Who is Jesus???

a brief introduction to Jesus

of Nazareth

overview• introduction• possibilities: • legend, lunatic, liar, lord, myth

or mystic?• Jesus’ claims• his followers’ claims • historians’ claims• conclusion

legend?Roman historians:• Tacitus, Pliny the

Younger, Seutonius Jewish sources:• Jospehus, Toledoth

Jesu, The Talmud Other sources:• Thallus, Lucian,

Mara Bar-Serepion, Phlegon

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

Jesus’ big claim• how did we get

this idea that Jesus is God?

• mostly from him, and his followers

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”

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

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

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!

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)

claims of his followers

Mark 8:29 “…who do you say

that I am?”

Peter answered him,

“you are the Christ.”

John 20.28 (After he saw the resurrected Jesus,) Thomas said to him, “my Lord and my God.”

claims of his followers

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

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...

• 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!

the big proof

• If Jesus = God, Christianity is true

• If Jesus ≠ God, Christianity is NOT true

• classic logic leadsus to…

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

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,…

liar?• would a liar

go to a horrible torture and death?

• no confession recorded

• so…

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?

• 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?

“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

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?

liars?• if lying, what were their motives?• no fringe benefits (no wealth, no

power, no “rock star” status!)

liars?they underwent horrificpersecution…

liars?• many were

even martyred…

• no confessions to this greatest of all conspiracies

• 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?

• where’s the collusion?

liars?

• what about James and Paul???

• Both James and Paul believed after Jesus returned to heaven.

• James was executed ~AD 62; Paul ~AD 68

liars?

• 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?

losers?• OR, were they making a big

innocent mistake??

• they spentyears with him

• were theymistaken aboutthe nail prints and spear wound?

mistaken losers?• no one snapped out of it?

• their enemiesnever said theywere insane

• where is His body?

• did the Jews take it?

• did the Romans?• the disciples?

mistaken losers?

• 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

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)

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

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