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Find out who Jesus Christ really is
The Lesson: Through archaeology and prophecy we have clearly seen the reliability of the Bible. Even with a limited knowledge of the Bible you will know that this Book is all centred on a Person. That Person is Jesus of Nazareth – or Jesus Christ. The landscape of history is decorated with the names of many prominent people; people who have changed the way we think and live. Alexander the Great, Napoleon and others are remembered because of the way they tried to rule the world. Isaac Newton, Galileo, Edison and Einstein are remembered for pushing the frontiers of knowledge. But without a doubt, the name that towers above all is Jesus of Nazareth. Nobody has had as much impact on human civilisation as this humble carpenter from Nazareth. But who was Jesus actually? Who did He claim to be? Get ready for some amazing discoveries as we endeavour to answer these questions. The Controversy Over the Identity of Jesus For nearly 2,000 years the world has struggled with the question of the identity of Jesus of Nazareth. Many people in the world believe Him to be God. But today, there are also voices, even in Christianity, who have begun to question the divinity of Jesus. The highly controversial Episcopal Bishop John Spong, for example, has challenged the Christian Church to debate a number of questions that strike at the very heart of the Christian religion. He claims that the virgin birth, understood as literal biology, makes the divinity of Christ impossible. He also claims that the resurrection of Jesus is impossible and that the incarnation is nothing but mythology, and many have followed in his footsteps. Some years ago a book was published by Dan Brown titled “The Da Vinci Code”. More than 40 million copies have been distributed and sold world wide. This book received a tsunami of attention! Shortly after the book was published, Hollywood produced a multimillion dollar movie which hit the theatres. Millions have been impacted either through the book or the movie to think differently about Jesus. Dan Brown in his book indicates that everything the Bible says about Jesus is actually a fairytale. The central premise in this book is an attack on the purity and divinity of Jesus as well as the dependability of Scripture. The author, Dan Brown, using twisted history, tells us that Christ was married to Mary Magdalene and fathered a child. In short, he’s convincing people that the New Testament is a fabrication that can’t be trusted and he is making millions of dollars while doing it. Dan Brown tells us that today there are people that can claim to be direct ancestors of Jesus Christ. Furthermore he claims in the Da Vinci Code that Jesus was not considered God or divine until almost 300 years after his ministry, when a decision at the council of Nicea in AD 325 declared him to be God. He claims that the Church has suppressed many original gospels other than Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and that they have been hidden so that no-one would find out the truth of Jesus. If what Dan Brown said was true, it would disannul all that Christians believe. It would lead to the fact that the death, buria Dan Brown himself admits that he got his theories from a group of writings known as the Gnostic gospels. The Gnostics were an ancient sect of people that had very strange believes. The Gnostics wrote a series of books about 100 years after the New Testament had been written. These manuscripts were discovered in the Egyptian desert, the Nag Hamadi, in 1945. Included are such as the gospel of Thomas, Phillip, and Mary Magdalene. The majority of the Nag Hammadi library was written by Gnostics. Later in 1970 the gospel of Judas was also found in Egypt! It is said by some to be the most significant religious archaeological discovery since the Dead Sea scrolls. But this ancient gospel, written by the Gnostics, emerging from the sands of Egypt, tells a different story. The story of Christ’s betrayal is turned around as the betrayer becomes a hero and Jesus Christ arranges his own death. The gospel of Judas does not agree and harmonize with the four gospels in the Bible. Most strikingly it leaves out the death of Jesus which is the good news of salvation! National Geographic channel presented a special documentary on this subject in April 2006. Various esteemed scholars attempted to validate the gospel of Judas as authentic. But the surprising thing is that they did not compare the gospel of Judas with the Bible, but with the ancient Nag Hammadi texts. Included are such books as the gospel of Thomas, Phillip, and Mary Magdalene. The majority of the Nag Hammadi library was written by Gnostics and scholars have found sufficient evidence to place the gospel of Judas amongst the ancient documents dating back to the first, second, and third century. However the fact that the gospel is old does not mean it is true! Why were the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John deemed as worthy and divinely inspired documents? And why were “other” gospels refuted by early Church fathers? It was simply because the “other” gospels were written or strongly influenced by leaders of the early Gnostic movement. National Geographic’s scholars readily admit that these texts were produced by the Gnostics. Yet the documentary makes no mention of the fact that the Gnostics were the chief persecutors of the Apostle Paul and the early Church. The Gnostics did everything in their power to prevent the gospel from going forward. They often pursued Christians to their deaths, and handed them over to Roman authorities. In spite of these established historical facts, the documentary consistently presented Gnosticism in a favourable light. Gnostic beliefs are strongly occult and mystic – often influenced by pantheistic ideas similar to New Age and eastern mystics of today. Gnostics relied heavily on inner feelings and believed they had divine knowledge within themselves. This knowledge flowed from a “divine spark” or “divine spirit” dwelling within the body. The Gnostics believed that only a certain group of people are going to heaven based on their intelligence. They further believed that creation was an accident. They were convinced that the serpent in the garden of Eden was a good figure and they turned the story of the fall upside down. The Gnostics approved of Eve’s sin against God even though her actions caused the fall of mankind. All this should make us think! Given this background, any Christian, even with a limited knowledge of Scripture, would understand that it was wise of the early Church fathers to reject the Gnostic gospels. Dan Brown claims that this (the Gnostic gospel account) was original Christianity that has been hidden from us for centuries and centuries. He further claims that the Gnostic writings are older and more reliable than that Bible writings. Now, historically speaking, we know that what Dan Brown has said is frankly false. Religious historians and secular historians are turning away from the claims of Dan Brown. There is frankly no truth in the claims concerning Christ in the Da Vinci Code. Maybe it’s an exciting fiction story, but it is not based on reliable and solid facts! Was Jesus Christ Divine? Many recognize Jesus as a historic figure, a good man, a capable teacher. But the question is: Was He more than that? Was He really the Son of God? This subject is really the essence of Christianity as all stands or falls based on the answer! Some people may think: Does it really matter? It matters a lot because if Jesus is not God, then all He can offer is good moral ideology. He can’t offer eternal life! Secondly He can’t offer the power to change our lives. The power to change a person would not be available if He was merely a historic figure and so the question concerning the identity and divinity of Jesus is extremely important. In Luke chapter 24 we find the account of two discouraged disciples. They were walking and discussing the recent events in Jerusalem. Jesus, their Master, had been taken captive and crucified, and all their hopes were crushed. They reflected upon the life of their Master and they looked back and said: Was He really God? They did not know that Jesus had just been resurrected! Jesus then suddenly joined them, but the disciples did not recognise Him and thought he was a mere traveler. But this traveler began to explain the incredible prophecies pointing to Himself and what had to happen to Him. “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:27 Jesus identified Himself for the disciples through the Scriptures. Jesus took these doubting disciples, who had many questions in their minds, and walked them through the prophecies in the Old Testament. These incredible prophecies reveal, supernaturally, that Jesus is God! These prophecies are so fantastic that they could not possibly have been fulfilled naturally. Most people’s biographies are written either in the latter part of their life or after their death, but Jesus’ biography was written before He was born! Amazing Prophecies Pointing to Jesus! “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Micah 5:2 In other words, the eternal One would be born in Bethlehem. The literal translation means that His origin is eternal, which is a clear prophecy that He is divine. This prediction is special, not only because of the identity of Jesus, but also because it points out His place of birth. This particular prophecy in the book of Micah is quite amazing because it reveals the exact birthplace of Jesus 700 years in advance. It says Bethlehem Ephrata. There was more than one Bethlehem in Israel but Bethlehem Ephrata is specifically mentioned. To all appearances Jesus would be born in Nazareth because that is where Mary and Joseph lived. The odds were small that someone living in Nazareth would have a child in Bethlehem. But a decree of Caesar Augustus brought the holy family, Mary and Joseph, to Bethlehem the exact night of Christ’s birth. Micah, 700 years in advance, predicted that Jesus, the eternal One, would be born in Bethlehem. This is more than natural, it’s supernatural. Jesus is more than a good man – He is the divine Son of God! Another amazing prediction is found in the first book of the Bible. In Genesis chapter 49 the old patriarch Jacob brings his sons together to bless them before he dies. He pronounces a special blessing upon one of his 12 sons, which is Judah. “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Genesis 49:10 The word Shiloh means “peacemaker.” Jacob understood that something special was going to happen under Judah’s reign. It was from Bethlehem in Judah – at the time when the tribe of Judah was reigning – that Jesus, the Shiloh, the peacemaker, came. How would you know that out of all the thousands of cities in Israel Jesus would be born in Bethlehem? How would you know that it would be under Judah’s reign? Moses penned Genesis probably 1,500 years in advance! That would be like somebody in the 500s knowing your name and where you would be born today. Isaiah the prophet also predicted the coming of Jesus hundreds of years in advance. “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 This is a very specific prophecy! The angel Gabriel, in the gospels, interprets this as Jesus being conceived supernaturally. Certainly the prophecies pointing to the birth of Jesus present a compelling case as to who Jesus really is. They all highlight His divine origin. But not only do we have accurate prophecies pointing to His birth, we also find prophecies pointing to the manner of His death and why He died. One of these remarkable prophecies is found in the book of Psalms. “They pierced my hands and my feet.” Psalm 22:16 “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” Psalm 22:18 David is here writing about his experience, and yet at the same time it is an exact prophecy of what happened to Jesus. Now the reason this passage is so fascinating is that the Jewish method of capital punishment was stoning. Crucifixion didn’t exist, as it was introduced in the second century before Christ. But the Bible says, “They pierced my hands and my feet.” How could David make that statement a thousand years ahead of time in Psalms when crucifixion did not yet exist? Then notice the precision of verse 18: “They part my garments,” which the soldiers did. It’s just amazing! Another prophecy in Zechariah predicted that Jesus would be betrayed by a friend. “And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.” Zechariah 11:12-13 The Bible predicted that Jesus would be betrayed by a friend, and that the betrayal price would be 30 pieces of silver. “They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.” How did the Bible know that the exact betrayal price would be 30 pieces of silver? This is more than just coincidence! Even the fact that Jesus was rejected was predicted. “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not… He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” Isaiah 53:3, 7 It all came to pass as the prophet said. It is impossible to guess all these events! The question though is: What evidence is there that Jesus is really the divine Son of God? We have the evidence of 4,000 years of history in the Old Testament! The prophetic evidence unfolded by the prophets who wrote the Scriptures: The evidence of Isaiah, Moses, Micah, Zachariah, and many more. A recent study that was done revealed the chances of the prophecies fulfilling in one man. Dr Peter Stoner, former chairman of the departments of mathematics, astronomy, and engineering at Pasadena College (California), worked with 600 students for several years applying the “principle of probability” to the prophecies of the Messiah’s coming. They choose just eight from the hundreds available and finally decided the chances of all eight being fulfilled in one man in a lifetime is 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (33 zeros!). There is objective, quantifiable evidence that inquiring minds can find. He is more than a good man, more than an ethical philosopher – He was the Son of God! The two disciples found this out when Jesus explained the Scriptures to them. “And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” Luke 24:31-32 Their hearts burned within them! Does your heart burn within you when you hear the evidence? Jesus Claims to be God “Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?” John 8:53 “Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:54-58 The religious leaders challenged Jesus and asked who He was. When you carefully study His answer you will see His claim to have existed prior to His birth on earth. He is claiming to have known Abraham. It would be like one of us claiming to know Napoleon or some other distant historic figure. Jesus claims to be the “I Am” (John 8:58). Now the expression in the Greek language for “I am” is “ego emi.” It means “I am the self-existent one.” Jesus is saying: “I am the one who has existed from eternity.” Jesus uses the very same expression in the Greek language that has the Hebrew equivalent in Exodus, chapter three, when God appears to Moses and says, “I am the I AM.” Jesus is claiming to be the I AM. He’s claiming to be God. He’s claiming to be the self-existent One with no beginning and no ending. “Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” John 8:59 “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” John 10:33 The Jews understood His point and they wanted to stone Him because of what He said. Why? They wanted to stone Him because He made Himself God. Jesus was very clear in the claim He made: “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” John 14:9 The “I Am” appeared to Moses in the fiery burning bush and Moses took off his shoes and worshipped.
He was commanded to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. This encounter between Moses and God happened prior to the Exodus out of Egypt. “And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.” Exodus 3:4-6 After the Exodus and wilderness dwelling of 40 years something else interesting took place. By this time Israel had a new leader named Joshua. Just as Joshua entered the Promised Land with the people something remarkable happened. “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the LORD’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.” Joshua 5:13-15 Joshua encounters a man that he worships. He takes off his shoes just like Moses did at the fiery bush prior to the Exodus. Who is this man that appears to Joshua? Is it an angel? It cannot be an angel because angels do not accept worship by man. “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10 John worships the angel that is by his side, but the angel tells John not to worship him. This figure appearing to Joshua is none other than Jesus, the Captain of the Lord’s army! Jesus Himself came to encourage Joshua! It is the very same One that gave Moses the command to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. The apostle Paul tells us that it was Jesus that followed the Israelites during their wanderings in the wilderness. “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:4 Jesus was the spiritual Rock that followed them. It was Jesus that appeared to Moses in the burning bush and it was Jesus that appeared to Joshua as the Captain of the Lord’s army. It was Jesus that dwelt with the Israelites of old! He is eternal – He is divine – He is God! And this all happened hundreds of years before there was even a Gnostic on the face of the earth. The church did not make up the fact that Jesus was God. Jesus Himself made this amazing claim of truth. Was Jesus Created? Some people believe Jesus was created. I have even spoken to Christians that believe this. They point to texts like the one in Colossians. “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.” Colossians 1:15 Jesus is called the firstborn. But what does it mean to be the firstborn? David in the Bible is called the firstborn son of Jesse. But was he the first to be born? Was he the oldest? The answer is no. He was born eighth in line! The expression firstborn in the Bible doesn’t always deal with the time you were born. The word in Greek is “protuocos.” In the Greek language, when it says, “protuocos” it is qualitative. The firstborn was the one who had the title deed and the one who had the privileges and prerogatives of the Father. He is first, not in the sense of time, but in the sense of importance. Jesus is the firstborn in the sense that he gets all the inheritance of the Father. This is the one that receives the inheritance of eternity. Jesus is the one who encompasses all history, and because Jesus is eternal He can give you eternal life. You can’t promise eternal life if you are not eternal, because you can’t promise something you don’t have! Jesus Can Forgive Sin Jesus not only claimed to be divine, but He also claimed to forgive sin. On numerous occasions Jesus would forgive sins of people. “And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?... But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.” Luke 5:21, 24 Jesus did not only heal, He forgave sins. The Scribes and Pharisees hated Jesus because He claimed this power! The religious leaders did not believe He was God and could forgive sins. Today some higher critics and religious leaders are saying the very same thing. But if Jesus was a normal man that could not forgive sin, His death has no value at all! Jesus had either to be an absolute liar, or everything He claimed to be, because good moral people do not lie! Good moral people don’t claim to be something they are not. An Experimental Knowledge To know that Jesus is alive today and can forgive sin, you need to experience it yourself. The evidence of history and prophecy may convince you, but for you to know it in your heart of hearts, you need an experience. Do you have a load of sins to bear? Bring it to Jesus; He has promised to take it. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 Have you experienced this? You can have this experience today. Jesus is waiting with outstretched arms. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:32 There is something irresistible about the cross of Christ, something that demands our attention. Who is this innocent Man who hangs between heaven and earth, asking God to forgive those who did this to Him? Who is this Man whose life was summed up by the simple phrase, “He went about doing good?” Who is this Man who healed the sick, taught with such power that demons fled and crowds would riot. Who is this Man who inspired His followers to bring His message to the whole Roman Empire in a single generation? Who is this Man, who continues to inspire hearts and change lives almost 2,000 years later? Let me ask you today, as you stand under the cross of Christ, what do you see? A Roman centurion looked up at Him and said, “Truly, this was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:54). Millions have come to the same conclusion, and the good news is that He is as accessible today as He was 2,000 years ago. He is waiting, right at this moment, for you to take your first steps in His direction. His nail-scarred hand is reaching out for yours, and the question you are facing is whether or not you will choose to grasp it. Jesus is more than a good man, more than an ethical philosopher, more than a religious teacher. The evidence of Scripture and history is that he is the divine Son of God, and today, deep within our hearts, we want to believe it. Deep within our hearts, we reach out to this Jesus who can forgive our sins, who can take away our guilt, who can take away this aching void of emptiness. Jesus can give us new power to change our lives and make us over again. Have you ever wanted to have a new start in life? You can – through Christ! He died that we might live! “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23 We have all sinned and deserve death, but through Him we may have life. He is our substitute! He took our badness and gave us His goodness. He took our shame and gave us His glory. He descended that we might ascend. He became poor that we might become rich. He was born that we might be born again. He became a servant that we might become sons. He had no home that we might have a home in heaven. He was hungry that we might be fed. He was thirsty that we might be satisfied. He was bound that we might go free. He was made sin so that we might be made righteous! Who is Jesus? He is the provider of Life! Not just this life here on earth, but eternal life! He is the divine One, predicted in prophecy. He is the One that can forgive our sin because He is the One that made us and loved us and gave His life for us! He is the One that wants to spend eternity with us. He is the One that wants to be your friend! One Solitary Life! Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself... While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying his executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centrepiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life. |
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Solving the Messiah Mystery
l, and resurrection of Jesus did not really happen as the Bible tells it. The important question is: Where did Dan Brown get the evidence for his theory?
