INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Who is Jesus?
• The 2004 release of the movie, “The Passion of The Christ” has stirred up a lot of controversy. The movie has also touched the lives of many people in a profound way.
• There have been over 100 known movies made about Jesus over the years, why did this one draw so much venomous criticism?
• I think it is because its’ focus was on the last 12 hours of Jesus life. The last twelve hours of the life of Jesus are by far the most violent of any period of His life.
• Those last 12 hours will make us ask some questions as to who Jesus was, was He indeed the Son of God as He claimed or was He just delusional teacher?
• In the movies over the years, the death of Jesus has been so sanitized by beautiful bloodless artistic renderings that The Passion of The Christ hits us square in the face with the reality of the suffering Jesus endured for us.
• In 1999, CBS-TV bought the rights to The Jesus Mini Series. However they censored the “passion” of Jesus. CBS cut out the nail scene. CBS cut the screams of Jesus. CBS cut out Jesus loving the children in the final scene.
• CBS said they wanted a “more traditional Jesus.” (www.hollywoodjesus.com/passion.htm)
• I believe The Passion of The Christ struck a nerve with people because if Jesus is who He claims to be and He suffered and died and rose again as we see in the Passion, then we are left with the dilemma of what to do now. This puts people on the spot.
• Today we are going to start of four-week series focusing in on Jesus.
• We will be seeking to answer 4 basic questions such as is He the only way to God, why did He die, and Is He alive? Today our focus will be “Jesus is the Son of God?”
• If we determine that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, then we are put in a dilemma. IF Jesus is the Son of God, then we either have to accept Him or reject Him.
• SLIDE #2
• Matthew 26:57-68(ESV) 57Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered.
58And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end.
59Now the chief priests and the whole Council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward 61and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’” 62And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 63But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” 67Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”
• The religious leaders feared Jesus; they themselves did not want to face the fact that He was indeed the Son of God.
• In order to determine if Jesus is the Son of God we first need to examine…
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. JESUS AND HISTORY.
• Man or myth? We need to determine if Jesus was a real historical figure as the Bible claims before we can proceed.
• There has been debate in the past of whether or not there was a Jesus, but you do not hear that argument too much today. Even with that, I think we need to know that Jesus was not just some figment of the bible.
• The Bible is clear; Jesus was born of a woman under the law (Galatians 4:4). Jesus lived and was crucified, died, was buried, and rose on the third day.
• I want us to look at two areas outside of the Bible that attest to the fact that Jesus was not a myth, but a man.
• The one thing we must remember is that Jesus lived close 2,000 years ago. Back then there was no TV, no radio, no satellite technology or other recording equipment. All we have is bits and pieces of various writings.
• Those people who do not want to believe in the Jesus of the Bible are quick to dismiss the Bible because they do not like what it says. We have more evidence that proves the accuracy of the Biblical text than we do of ANY other ancient writing.
• There was a time when liberal scholars tried to say the New Testament was written in the second century. Evidence has all but proven that theory wrong. The gap between when the New Testament was written and the first available manuscript is closer than any other ancient writing. Not only that the number of available manuscripts for the New Testament dwarfs that of the next closest document from antiquity.
• Homer’s Iliad has a 500 year gap between the original and the oldest available manuscript. There are 643 copies of the Iliad from antiquity available. This is the best documented writing from antiquity next to the New Testament.
• There is only a 25 year gap between the writing of the New Testament and the oldest manuscript fragment available to us today. By the way, there are over 24,000 manuscripts of the New Testament available to us.
• To further show Jesus is a man of history we will briefly look at two sources outside of the bible, first some secular sources.
• SLIDE #4
1. Secular Sources
• There are several sources outside of the Bible that speak of Jesus. Here are a few.
• These people cannot be accused of having an agenda when they wrote what they did.
• Cornelius Tacitus. (A.D. 55-120) This man was a Roman historian who lived through the reigns of over a half dozen Roman emperors. He has been called the greatest historian of ancient Rome and generally acknowledged among scholars for his moral integrity and essential goodness.
• He wrote two prominent works, “Annals” and “Histories.” “Annals” covers from Augustus’s death in A.D. 14 to the death of Nero in 68. “Histories” covers the time from 68 to 96 A.D. Tacitus speaks of Pontius Pilate putting Jesus to death. Tacitus is the only place outside the Bible where Pontius Pilate mentioned.
• Suetonius who was another Roman historian speaks of the Jews causing trouble because of Jesus. He writes they were expelled in A.D. 49. This is mentioned in Acts 18:2. He also writes of Christians being in Rome during the reign of Nero (less than 20 years later). He reports they were suffering and dying for their conviction that Jesus Christ had really lived, died, and risen from the dead.
• Pliny the Younger (A.D. 112). He was the Governor of Bithynia. He wrote a letter to Emperor Trajan asking how to treat the Christians. He speaks of Christians worshipping Jesus as God.
• Thallus. He is one of the first secular writers to make mention of Jesus. Dated around A.D. 52 he wrote a history of the Eastern Mediterranean world from the Trojan War to his time. He is quoted by Africanus who spoke of the darkness that enveloped the land during the late afternoon hours when Jesus died on the cross.
• Africanus said Thallus tried to explain this as an eclipse of the sun. Africanus said an eclipse of the sun could not take place at the time of a full moon. Thallus did not doubt that Jesus had been crucified and that an unusual event had occurred in nature that required explanation.
• Mara Bar-Serapion. A.D. 70. He compared Jesus to philosophers Socrates Pythagoras.
• There are many more. Jesus was a real person, history bears that out.
• Next we will quickly look at a couple of Jewish sources.
• SLIDE #5
2. Jewish Sources
• The Romans Historian Josephus mentions Jesus on a few occasions. He speaks of Pilate condemned Him on the cross at the urging of the religious leaders. Josephus was a Jew who was captured by the Romans, who served as an interpreter for the Romans and a historian.
• Jesus is mentioned in the Talmud also. (The Talmud is a vast compilation of oral Laws of the Jewish faith.
• Jesus was most definitely a man of history.
• Next let’s peer back into the bible by look at Jesus and prophecy.
• SLIDE #6
II. JESUS AND BIBLE PROPHECY.
• The Bible is the word of God. Since it is the word of God, we find prophecies in it concerning the one day coming Savior. There are many prophecies which were written several hundred years before the time of Jesus.
• There are roughly 332 distinct predictions concerning the coming Messiah in the Old Testament. The Old Testament was completed in about 450 B.C., or about 450 years before Jesus was born.
• The Greek translation of the Old Testament was completed in about 250 B.C., or about 250 years before Jesus was born.
• There are 61 MAJOR prophecies concerning the coming Messiah.
• Guess what, ALL 332 and which include the 61 major ones are fulfilled in Jesus.
• These prophecies range from the manner of His birth, the place, of His birth, to how and who he would die with.
• Some have said Jesus just read the prophecies and then followed them. Maybe that would work with some of them, but what about the ones concerning His birth? What about the ones concerning His death? Could you please hang me next to a couple of thieves and please do not break my legs? Silly isn’t it.
• SLIDE #7
• VIDEO 1 this is in the Powerpoint slide #7
• In the same book, Peter Stoner states the probability of any man one person fulfilling a select 8 of the 61 prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17 power, or 1 with 17 zeros after it. If you took 1 by 10 to the 17 silver dollars, they would cover the whole state of Texas 2 feet deep. If you took on coin, painted it red and mixed it in with all the coins, the odds of you picking the red coin would be the same as one person fulfilling 8 selected prophecies concerning the Messiah.
• The prophets could not have guessed when they wrote the prophecies over 450 years to 1500 years before they happened. Isaiah wrote some 700 years before Jesus was born, yet he describes in detail what would happen to the Messiah in Isaiah 53 and other passages.
• How did Jesus come to fulfill at 332 prophecies? Accident? On purpose? By divine appointment?
• Jesus is the only person who fits the bill of the Son of God.
• Let us now finish by taking a brief look at Jesus life.
• SLIDE #8
III. JESUS AND HIS LIFE.
• If Jesus was the Son of God, I would think His life would show it. I would also think He would know He was the Son of God. I would think He would do things that would show His power. Let’s briefly look at three areas.
• SLIDE #9
1. His Claims.
• There are many who say Jesus never claimed to be the God. In our passage, in verse 64 Jesus makes the claim. In verses 65-68, we can see the religious leaders knew what Jesus was claiming to be.
• SLIDE #10
• Matthew 26:64(ESV) 64Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
• The religious leaders KNEW what he was saying, you can tell by their reaction.
• Jesus makes direct or indirect claims to being God in the following verses: John 10:22-31; John 5:19-ff; John 4:26; Mark 2:1-14; Luke 4:16-ff; Matthew 16:16-ff; Luke 2:41-ff; Matthew 26:64 among many other places.
• SLIDE #11
2. His Miracles.
• If you are God, then you should be able to show it by some special works.
• Jesus performed many miracles. They were not done in some far away place, but in the public. He performed many miracles. He healed people, raised them from the dead, and cast demons out of them.
• Jesus showed power over nature by calming storms, by making water turn into wine. He was able to take 5 loaves and 2 fish and feed over 5,000 people with some left over. HE caused a fig tree to wither at His command. He walked on water.
• Jesus proved His position and backed His claims by His works.
• SLIDE #12
3. His Sinless life.
• Jesus led a sinless, selfless life.
• In verse 59 of our text we find the religious leaders looking for a way to accuse Him of wrong doing, but none could be found.
• SLIDE #13
• Hebrews 4:15(ESV) 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
• SLIDE #14
• 1 Peter 2:21-22(ESV) 21For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
• The life of Jesus reflected the Holy God He claimed to be.
CONCLUSION
• SLIDE #15
• VIDEO #2 ON POWERPOINT
• This leaves us with what to do now. You either have to accept Jesus is the Son of God or reject it. Jesus could not just be a good teacher because He claimed to be God. This, as C.S. Lewis so aptly said, means that Jesus is either, a lunatic, a liar or Lord.
• Jesus could not be a good teacher if He claimed to be something He knew He was not. If He claimed to be something He was not, HE would be a lunatic.
• James 2:19 says, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”
• If you believe, you MUST do something about it. I hope today if nothing else, it gets the wheels turning.
• Next week are going to see if Jesus is the ONLY way to God.
