Why Jesus? Part Two
The other night after youth group, one freshman student named Nate came up and asked me some questions. Nate is a fun-loving guy who loves to goof around. Most of the time it's hard to take him serious, but right away I could tell that he was serious. His questions were full of sincerity. He said, "Daniel, God seems to be just words to me. It just doesn't seem real. We talk about Jesus, but how do we know that it's true?" Nate realized that the validity of the Christian experience must rest on whether Christianity, as a belief system, is actually true.
The authenticity of Christianity stands or falls on the historical person of Jesus Christ. Who was this man? History tells us that Jesus was a controversial Jewish rabbi who proclaimed the coming kingdom of God. Although most of our information about Jesus comes from the four gospel accounts written by his followers, secular historians such as Tacitus and Josephus also mentioned him. Evidently Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the reign of Caesar Augustus and then grew up in the small Galilean village of Nazareth.
According to the gospel writers, Jesus made some incredible claims that were unlike any other Jewish rabbi. He claimed to be able to forgive sins, something that only Yahweh could do. He also claimed to be the only way to Yahweh and to be one in essence with Yahweh. To the Jewish religious leaders, these claims were simply intolerable. Soon the conflict between the religious leaders and Jesus escalated beyond control.
Three years after the beginning of Jesus' ministry, the Jewish religious leaders began to plot his death. During the Passover, the religious leaders captured Jesus and presented him to the Roman governor Pilate. Although Pilate believed that Jesus was innocent of any real crime, he was also afraid of causing more turbulence in an already unstable region. So in order to preserve his political career, Pilate reluctantly consented to the religious leaders' demands. The Roman authorities then crucified Jesus on the hill of the skull, Golgotha, and buried him in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus' followers were completely dejected. As far as the Jewish religious leaders were concerned, they had hoped that the death of Jesus would mean the death of his following.
However, just the opposite occurred. Three days later, several women visited his tomb only to find an empty grave and later over 500 disciples reported to have seen him resurrected. The empty grave completely transformed the disciples from fearful mourners into bold emissaries willing to die for the risen Christ. Triumphantly his disciples soon spread the "gospel' that Jesus had physically rose again. The Christian message centers on this assertion.
The authenticity of Christianity stands or falls on the historical person of Jesus Christ. Who was this man? History tells us that Jesus was a controversial Jewish rabbi who proclaimed the coming kingdom of God. Although most of our information about Jesus comes from the four gospel accounts written by his followers, secular historians such as Tacitus and Josephus also mentioned him. Evidently Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the reign of Caesar Augustus and then grew up in the small Galilean village of Nazareth.
According to the gospel writers, Jesus made some incredible claims that were unlike any other Jewish rabbi. He claimed to be able to forgive sins, something that only Yahweh could do. He also claimed to be the only way to Yahweh and to be one in essence with Yahweh. To the Jewish religious leaders, these claims were simply intolerable. Soon the conflict between the religious leaders and Jesus escalated beyond control.
Three years after the beginning of Jesus' ministry, the Jewish religious leaders began to plot his death. During the Passover, the religious leaders captured Jesus and presented him to the Roman governor Pilate. Although Pilate believed that Jesus was innocent of any real crime, he was also afraid of causing more turbulence in an already unstable region. So in order to preserve his political career, Pilate reluctantly consented to the religious leaders' demands. The Roman authorities then crucified Jesus on the hill of the skull, Golgotha, and buried him in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus' followers were completely dejected. As far as the Jewish religious leaders were concerned, they had hoped that the death of Jesus would mean the death of his following.
However, just the opposite occurred. Three days later, several women visited his tomb only to find an empty grave and later over 500 disciples reported to have seen him resurrected. The empty grave completely transformed the disciples from fearful mourners into bold emissaries willing to die for the risen Christ. Triumphantly his disciples soon spread the "gospel' that Jesus had physically rose again. The Christian message centers on this assertion.
posted by Daniel | 9:11 AM
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