Who is Jesus??? a brief introduction to Jesus of Nazareth.
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Transcript of Who is Jesus??? a brief introduction to Jesus of Nazareth.
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Who is Jesus???
a brief introduction to Jesus
of Nazareth
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overview• introduction• possibilities: • legend, lunatic, liar, lord, myth
or mystic?• Jesus’ claims• his followers’ claims • historians’ claims• conclusion
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legend?Roman historians:• Tacitus, Pliny the
Younger, Seutonius Jewish sources:• Jospehus, Toledoth
Jesu, The Talmud Other sources:• Thallus, Lucian,
Mara Bar-Serepion, Phlegon
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did Jesus really exist?
• Will Durant spent two chapters on Jesus in his book, The Story Of Our Civilization
• "One is obliged to say, 'Here was a man. This part of the tale could not have been invented.'" – H. G. Wells,
Outline Of History
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Jesus’ big claim• how did we get
this idea that Jesus is God?
• mostly from him, and his followers
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John 14.9 “…he who has seen me
has seen the Father…”
John 10.30-33 [Jesus said] “I and
the Father are one.” Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him… “[We are
stoning you] for blasphemy,
because you, a mere man, claim
to be God”
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John 8.46 “which of you convicts me of sin?”
• he said things like this in front of family and friends!
• they spent a lot of time with him; they would know immediately
• no one said a thing• to Jews the sinless one = God
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John 8.58 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered,
“before Abraham was born, I am.”
• excuse me?• to the Jews, I am =
God• just after this the Jews
try to stone Him again
• again, no denial
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John 11.25 “I am the resurrection and the life…he
who believes in me shall never die.”
• Jesus claimed to save his followers from sin and death!
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Mark 2.7 “who can forgive sins but God alone?”• He had the nerve to forgive sins
against others• but only God is offended in all
sins and only He has that right• they accuse Him of blasphemy
(and rightly so, if He were a mere man)
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claims of his followers
Mark 8:29 “…who do you say
that I am?”
Peter answered him,
“you are the Christ.”
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John 20.28 (After he saw the resurrected Jesus,) Thomas said to him, “my Lord and my God.”
claims of his followers
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John 1.1 “in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”
John 1.14 “and the Word became flesh and lived among us”
claims of his followers
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so let me get this straight…
• besides declaring oneness with the Father,
• claiming sinlessness, • referring to Himself as “I AM”,• offering salvation/eternal life,• forgiving sins, and• accepting worship...
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• He creates! Colossians 1.16-17; John 1.3
• He sends the Holy Spirit John 14.25-26
• He is unchanging Hebrews 1.11-12
• etc., etc., etc.
but wait - there’s more!
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the big proof
• If Jesus = God, Christianity is true
• If Jesus ≠ God, Christianity is NOT true
• classic logic leadsus to…
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liar, lunatic, or lord
• Jesus was either telling the truth, or not
• if not, he was either intentionally not telling truth (lying), or
• unintentionally not telling the truth (mistaken)
• therefore, He was either1) telling truth, 2) lying, or 3) mistaken
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liar?• Jesus = liar?• liars have motives; what were
his?• none of usual benefits• but did get hatred, rejection,
misunderstanding• where are his accusers?• if lying he was a very bad man• and, most importantly,…
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liar?• would a liar
go to a horrible torture and death?
• no confession recorded
• so…
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lunatic?• mistaken about being
God?• farther one’s claims
from the truth, the more loony that person is
• Sermon on the Mount from a lunatic?
• a madman resurrects people from the dead?
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• no one has claimed he was loony - even his enemies
• no other lunacy characteristics:– egotism– narcissism– inability to love, listen to,
or understand others
lunatic?
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“aut deusaut homo malus”
• either God or a bad man• mentally bad if he was mistaken,
morally bad if He was lying• but Jesus = good & wise• liar is not good, lunatic is not
wise• thus, if he was not a liar or a lunatic,
he must have been…
Lord
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the big spin?• another
possibility…• the disciples wrote
that Jesus = God and that He rose from the dead
• were they lying (making Jesus into a superhuman myth), mistaken, or telling the truth?
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liars?• if lying, what were their motives?• no fringe benefits (no wealth, no
power, no “rock star” status!)
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liars?they underwent horrificpersecution…
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liars?• many were
even martyred…
• no confessions to this greatest of all conspiracies
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• no psychological traits of liars
• they made themselves look less than heroic
• they said women were last with Jesus, first at the grave, first to see him
liars?
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• where’s the collusion?
liars?
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• what about James and Paul???
• Both James and Paul believed after Jesus returned to heaven.
• James was executed ~AD 62; Paul ~AD 68
liars?
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• where is the scholarly book written about the conspiracy?
• John R.W. Stott wrote that the silence
of Christ’s enemies “is as eloquent a proof of the resurrection as the apostles’ witness.”
liars?
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losers?• OR, were they making a big
innocent mistake??
• they spentyears with him
• were theymistaken aboutthe nail prints and spear wound?
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mistaken losers?• no one snapped out of it?
• their enemiesnever said theywere insane
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• where is His body?
• did the Jews take it?
• did the Romans?• the disciples?
mistaken losers?
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• was he a “mystic” or a “guru”?• Jesus affirmed his belief in Jewish
scriptures, which contradict Eastern philosophies…
one final possibility?
Jewish beliefs:
• God is a person
• creatures are not gods
• hell exists
• God is moral
• exoteric/public practices
Eastern beliefs:
• personhood is an illusion
• humans are their own gods
• no hell
• spiritual realm is amoral
• esoteric/private spirituality
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historians said of him:1. He was a provocative teacher; a wise & virtuous
man from Judea
2. He performed miracles & made prophetic claims
3. Jewish leaders condemned him for acts of
sorcery & heresy
4. He was crucified by Pontius Pilate at Jewish
passover during the reign of Emperor Tiberius
5. His followers reported that he had risen from
the dead
6. The Christian faith spread to Rome where
Christians were charged with crimes & faced
strong persecution
7. First century Christians worshiped Jesus as God
& practiced the Eucharist (the Lord’s Supper)
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conclusionIf Jesus and his followers were not lying or
mistaken, they were telling the truth, which would mean:
Jesus is Godand
He rose from the dead“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 patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” – C.S. Lewis
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REFERENCES:• A Portrait of Jesus, Joseph Girzone• Handbook of Christian Apologetics, Peter Kreeft &
Ronald Tacelli• Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis• Know Why You Believe, Paul E. Little• Without a Doubt: Answering the 20 Toughest Faith
Questions, Kenneth Richard Samples• “Who is Jesus?” Ray Stedman• Faith & Reason: Why Christianity Makes Sense, Austin
Schmidt & Joseph Perkins• “The Deity of Christ”, Mark Ritter;
www.swordandspirit.com;
(special thanks and credit for PPT artwork and slides!)
• The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel