Author: gospelthatsaves

A summary from Desiring God Website

Some things that Jesus said.

That He was sent by God – John 8:42
“… I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own but He sent me”.

That He was God’s son – John 10:36
“Why then do you say I blasphemy when I say that I am God’s son?”

That He came from Heaven – John 6:38
“For I have come down from Heaven …to do the will of Him who sent me”

That He was the Messiah (saviour whom God had promised) – John 4:25-26
Then the woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming…Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am He”.

Some things that Jesus did

He showed His authority over disease – John 5:5-9
5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?“… 8Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.“9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

He showed His authority over the nature – Mark 4:37-39

37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

He showed His authority over death – John 11:43-44: 43
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!“ 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

He showed His authority over sin – Luke 5:24:
“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” He said to the paralysed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”

Why were Jesus words and works so important?

Jesus’ Words and works were testimony that He was sent by God – they backed up his words – John 5:36
“I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me”

These were signs that God foretold through his prophets about the saviour he would send – Isaiah 35:5

4Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” 5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 6Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.

There are over 300 prophesies which Jesus fulfilled.

 

What stands out clearly when you interact with the New Testament texts with an open mind, are the very human responses to the gospel by those depicted in these texts aside from the main character Jesus. The apostle Peter, for example disowned Jesus prior to Jesus’ execution, yet for some reason, does a complete about-face to leed the growth of the early church under great adversity and persecution. That reason being that he simply saw the risen Jesus alive. He later died for the gospel that he would not renounce. There are many more examples such as these accessible for you to read online, if you are serious about investigating Jesus more thoroughly. The following YouTube link is a good summary of of the key arguments for why people don’t believe. As we work out over time, these reasons for disbelieving are Good reasons to believe! When an atheist says why should I believe in Jesus and all other fairytales?

What has gained my curiosity over the last week however, which I thought I would focus on today, is the thinking that the apostles colluded to make up a good story about Jesus at a time when the Jewish people needed a legend in light of the oppression they were experiencing under the Roman occupation (a common myth concerning the life of Jesus). In light of this,  I thought that one way me might be able to evaluate this assumption is to try and answer a simple question that might encourage us to think a little deeper about what is being suggested here, that question being: ‘what potential is there for a group of people to remain committed to a lie for a lifetime?’ (say over 50 years. That’s a lifetime right?). That is, if we we could predict the events post Jesus on the assumption that all the apostles, (and the many others who believed in him) colluded to make up the story about Jesus, what would be the potential of them remaining together in that lie for the rest of their lives?

If we are really going to be able to think through more precisely the potential that the apostles made up the story of Jesus however, then it is important to first consider the type of people that we are dealing with here, wouldn’t you agree? If the story of Jesus was made up by the apostles then we would be dealing with individuals with the potential to behave in ways contrary to the ethical standards that underpinned the framework they claimed to live by). We could consider them corrupt, or liars. Criminals even. Not very trustworthy individuals. The real question therefore, if we continue to break down this assumption in this manner is: ‘what is the potential for corruptible individuals to stay in a lie for a lifetime?’ 

One method used by law enforcements to convict criminals is the cultivation of informants (people known to criminals – loved ones, friends, those they may have been in contact with). This is simply because what is well known in such circles is that relationships frequently breakdown, and there is usually someone (an ex-wife or partner, past acquaintances or friend for example), that would so love to get some revenge. In such circles enemies are frequently made, people get hurt, and friends turn on each other; and they turn each other in. That is the nature of such relationships; and they never last long. So further to our first question, we might also want to ask ourselves then, ‘what is the chance of not one of the apostles (or those who came to believe in Jesus) caving in about the truth of the lie if they were indeed corrupt individuals with a predisposition to hold a lie?’ I continued with this thinking and also came up with the following.

A paper that discusses collusion between cartels in the 80s outlined that it was quite common practice for companies to sign agreements to fix pricing and control whole market pricing through collusion. There are actually a number of good papers that outline the behaviours of cartels and their potential for success. The apostles weren’t price fixing, however their colluding behaviour under false pretence is quite consistent with cartel type behaviour. I was surprised to read in this particular paper firstly, that this type of organised collusion actually did take place in corporations. What was even more surprising however (aside of the recommendations provided for sustainable collusion!), was that key reasons why collusion could not be sustained in most instances was simply because of the greed of particular members of the cartel (who made other deals on the side), and because of real market influences that forced each party to behave in a manner that was not conducive to sustaining the cartel. Most cartels fell over within the first year. Not one lasted a lifetime, and the longest known cartel in Japan lasted some 25 years. It’s really hard to sustain collusion between corrupt individuals over a long period of time, let alone a lifetime!; it’s just not sustainable.  And for there to be not one ounce of evidence to suggest that the relationships between the gospel believers was fractured (and whilst under the significant persecution by the religious and civil groups of the time), and that not one of them caved in to disclose the untruth, well this should be enough to provide you with the confidence that what has been passed on about Jesus was no lie.

What is more believable is that the 12 men remained committed to a cause lifelong because something significant occurred that had a life changing effect on each of them, so much so, that not one of them disowned their commitment to Jesus in their life time. This is truly remarkable. This is probably one of the strongest cases to support the authenticity of the accounts concerning Jesus and who he was in the new testament text, because nothing in this world could sway the apostles’ steadfast conviction to follow Jesus for a lifetime, and for most of them, not even execution. Jesus was whom he claimed to be and the apostles response to this over their lifetime is one of the best reasons for investigating Jesus more thoroughly. What are you waiting for!

The message Jesus gave (the Gospel) is Life Giving and God-honouring; it reunites us back to God and provides the way for us to overcome death, and live forever.

In Ephesians Chapter 2 we read that those who have not yet received God’s grace through belief in His Son, are dead in their sins. In the gospel message, we read that in Christ’s act on the cross as a substitute for us, we are made alive.  The gospel does this by providing the solution for the one thing that has kept us apart from God, and that was sin. Like water and oil, God and sin can’t mix, simply because God’s only response to sin is to reject it as a right and just God. But because God did not want to be apart from us, he sent his only son to experience the rejection meant for us, so that we could be reunited with God.

The mechanism by which we are reunited with God therefore, is Jesus rejection by His Father in our place. That is what happened on the cross: Jesus suffered rejection by His Father in His death; God’s son without sin, did not deserve rejection and death because he was perfectly obedient to his father, but did so, so that our sin problem could be fixed forever. Jesus said that those who believe this have passed from death to life today!

The Gospel therefore is life-giving as we see our lives restored into the proper order that God had destined for mankind, under His great love for us and under His rich mercy.

Further to the Gospel being life-giving, the gospel restores mankind into our proper place as God’s children, to love him as he had created us to do. Therefor, sharing the gospel is God-honouring, putting God into his proper place, as the Father who made us and who loves so much. No better reasons to share the Gospel is there then to see lives changed, and God honoured for his name’s sake and to his glory!.