Open your Bibles to John the eighth chapter. John eight, we're going to begin there. First of all, Dan, thank you for that introduction. We were also neighbors, and I want you to know that I paid him for that introduction.
Live in a skeptical age. We do. When I was growing up, most people believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. So our friends and our neighbors believed that. We almost never had to engage in a discussion like that. But when Jesus was on earth and doing His earthly ministry, he had to answer that question. In fact, the Jewish rulers were very skeptical of Jesus. In fact, they did not believe in him. So we're going to pick up with a discussion in John eight and verse 21 that Jesus is having with the Jewish rulers. "So he said to them again, I am going away, and you will seek Me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come. So the Jews said, Will he kill himself. Since he says where I am going, you cannot come. He said to them, you are from below. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He you will die in your sins. So they said to Him, who are you? Jesus said to them, just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but He who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him. They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak just as the Father taught me, and He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. And as he was saying these things, many believed in Him."
Jesus made an audacious claim. He made a claim that he had a relationship with the Father and that he had come from the father from heaven. And when the Jews asked who he was, he told them, You will know when you have lifted me up. Well, in a way, that's how we're going to answer the question, is Jesus the Son of God? But Jesus said something that should arrest our attention. Did you catch it in verse 24? He said, "I told you that you would die in your sins for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sin." So, the question is vitally important, and that statement did arrest the attention of the Jewish rulers, because they understood that he was claiming that he was sent down from the Father above to bring a message from the Father. And they wanted to know, well, who are you? And unless we answer that question correctly, we will die in our sins. Many people today are asking the question, well, who is he? So how would you answer the question, if your neighbor asked you, is Jesus the Son of God? I found in this day and age that how you answer question really depends on where the person is. What do they know? We should begin by asking them, what do they believe? What do they think about Jesus? That will at least give us a place to begin. Some people will require quite a lot of what I would call apologetic evidence for Jesus. And others may require something less, but I think the most important thing we can do when we begin to try to answer a question like that, is to say, Well, I believe Jesus is the Son of God, and here is why I believe that. If they took the time to ask you, then they care what you think. So, today we will look at some evidence, but overall, I'm going to share with you why I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
The first question that we should ask is, did Jesus really exist? That's actually questioned. Some people don't think that he did. In Hebrews the 11th chapter, in verse six, we are told that "without faith, it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him." Jesus is portrayed in the gospels as God, and so the key thing in trying to decide whether to believe in him or not is to determine whether he actually existed or not. That's important, because there are skeptics out there who say that the apostles wrote the Gospel accounts in such a way to make things come out the way they wanted them to be. So, how do you establish that Jesus existed? Well, I would say that one way is to have corroborating evidence. In fact, we need evidence from hostile witnesses that say that Jesus actually existed. And the reason for that is because people will probably accept a fact, if someone who is unbiased states that fact, or at least corroborates what the Gospels say. So, are there historical references to Jesus existence outside of the Gospel accounts? Well, you would be surprised. There's actually quite a bit. Josephus was a Jewish historian who wrote in the latter part of the first century. Now he would qualify as someone who did not believe in Jesus, and he wrote an extensive history of the Jews. And if you believe in Providence, it's interesting that his entire 12 volume set was preserved. And I think the reason for that is that makes him a primary source outside of the Bible for the things that happened in the Bible. Here's what he had to say about Jesus: "At this time, there was a wise man called Jesus, and His conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. Many people among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who had become His disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he appeared to them three days after His crucifixion and that he was alive. Accordingly, he was perhaps the Messiah concerning whom the prophets have reported wonders, and the tribe of the Christians, so named after him, has not disappeared to this day." Did you notice that many of the facts of the gospel accounts are confirmed by him? He confirms that a Roman governor named Pilate condemned Jesus that Jesus was crucified, that his disciples were reporting that Jesus was raised from the dead after three days. This is certainly not a person who believes in Jesus, but someone who corroborates what the gospel accounts say.
Another historian is Tacitus, a Roman historian who wrote about the burning, or Nero's burning, of Rome, he had this to say about Christians: "Consequently, to get rid of the report," (the report that Nero burned Rome), "Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace, Christus," (that's a term they use for Christ,) "Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition thus checked for the moment again, broke out, not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty. Then upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of arson as of hatred against mankind." Now we could park there and talk about what, what does he mean by hatred of mankind, and what are the abominations they think Christians are committing? But again, what does Tacitus tell us? He tells us some things that confirm things that are written in the gospels. What happened to the Christ? Well, he was crucified. Who ordered that crucifixion? One of the governors of Rome, Pontius Pilate, and what happened after that crucifixion? Christ's disciples grew and spread throughout the world, first in Judea and all the way to Rome. We could cite other witnesses, but I only have 40 minutes, such as Pliny the Younger and passages from the Jewish Talmud, but for our purposes, they are sufficient to prove the existence of Jesus. Now, some may still doubt, because being as wise as we are in this day and age, we tend to try to discredit things that come from ancient sources.
But I would ask this, how could someone who did not exist have such an impact on humanity? I mean, up until a few years ago, we dated time from Jesus. There was B.C. which was before Christ, and then there was A.D., Anno Domini, a Latin phrase meaning in the year of our Lord. For all, for the past several 1000 years, everyone has dated time from the birth of Christ. Well, that might not be enough, but some scholars in the Jesus Seminar make claims that they're in search of the historical Jesus, and that Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God. They claim that these ideas were planted by his disciples, or that Jesus himself was misled because the disciples suggested it to him. What do the Gospel accounts tell us? Well, they tell us that Jesus did unambiguously claim to be the Son of God. For example, when we look at the Samaritan woman at the well in John four verses, 25 through 26 the woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming. He was called Christ. When He comes, He will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he." I want to tell you, that's unusual. Jesus only revealed himself to two people. Completely just said, I'm who you're looking for. Does Jesus sound ambiguous in that statement? I don't think so. He's pretty clear. Look, turn to Luke, chapter four. Luke chapter four, beginning in verse 16, because here Jesus again tells his hometown that he is the Son of God. In Luke four, in verse 16, we read, "And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read and scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him, and he began to say to them, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." That had to be a wow moment in Nazareth. In fact, the people of that town resented it. Because Jesus was taking a passage of prophecy about the Messiah and saying, I am the fulfillment of that. But that's not the only time. In John nine verse 35 through 38, Jesus found the man born blind who had been cast out of the synagogue, "and Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man?" Now I tell you the Son of Man references all through the Gospels, and that's important, because in Daniel the seventh chapter, verses 13 and 14, Daniel said, ""that one like the Son of Man, will be presented before the Ancient of Days, and he will come riding on the clouds." The Jews understood that when Jesus said Son of man, he was calling himself the Messiah. Now in this case, the blind man answered and said, "Well, who is the son of man that I may believe in Him? And Jesus said to him, you have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you." What's the reaction of the blind man? "Lord, I believe." And what did the blind man do? He worshiped Jesus. Jesus accepted worship. Jesus was not ambiguous about being the son of God. He knew he was and acted that way.
But what about when he was with his disciples alone? Turn to Matthew the 16th Chapter. This is a passage we're all familiar with, but keep in mind what I said to you about the Son of Man, and then look at what Jesus asked, "Now, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? And the disciples answered, well, some say the Son of Man is John the Baptist. Others say it's Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And Jesus said to them, But who do you say that I am?" Now, right there, he's saying, I am the Son of Man. And what does Simon Peter say? "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father, who is in heaven." What is Jesus saying? You're right. I am the Son of God. And finally, at his trial, the high priest asked Jesus to swear who he is. What does he want Jesus to swear to? "But Jesus remains 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, Jesus said," and I want you to notice his answer, "you have said so." What proof does he offer? "But I tell you, from now on, you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven." What does Jesus call himself? The Son of Man. What is he saying? I am the fulfillment of the prophecy. And Daniel, I will come riding on the clouds and be presented before the Ancient of Days. And I will be over all kingdoms, nations and peoples will submit to me.
But what should we make of such a claim? It's one thing for Jesus to claim that he is the Son of God, but how would you prove that? Well, do you remember in John eight, he said, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know. It's not that Jesus will be crucified that proves it, but the validity of Jesus claims to be the Son of God rest on a singular truth. If Jesus was raised from the dead, then his claim is valid. But if Jesus was not raised from the dead, well, we're all wasting our time. Here's the problem. There are no eyewitnesses to the resurrection. You're going to say, Well, wait a minute, Paul cites all these witnesses. That's right. Who saw the risen Christ. But no one was in the tomb to see if he was dead, and no one was there when his body was reanimated. No one saw that. They only saw the aftermath. So, in order for us to prove that Jesus was raised from the dead, we must prove, first of all, that he died. And second of all, we need to confirm the appearances of Jesus, body and soul after the resurrection. Let's turn to first, Corinthians, 15. Sometimes I think when we think about being able to prove something, we ought to just go to the scriptures and see how the apostles did it. In first Corinthians 15, verse one, Paul says, "Now, I would remind you brothers of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and in which you stand and by which you are being saved if you hold fast to the word. I preach to you, unless you believed in vain." Well, what is it that they received? What is it that they believed? "For I delivered to you as a first importance, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that he was raised on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to The 12, then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, last of all, as to one untimely born he appeared also to me." Do you see what Paul's saying here? I gave to you what I received. Well, how did Paul receive the gospel? In Galatians chapter one, verses 11 through 12, Paul says this, "For I would have you know brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel, for I did not receive it from any man." How did Paul receive it? "Nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. If we analyze Galatians chapter one and two. The first thing you're going to see is that Paul says I did not learn the gospel from man, but I went away into Arabia for three years, and I had revelation from Jesus Christ. That's really important. How much training did Paul have compared to the other apostles? He got exactly the same amount. And he learned this from the resurrected Christ. Paul provides proof of the resurrection. He says there are eyewitnesses to it. He names them. And I think the reason he names them is so that you can go ask them, was Jesus raised from the dead? And Paul reminds them in First Corinthians, chapter nine and verse one, "have I not seen Jesus, our Lord?" At that point, he's talking about comparing himself to other apostles. And was he saying I got the same thing they did. I've seen the risen Lord. I think was significant about Galatians, and I invite, I encourage you to go read that is that Jesus spent three years, or Paul spent three years with the risen Jesus. I'm sure it wasn't exactly the way that the apostles did, but he had revelation for three years directly from the Lord.
So the question is, did Jesus die? There can be no resurrection if Jesus did not die. That seems pretty logical, but skeptics have throughout the centuries, have posited many theories to prove that Jesus did not die. One that went around and has been pretty much discredited because of modern science is a Swoon Theory. That Jesus was on the cross and he just fainted. Well, let's think about that. Crucifixion was an efficient method of execution. The first thing that happened to someone who was condemned to crucifixion was scourging. And we're not going to get in all the details, but you know that scourging was brutal. It was done with a whip that was made of leather strips that had pieces of bone and glass on the end of it. And what was it designed to do? Tear away the flesh and the muscle. And by tearing away the flesh and the muscle and they kept whipping, they would damage the internal organs and cause a catastrophic loss of blood. Many people did not even survive the scourging. But crucifixion was designed to suffocate and kill the victim. Weakened by scourging and blood loss, the victim was nailed to the cross. The nails were driven in the wrist and feet, making pushing up and breathing extremely painful, even more so because the back, the buttocks and the legs that had been whipped and ripped open were exposed to that rough hewn cross. The idea was that with these nails driven into the feet, that the flesh and the muscle would eventually tear from the pushing up, and the nail would become lodged in the bones and they would not be able to push up. Folks, Jesus could not have survived the crucifixion. First of all, think about this. Roman soldiers are experts in execution. And you know what would happen to a Roman soldier if he took a victim off the cross before they were dead? He would be executed. So, what's the chances they're going to let somebody just faint and get off the cross. One medical doctor cited in The Case for Christ said this, "Even before he died, and this is important too, the hypovolemic shock would have caused a sustained rapid heart rate that would have contributed to heart failure, resulting in the collection of fluid in the membrane around the heart called a pericardial effusion, as well as around the lungs, which is a called a plural effusion." So why does this doctor say this is important to note? Because of something in the Gospel accounts in John 19:34 and 35 What does John say he saw? "But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear." He was sent by Pilate to make sure he was dead. "Pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness. His testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth that you also may believe." Do you know that evidence is so critical to today to proving that Jesus died. Why? The doctor continued, "The spear apparently went through the right lung and into the heart. So when the spear was pulled out some fluid, the pericardial effusion and the plural effusion came out. This would have the appearance of a clear fluid like water, followed by a large volume of blood, as the eyewitness John described in his Gospel. What does that prove? Jesus died and the Roman soldiers confirmed it. Jesus died, and John saw the evidence. Do we believe it?
So, the question is, Jesus died, but was he raised from the dead? It would, without a doubt, take a miracle from God. Paul lists the eyewitnesses to the resurrection to confirm the miracle to us. Now what's interesting is there's some evidence that in First Corinthians 15, what Paul recites there as the facts of the gospel and the witnesses were something that the early church memorized. They knew how to prove the resurrection. But I think it's interesting that one of the witnesses that Paul talks about, he says there were 500 witnesses. Well, people like to say, well, maybe they just think they saw Jesus. Well, here's something that psychologists know: you can't have 500 people all have the same hallucination at the same time. Two people in a car can't even keep track of what they just said. The resurrection, though, I think, is proved by the change that came over the apostles and those who knew Jesus. What were the 12 like before the crucifixion and during the days after it? They were hiding. They all ran away. Peter denied Christ, but notice what happened when Peter, 50 days later, what is he doing? He goes to the same crowd that crucified Jesus. And he says this, "Jesus, God raised up, and of that, we are all witnesses." In the next sermon, recorded in Acts chapter three, he says, "But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the author of life, whom God raised from the dead to this we are witnesses." Think about this, folks, you don't insult a crowd that crucifies people unless you're really convinced that Jesus is raised from the dead. Or how about going to the Sanhedrin, the same group of people who ordered Jesus' crucifixion. "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man is being healed? Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. By him, this man is standing before you well." Do you see what he said to them? You crucified, and God raised Him from the dead. Peter, going to a Roman soldier, said in Acts 10, "and we are witnesses of all that he did, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem, they put him to death by hanging Him on a tree. But God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people, but to us, who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who," and this is really critical, "who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead." How did Jesus raise from the dead? Body and soul. What changed Peter? Or how about Paul? Saul was a Pharisee and a violent opponent of Christianity. The most unlikely thing happened, he became Paul the Apostle. What did he do? "Going to Jewish synagogues, he boldly proclaimed the resurrection, and though they found in him, no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have Him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, laid him in a tomb, but God raised Him from the dead." And what does he say? Virtually the same thing he says in Corinthians, "For and for many days, he appeared to those who had come up with him, from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people." But he did the same thing in Athens to skeptics, "The times of ignorance God overlooked. But now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this, he has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead." What changed? Paul. My favorite is this one. James. It says in John seven and verse five, "James, the brother of the Lord, did not believe in Him." In fact, in Mark three and 20 and 21 we're told that his family went to take him and seize Him because they were saying he is out of his mind. But after the crucifixion, 50, nearly 50 days later, where do we find him? He is assembled with the disciples in Jerusalem, waiting for the Holy Spirit to fall on them. And he says, "All these were one with one accord, were devoted. Themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers." What became of James? James became a prominent member of the church in Jerusalem and became an elder. In Acts 21 and verse 18, it says, "On the following day, Paul went in with us to James and all the elders were present." James was an elder. James was a major contributor to the conference in Jerusalem in Acts 15. What happened to him? Josephus tells us that, "having such a character, the new high priests, Ananus thought that with Festus dead and Albinus still on the way, he would have the proper opportunity convening the judges of the Sanhedrin. He brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called to Christ, whose name was James, and certain others. He accused them of having transgressed the law and delivered them up to be stoned." James did not recant the resurrection, even when stoned. He went to his death believing it. What changed him? I can only attribute this incredible change in all these men to having seen the risen Christ.
So, is Jesus the Son of God? I believe he is. I believe that Jesus existed because historians who were hostile to Jesus admit his existence and his impact on the world. I believe Jesus claims that he is the Son of God because He was raised from the dead, and I believe the resurrection happened because of the bold change in his followers. None recanted, all choosing to the die for the truth of their claim. So what is your decision about Jesus? I think this is a great way to summarize this lesson. It's from CS Lewis and Mere Christianity. He was an atheist and he came to believe. "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him, I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said, would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the son of God, or else a madman or something worse. 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 with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."
"I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." Thank you.
