus a mere man and said the sort of things He said, He would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else He would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the “Son of God” or else a madman or something worse.”

HE ADDS,
“You can shut Him up for a fool you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher, he has no left that open to us, He did not intend to.”

MT 22:36-37.
v.37. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

The problem with many is that they seem to love God only with their hearts. The facts about Christ never get to their minds. We are to with our minds enabled by the Holy Spirit know God, with our hearts to love Him and with our will choose Him.

V. THE MESSIAH’S “ADDRESS” [MTAC. PG 98]

• OVER 40 HAVE CLAIMED TO BE MESSIAH

A. YOU NEED MORE FAITH TO DISBELIEVE

• Don’t “misunderestimate” as George W Bush would have said.

1. OLD TESTAMENT

• 60 major prophecies
• 270 ramifications
• Using science of probability 48 of these coming true: 1 x 10157

B. GOD WROTE AN ADDRESS IN HISTORY

• In a document written over 1,000 years
• A document of the Jews of whom it was predicted they will reject their Messiah.

1. UNIQUE BIRTH

• GENESIS 3:15. “Enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed”
• Isaiah 7:14. Born of a virgin.

2. NARROWED BY 1/3RD

• Genesis 9 and 10
• Lineage of Shem

3. NARROWED BY ½

• 2000 years later through Abraham
• Promised child of Isaac

4. THEN AGAIN BY ½

• Through Jacob

5. NARROWED BY 1/12

• Through the tribe of Judah

6. NARROWED BY 1/8TH

• As God choose David from the root of Jesse

7. BETHLEHEM

• Micah 5:2. God eliminates all other towns

8. TEMPLE SHOULD STILL BE STANDING

• Mal 3:1; Psalm 118:26; Daniel 9:26; Zech 11:13; Haggai 2:7-9