Jesus has been a controversial and polarizing figure for centuries. Many have debated about His nature, His relevance and even His existence.
Who was Jesus? What claims did He make about Himself? Why should we consider Him?
In a sea of major religious figures and characters, for Christians, Jesus Christ rises above them all. They have staked everything on this crucified carpenter. This article seeks to discover why Jesus is such a compelling person.
Checkout the Fourth of a four part series from the ‘Why Jesus’ discussion done at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
If you would like to listen to this lecture, click on the audio file below.
If you would like to watch this section of the lecture on video please view the clip below.
This is an outline of the above discussions:
Evidence for Jesus
1. Historical Evidence
● Almost universally accepted that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and was crucified by the order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate
Non-Christian Sources:
Pagan: Thallus (Pagan, 55)
Mara Bar Serapion (Syriac, 70)
Romans: Tacitus (100)
Pliny (110)
Suetonius (120)
Greeks: Phlegon (170)
Lucian of Samosata (170)
Celsus (175)
Jews: Josephus (90)
Talmud (2nd Century)
Christian Sources:
Paul (48-64)
James (50-62)
Evangelists Mark (65-75), Luke (70-80), Matthew (80)
Others: Quelle (40-70)
Special ‘L’ (40-70), Possible ‘M’ (40-80)
Signs Source (70) → John (90)
Compare Years
– Jesus Death 30AD
Mark 35 years, Luke 40 years, Matthew 50 years, John 60 years
– Muhammad 632AD
Qur’an, ~125 years later, composed in 760 and edited for another 50 years
– Buddha 368BC
Records started 350 years later
Christian Sources
Patristics (100-350), Great volumes of information. Not just Bible.
NT Apocrypha (200-400), Resemble NT writings i.e. gospels, acts, letters & apocalypses
2. Prophetic Evidence
● The Fulfillment of 46 Messianic Prophecies
● They were made 1000 to 400 years before Jesus was born, in 39 books from 30 different authors
● Chance of fulfilling 8 is 1 in 1017=100,000,000,000,000,000. Chance of fulfilling 48 is 1 in 10157!!!
● The ancient Synagogue marked 456 prophecies (75 Pentateuch, 243 prophets, 138 writings) which Jesus fulfilled
Jesus Prophecies
● History – destruction of Temple in Jerusalem in AD 70. Mt 24. In lifetime of some of hearers. Details of seige.
● The destruction of Korazin, Bethsaida & Capernaum – Jesus correctly predicted this
3. Jesus Claims
● Jesus never said, “I am God” because that was too general
● Jesus showed that He was Yahweh God by what He said and did
Seven things He taught
1) Jesus claimed to preexist
John 8:58–59
2) He repeatedly refers to Himself as ‘I Am’ the name given for God
Exodus 3:13–14
3) His claim to act as the Father did on the Sabbath
John 5:17–18
4) His claim that He and the Father were one (in Essence and Nature)
John 10:29–33
5) Jesus taught people to pray to Him
John 14:13–14; 15:16
6) Jesus accepts worship which is reserved for God alone
John 9:38–39
7) Jesus claims a number of titles
● Shepherd of Israel (John 10:14)
● The Alpha & Omega (Revelation 1:8; 22:13)
● The Almighty (Revelation 1:8)
Six things He did
1. He turned water into wine (John 2:9)
2. He fed 5000 at once (John 6:11)
3. He walked on water (John 6:19)
4. He healed the sick (John 5:8-9)
5. He raised the dead (John 11:43-44)
6. He forgave sins (Luke 5:20)
Symbols of Jewish Life
● Jesus Impacts three symbols Jewish life
Temple – He clears the Temple
Torah – He expands it saying follow Him
God’s Return – Jesus Triumphal entry into Jerusalem
4. The Resurrection
● Tomb empty or occupied, Jesus died or alive, Jesus Raised
● Theories: Swoon, Passover Plot, Stolen/moved body, Hallucination/vision, Telegram/telegraph, Mistaken identity, Wrong tomb, Séance, Annihilation, Legend – mystery religions (Cybele, Osiris, Mithra, Adonis, Eleusis, Dionysus, Tammuz, ect…)
● This is the lynchpin of the faith and best explains what happened
● Look at the lives of the changed people
1. The apostles from hiding to proclaiming to the death – all except John
2. Peter whose character changed
3. James who become a follower
4. Paul from terrorist to leader
Four Pushbacks
1. He didn’t really die
The Roman’s knew how to kill someone
2. His body was stolen
Why include this
The women were the first eyewitnesses
Why die for a lie
3. They went to the wrong tomb
In a local place know by all
4. The disciples borrowed the idea
No one around them believed this
Post Resurrection Appearances
A. To the women as they returned from the tomb after seeing the angel (Matthew 28:1-10)
B. To Mary Magdalene at the tomb, during her second visit that morning (John 20:10-18, Mark 16:9-11)
C. To Peter sometime before the evening of the same day, but details not given (Luke 24:34, 1 Corinthians 15:5)
D. To Cleopas and another disciple on the road to Emmaus in the afternoon (Luke 24:13-35, Mark 16:12-13)
E. To ten of the apostles (Thomas absent) at their evening meal (Luke 24:36-40, John 20:19-23, Mark 16:14-18)
F. A week later to all eleven apostles (John 20:26-28)
G. To seven of the disciples fishing at the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-23)
H. To the apostles on a specific mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20)
I. To James, with specific information as to time and place not stated (1 Corinthians 15:7)
J. To the apostles over 40 days speaking about the kingdom (Acts 1:3)
K. To the apostles on the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem prior to ascension (Luke 24:50-52, Acts 1:3-8, Mark 16:19)
L. To 500 additional believers all at once (1 Corinthians 15:6)
M. To Paul on the road to Damascus (1 Corinthians 15:8, Acts 9:1-9)
Click this link to view the first lecture: https://drbrianperkins.com/2019/04/02/questions-leading-to-god/
Click this link to view the second lecture: https://drbrianperkins.com/2019/04/13/science-and-faith/
Click this link to view the third lecture:
https://drbrianperkins.com/2019
Please feel free to comment below.