26-0429wc Neighborly Apologetics

Facilitator: Scott Reynolds

(0:26) What we’re looking at in part of the claims of Jesus and the resurrection is the life (0:42) of Christ. (0:42) And in particular his words, we’re going to look at his miracles and works, but it’s primarily (0:49) his life and his words that we’re going to concentrate on tonight. (0:55) And we’re doing all of this, let me remind you of the context of all of this and why (1:01) we call it neighborly apologetics, it is because we believe that God has entrusted the primary (1:06) work of the kingdom to the common Christian family.

(1:09) And this comes from the fact that the scripture tells us that everything has been summed (1:15) up in one thing, it’s called the royal law, as James refers to it as the royal law, that (1:22) we are to love our neighbor. (1:26) And that puts it in the context of families who live next to families, and so that is (1:30) why we believe that God has entrusted the primary work of the kingdom to the common (1:34) Christian family. (1:35) And so we’re dealing with this not so much from the academic perspective, but we’re dealing (1:41) with these apologetics from the standpoint of how we would then engage those who’ve (1:49) been placed in our Jerusalem as we build a deep relationship with them, and as they begin (1:54) to ask questions, as a result of seeing the hope that is in our life and the way we live (2:00) our lives, and that we then, as we pray for them diligently, that God will begin to open (2:05) their eyes or soften their heart, that we can begin to discuss these things.

(2:10) And one of the things that always needs to be discussed with someone who’s a non-believer (2:15) is just who Jesus is. (2:18) We’ve talked about these three great questions that exist, does God exist, is the Bible reliable, (2:27) and then who is Jesus? (2:28) We’re dealing with this third question, who is Jesus, because when we have the opportunity, (2:34) and God allows us to have that opportunity as a result of our prayers and the relationships (2:38) we’re building with people, the opportunity to be a witness for Christ, but means we witness (2:44) and bear testimony of Him. (2:48) The man called Jesus, we believe the Son of God, and so we are a witness to Him.

(2:56) We looked, the last several times, we looked at the promises that were laid out, all of (3:03) the prophecies that pointed forward to the coming of the Messiah in answer to, remember (3:10) that promise that was given back in the garden, that Jesus, that God said that the seed of (3:18) the woman would come and make all things right, He would crush the head of the serpent. (3:25) And so that proto-evangel, as it’s called, was the first issue of the good news and the (3:32) gospel that began to point to the coming Messiah, and of course the prophecies over (3:38) and over again, and the promises over and over again point to, and that’s what we dealt (3:41) with in our last time together. (3:45) And so tonight we’re going to look as best we can in the time we have at the life of (3:52) Jesus, and His works, and His character, but in particular His words, because His words (4:01) were bold, and His words turned the world upside down.

(4:10) We left last time with this incredible statement that is found in Galatians of this kairos (4:19) moment. (4:20) When the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman. (4:29) And all of these prophecies, all of these promises over thousands of years have been (4:35) laid forth almost as if the prophecies were like an alarm clock, all of these prophecies (4:44) set to go off, all of these promises as if they were deposits in a bank that were all (4:50) now ready to be withdrawn.

(4:52) The seed line of the Messiah had been nurtured and protected, and it was now ready, it was (4:59) ripe for the time of the fruit of the Messiah to appear. (5:06) And so we had all of these prophecies, all of these promises, the seed line protected, (5:11) and we end with that amazing passage in Malachi, where Malachi states, (5:21) Behold, I send you Elijah, the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord. (5:26) And then everything went silent.

(5:29) So we had this 400 years of silence. (5:32) We talked about this when we talked about the birth of Christ, and we’ll talk more about (5:38) it, but there were 400 years in which virtually there was really nothing, nothing from heaven, (5:45) no prophets speaking. (5:48) And we have this silence until all of a sudden, the heavens birth forth.

(5:54) We have angelic visions, we have miracles occurred, and Jesus has been born, and all of these things (6:05) occurred. (6:06) The angel comes to Mary and tells her amazing things about this child. (6:13) His name is to be called Jesus, because he would save us from our sins.

(6:19) An old man now praises God because he says that I can now die because I have seen the (6:27) Lord’s Savior. (6:27) And so all of this flurry of activity after 400 years of silence bursts upon the scene, (6:37) and then quite frankly, everything goes silent again, because we have now 30 years of silence, (6:47) quite frankly. (6:48) We know very little about this life of Jesus as he’s growing up.

(6:54) We were told in Luke 4 that he grew, became strong, was filled with wisdom, the favor (6:59) of God was upon him, that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God (7:05) and man. (7:06) And other than the event that is recorded when he went to Jerusalem with his family, (7:12) that’s it. (7:13) And so for 30 years, Jesus then labored as a common laborer, a blue-collar laborer, until (7:23) he put down those tools and then began his ministry.

(7:31) And so it’s these last three years that we’re focused on here, that when we talk about the (7:40) life of Jesus, we’re talking about just this final three years, and it was as if a clock (7:46) began to count down from the moment Jesus began that ministry, that clock then was going (7:54) to lead him from obscurity into changing the entire world. (8:02) That clock was going to lead from a carpenter toiling to one who speaks and softens hearts (8:13) and other hearts are hardened. (8:15) He divides families, he causes nations to rise and fall, but this life, these three (8:22) years, the life of Jesus would seal the destiny of every soul that would ever live.

(8:33) He would speak the most profound truth that has ever been spoken, he would provide the (8:39) most majestic example of humility and love that history would ever be beholding. (8:46) And so Jesus then just simply began to talk, he began to perform miracles, but he spoke, (8:59) and when he spoke, his word turned the world upside down, he began to do things that no (9:04) one had ever done before, and the works that he did amazed some, amazed many, but they (9:14) also provoked others to anger and violent anger, and he did it mostly alone. (9:26) He had a small band of followers, but he simply was acting primarily alone.

(9:34) They went from village to village. (9:37) And here is, I just, I love this, Mark knows, I, you know, I quote this when we do the mic check, (9:44) because it’s just, it’s an amazing biographical sketch of Jesus, and you can think of this as (9:51) just simply reading a biography of someone, and it’s amazing what it tells us, and the (9:59) profile that it gives us of this man recorded for us here, and when we talk to our neighbors, (10:06) I think these are the kinds of things, as the Lord leads us to say about them. (10:12) Here’s the, here’s a biography of this man, that Jesus was going about in Old Galilee.

(10:20) He was teaching in their synagogues, and he was proclaiming the goodness of the kingdom, (10:25) and he was healing, get this, every kind of disease and sickness among the people, (10:34) and the news about him, obviously the news about him went out into all Syria, and they, (10:40) well, duh, brought to him all who were ill, taken with various diseases and pains, (10:47) demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics, and he healed them, and as you would imagine, (10:56) and great multitudes followed him. If you can imagine, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, (11:02) out of nowhere, pops up a man who is healing epileptics, paralytics, demoniacs, (11:11) those who are lame, he’s healing everybody, and people began to follow him, and they followed (11:19) him from Galilee, and the capitalists, from Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. (11:26) So, one of the things that we see right from the beginning is that Jesus begins to do works that (11:33) no one has ever, ever done before.

He’s performing miracles, but what is interesting about this, (11:40) think about the profoundness of this statement. He was healing every kind of disease and sickness (11:49) among the people, and there were no paralytics, there was no magic potions, there was nothing (12:00) that was self-serving to Jesus, he wasn’t calling attention to himself, no theatrical acts that we (12:08) find in mythology, and so forth, he just simply healed people. He healed those who were lame, (12:17) but think, I mean, one of the things we need to do here is to get ourselves out of this (12:23) problem of familiarity, where we’ve read all this before, but put yourself back into the reality (12:32) of what the word is describing to us, the historical record is describing to us, (12:41) the reality of what was going on there.

There were people who were lame, but this is not (12:47) to be unexpected. If people fell off a donkey, fell out of a tree, a rock fell on their foot (12:56) and broke bones, they didn’t have modern medicine like we have today. Bones didn’t heal the right (13:04) way, limbs didn’t heal the right way, torn cartilage, and all of the things physically that (13:11) can happen to an individual that we sometimes, yes, it’s an issue if somebody breaks their leg, (13:18) but, you know, we know how to splint it, we know how, in some cases, to pin it, (13:22) we know how to take care of that.

But there were people, think of your family, (13:27) maybe you have a young son or a young daughter, a young daughter was out and playing and fell and (13:35) broke her arm, and now her arm is crooked or her leg is crooked or your son has a crooked leg. (13:41) The man down the street can hardly walk because he is lame, and Jesus healed them. I mean, (13:48) all of a sudden, your daughter’s arm is straight, all of a sudden, your son, (13:53) his leg is straight, all of a sudden, the gentleman down the street can walk again.

(13:59) People who are blind, and there are various reasons why people can become blind. Oftentimes, (14:06) today, we have the ability to heal that, prevent that, nourishment, and all those kinds of things. (14:12) There were people who were blind, they couldn’t see, and Jesus healed them.

I mean, can you imagine (14:17) being someone who’s heard the news and surveys about somebody who is healing people, and your son (14:23) or your daughter is blind, or your mom is blind, and you put her on a donkey or whatever it is, (14:31) and you take her all this way, and you get there, and Jesus simply touches them, and they’re healed, (14:35) and all of a sudden, they can see. Can you imagine that the word would go out about this? (14:43) He healed a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. He healed a man with a withered hand.

He (14:50) healed lepers, the people that people wouldn’t even get close to, that would have to yell, (14:57) unclean, and people would scatter from them, and Jesus touched them, and he healed them. He healed (15:03) people who were paralyzed, people who couldn’t even move their arms or legs, possibly quadriplegics. (15:11) He healed them.

He healed invalids. He healed those who were with fever, those who were sick, (15:20) and even those who were dead. He brought them back to life.

He cast out demons, (15:29) and he did it with no incantations. There was no magic wand. There was no incense.

There was no (15:35) humming. There were no crystals. There was no potion.

There was no sensational theatrics about (15:43) it. He just spoke, and demons came out. You remember the man who was possessed by so many (15:51) demons.

No one could constrain this man. Put yourself in this historical context. (15:59) They tried to restrain him with chains, and he broke the chains.

He lived in caves. He was naked. (16:07) He would cry out constantly.

Can you imagine that, cutting himself with stones? What a horror that (16:15) must have been to that community, and Jesus simply spoke a few words, and this man is now healed, (16:24) calm, clothed in his right mind. The demons are gone. Yes, the word would go out from all of this (16:35) and people that would bring him all who were taken with various diseases and pains.

There was a time (16:44) when a friend of his had died and was put into a tomb, and four days later, Jesus comes, and again, (16:54) with no theatrics, no sensational waving of the hands or any of that at all. Jesus just simply (17:03) said, Lazarus, come out, and a man who had been decaying now hobbles out to the astonishment. (17:12) Could you imagine being there? Can you imagine being a relative of Lazarus, a friend of Lazarus, (17:19) and had his funeral, and maybe helped embalm this man and put him in a tomb, and now four days, (17:26) and Jesus has come out, and all of a sudden, this man is bound.

It would have been scary, I guess. (17:34) He was alive and well again, and we’re just highlighting a few of these because remember, (17:46) the scripture says that the world can contain the books if you recorded all that Jesus did, (17:54) but what we’re doing is just simply highlighting and thinking again of our neighborly apologetics, (17:59) of how we talk to people about the reality of Jesus, of what Jesus did, and there was a time (18:07) when he and some of his followers got into a boat and a storm came up. It was so fierce that even (18:13) these seasoned sailors were terrified.

They thought they were going to die, and let me tell (18:18) you, if you have never been in a boat in the ocean, when a storm comes up and the waves begin to go (18:28) higher and higher in your boat, it seems to shrink, and the terror that comes as a result of the power (18:38) of the waves and the hopelessness that comes to someone who is at the mercy of the wind and the (18:45) waves and the storm, and these seasoned sailors were that way. They were frightened to death. (18:51) They thought they were going to die, and Jesus simply said, peace be still, and this raging storm (19:03) immediately ceased, and the water became as glass, and of course, the men of the boat said, (19:10) who is this man? What a great question.

What a great question. Who is this man (19:19) who can heal the blind, raise the dead, and speak to a storm and have it instantly become calm? (19:29) Now, there is a problem. First of all, there’s a problem with miracles in general, (19:34) and if you recall, that’s one of the apologetics that we’re going to go to of the 12, the problem (19:41) of miracles, so we’ll deal with that.

We’re not going to deal with that part now. We’ll deal with (19:47) that in the months to come, but what I want to talk about now with you is the problem (19:55) with the miracles of Jesus, and we’ll just highlight it. There is a problem with Lazarus (20:02) walking around.

The chief priests wanted to kill him. The Jewish leaders wanted to do away with (20:10) him. Why? Because he was a walking testimony of the fact that Jesus had simply said, Lazarus, (20:18) come forth, and this man who was dead is now alive and walking around, and they wanted to (20:23) get rid of him.

Why? Well, probably several reasons why. Number one, because they were (20:31) losing authority now. People were looking at them as if they were who they really were.

They (20:37) were just men, and they were looking at Jesus as if he was more than just a man (20:43) because the chief priests couldn’t do this. The leaders, the teachers of the law, they couldn’t (20:48) do this, but Jesus did, and Lazarus was a living proof of that, and so they wanted to get rid of (20:55) him, and this is not unusual for a culture and a humanity that doesn’t want the reality (21:06) of God evident or people who speak of the reality of God, and so to some extent, Lazarus posed the (21:17) problem that if I look at Lazarus and I think about what I’m looking at, then I have to deal (21:24) with the reality of this man called Jesus, and I have to deal with the reality of who he is (21:31) and his words and the confirming works that he is doing, and when I do that, I have to look at (21:39) myself, and I don’t want to look at that, and you and I live in a culture that doesn’t want to look (21:44) at that. We don’t want to look at ourselves.

We don’t want to look at Jesus. We don’t want to look (21:48) at the testimony of those who’ve been radically changed by this man, but I want to call our (21:56) attention to the words of Jesus because the words of Jesus are simply bold. They’re more than bold.

(22:08) They’re amazing. They’re words that no one would dare speak unless they were crazy, (22:20) unless they were olympic, unless they were a bad person who wanted to lie (22:28) and manipulate others and so forth. Remember, Jesus was speaking to the disciples, and a lot (22:37) of people had gathered around on the mountain.

We called it the Sermon on the Mount, and towards the (22:43) very end of that sermon, as we call it, Jesus said a lot of things that are quite astounding. (22:55) They’re bold, but I want you to look at these and think about how bold it is for someone to (23:01) say these things. Jesus said, whoever hears these words of mine and acts upon them will be like a (23:10) wise man who built his house upon the rock, but whoever hears these words of mine, whoever hears (23:17) my words and doesn’t act upon them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand, (23:24) and Jesus talked about the consequences.

He said, if you hear my words and you do them, (23:29) then your house will be built upon the rock, and when the storms come, it’s not going to blow away, (23:38) but if you hear my words and you don’t do them, when the storm comes, it’s all going to be lost, (23:44) and you’ll be lost. These are bold statements that Jesus makes. In fact, that’s why I was (23:50) mentioning in the beginning how we need to get through this problem of familiarity, (23:54) because Jesus speaks so many of these absolutely bold, audacious words that we can’t ignore them, (24:03) and people can’t ignore them, or they will ignore them because of the power of those words.

(24:12) But what was interesting, right after Jesus tells this story and he finishes, (24:18) it says that after Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew records that the great crowds (24:25) had followed him. Why? Well, because they said this, because the people were astonished (24:28) at his teaching. Why? Because he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their (24:35) scribes.

See, the scribes and the teachers of the law were simply repeating words that had been (24:42) written by those who had authority, by God himself. But Jesus wasn’t coming and now quoting (24:51) other people. Jesus was speaking, and his words had authority.

Why? Because he was the authority. (25:02) But even though his words were powerful, there were some who didn’t want to stay there. Why? (25:08) Because his words were becoming too uncomfortable.

Some things that he said were not soft words. (25:17) They were not words that would cause us to coo. They were not words that were tender and soft (25:28) for me.

And Jesus then, in the midst of this instance where the people were turning away, (25:36) uh, turned to the twelve and asked them if they wanted to leave as well. And Peter said those (25:41) grand words, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (25:50) When Jesus returned to his hometown in Nazareth, Mark records for us that Jesus was teaching in (25:58) the synagogue, and those who heard him were astounded.

Why? They were astounded because (26:03) of his words. They were astounded because those words carried wisdom. And they were also astounded (26:09) because of the mighty works that he was doing.

But then they began to say, wait a second, look, (26:14) hey, this is just the carpenter, right? This is Mary’s son. And many, many people (26:22) implied from this that people were, um, you know, were saying that Jesus was an illegitimate (26:28) person because they were talking about Mary’s son as possible, that Joseph was no longer alive at (26:34) this point. And so that’s why they said this.

But the point here is that they all began to say, (26:39) wait a second, this is just the carpenter. And they took, it says they took offense at him, (26:44) and they took offense at him because of what he was saying. Mark records a little bit later that (26:51) chief priests and the scribes were looking to find a way to destroy Jesus because when he went to (26:56) Jerusalem, again, to teach there, the people of Jerusalem were also astonished at his words.

(27:02) There are a lot of reasons, of course, for this. We go back to this hunger for significance that (27:06) the authority that the scribes and the chief priests had and the resistance that they were (27:13) losing it now because of Jesus and his words and his acts. And people were astonished at this man, (27:20) astonished at him.

They were astonished in the mountain. They were astonished in Capernaum. (27:24) They were astonished in Jerusalem, wherever Jesus went, people were astonished.

They were amazed, (27:32) and they were amazed because of what he did and what he said. (27:37) But the Pharisees and Herodians tried to trap him. This is one of my favorite passages from (27:41) Matthew chapter 22.

I think it’s humorous. You remember that they were trying to trap Jesus (27:48) because they were hoping that they could get him to speak in such a way that he could be (27:54) charged with blasphemy and that they could kill him. So they were testing, trying to trap him in (28:01) his words.

And so the Pharisees schemed up these questions to ask him. You’re familiar with that. (28:11) And he spoke, and basically the scripture says they just, they were astonished at his answer.

(28:18) And so they just walked away. Well, the Sadducees saw that, you know, they’re kind of like another (28:24) team here against Jesus. And the Sadducees said, well, we’re going to get him.

We know how to ask (28:31) questions that will really nail this guy. And they asked their questions and Jesus responded (28:39) to them and they were speechless. They didn’t know even how to respond. And so they walked away. (28:48) And then the Pharisees took their final shot. And so they got their top teacher of the law.

(28:54) And you’re familiar with that. What is the greatest command? And so they sent him to trap Jesus. (29:05) And when Jesus responded to him, they were all astonished at his words. Even his enemies were (29:14) astonished at his words. And so Matthew chapter 22 ends this way. I think it’s quite humorous.

(29:21) And no one was able to answer him a word. From that day, nor did from that day, did anyone dare (29:29) to ask him any more questions. Isn’t this amazing? Here you have all of these highfalutin, (29:39) the teachers of the law, all of these PhDs and the high priests and all of this stuff. (29:48) And they were basically, their mouths were shut because of Jesus, because of his words. (29:56) They were astonished. No one dared, says no one dared to ask him any more questions.

(30:06) Why? Because they didn’t want to be made to look like fools again.

So I think we, (30:13) I introduced you to Greg Kokel before and Mark and I tested this beforehand. I have three videos (30:19) that I would like you to see and listen to.

This is an interview that we did with Greg Kokel. (30:27) And I just, I just like the way he said these next points. So well, hopefully if the video (30:36) is a little jerky, just disregard it.

Okay, here we go. When soldiers are sent to arrest Jesus, (30:45) they came back empty-handed. And those who sent them asked, where is Jesus? And they said, (30:51) no man has spoken as this man speaks.

There was something about the personality and the character (30:58) and the presence of Jesus of Nazareth that, well, either left people spellbound or made them so (31:06) angry, they wanted to kill him. And they did actually in the end. Jesus was an absolutely (31:16) fascinating character.

He wasn’t like the scribes and the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the (31:20) time. He wasn’t just giving people’s opinion about things and passing them on. He was speaking (31:27) as if he personally knew about these things.

That’s why people said, he’s not like the scribes (31:34) and Pharisees. He’s speaking as one with authority. You know why? Because he did have (31:39) authority.

He knew what he was talking about. And I don’t encourage people to simply believe that, (31:48) say, the Gospels are the inspired word of God. I think that’s an important concept.

But how do (31:52) you persuade people of that? I think the best way to persuade them is to just have them (31:57) read Jesus. Encounter Jesus. Let Jesus speak for himself.

And so beyond what Jesus did and who he (32:07) was, which are really the most important things about his life, before we get to that, we (32:12) encounter a person. A person who stands out from everyone else, who is compelling by the substance (32:18) of his teaching and by the manner of his character and the quality of his character. All of these (32:23) things.

Commend Jesus immediately to the honest listener or the honest seeker. You have to deal (32:33) with Jesus. He’s a person to be contended with.

So the words of Jesus were astonishing. And, (32:43) you know, the way Greg started that thought is remarkable. Remember the soldiers came back.

(32:48) They were charged to get Jesus. And they came back and they said, no one has ever spoken like. (32:58) So the soldiers were astonished.

The people in Capernaum were astonished. The people in Jerusalem (33:03) were astonished. And people are still astonished today.

They’re still astonished today. (33:10) His words were powerful then. They’re still powerful now.

And they were uncomfortable in (33:16) this day. And they’re still uncomfortable to us. And we need to recognize and understand that they (33:22) will be uncomfortable to your neighbor.

But hopefully and prayerfully what you’ve done (33:28) is to build that relationship of trust. And so that even though they’re uncomfortable, (33:35) they will possibly receive them because of the trusted relationship that you have with them. (33:44) But there are problems with the words of Jesus because they are astounding.

(33:53) They’re incredible. He told us to forgive. He told us to forgive others even if they keep (33:58) hurting us over and over and over again.

He told us to love our enemies. (34:05) He told us to turn the other cheek. He told us not to be lukewarm.

He told us to be light and (34:12) salt. He told us to do good works, to visit those in prison, to care for the needy, to bear good fruit, (34:18) love our neighbor. He told us to repent, to be holy, to pick up our cross and follow (34:25) him.

This is uncomfortable stuff. It’s uncomfortable for us. It was uncomfortable (34:31) for them when Jesus spoke to them.

Jesus told us no matter how good we think we are, (34:38) we still fall short of God. This is not comfortable. He told us if we’re a murderer, (34:45) if we get angry with someone.

He told us we’re an adulterer if we lust after someone. (34:52) He said we had to be perfect and we know we’re not. Peter declared that Jesus had the words of life, (35:00) but for some they were the words of death.

Jesus was saying to everybody that (35:08) if you don’t believe in me, I mean think about the audacity of this. Jesus saying (35:13) without believing in me, you would remain separated from God. You would remain devoid (35:21) of eternal life forever.

Think how audacious that is, how bold that is. If you don’t believe in me, (35:37) then you’re separated from God. That’s amazing.

Remember he told Nicodemus that whoever does not (35:47) believe in him would remain condemned. He told Martha that anyone who believed in him would (35:54) never die. He told the Pharisees that they were children of the devil and that without him they (36:00) would die in their self-righteous sins.

These are bold words and they aren’t pretty. (36:09) The Jewish leaders were demanding that Jesus tell them, are you the Messiah? And Jesus said, (36:16) look, my works bear witness about me. We’ll talk more about Jesus' claim to be God later on, (36:24) but they didn’t believe even after all that Jesus did, all that Jesus said.

But it was when Jesus (36:31) told them that he and the Father, when we spoke these words, that he and the Father were one, (36:38) that’s when they picked up stones to stone him. And Jesus said, look, I’ve shown you many good (36:43) works from the Father. For which of them are you going to stone me in this? It’s not for the (36:49) works at all.

We’re going to stone you because of the words. For blasphemy, because you make (36:56) yourself out to be God. So in the end, it was the words that brought the condemnation on Jesus.

I (37:07) they were astounding words, but it was the words of Jesus that they took issue with. And that is (37:15) still true today. People do not like the words of Jesus.

They like Jesus as long as you can keep (37:26) the words of Jesus comfortable. So as long as you can have Jesus with a few words that you like, (37:37) then people will like Jesus. But if you start speaking uncomfortable words of Jesus, (37:43) then they will be just as uncomfortable today as they were 2,000 years ago.

This is why we have (37:51) all of these books, the five gospels that was written, where people, these scholars got together (38:02) and cast beads into a bowl, and then summed them up to determine the vote of everybody, (38:10) determine whether or not Jesus really said the words that are written in the scriptures, (38:15) or whether he probably said them, or maybe he didn’t, or maybe he did. Or the Da Vinci Code, (38:22) or the search for Jesus, or all of those. So let’s listen to Greg one more time.

(38:29) You know, there are a lot of books right now that are being written and have been over the last (38:33) few years. Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code is one example, but there’s a lot of them like that (38:37) that are getting a lot of press, and people are buying them up. And I think that the reason that (38:44) many people buy this up is because the evidence for Jesus is so good.

It is so powerful. This (38:52) single solitary life has changed so many lives over the last two millennia. Jesus of Nazareth (38:59) cannot be ignored, but people want to ignore him.

They want to ignore the Jesus of history, (39:06) the Jesus of the text, the Jesus of the church, because all of those are one and the same. (39:12) Because that Jesus makes significant moral and ethical demands on them. That Jesus, (39:21) God incarnate, raised from the dead, has a claim on our lives.

And that’s a claim we do not (39:28) want to honor, because we don’t want to bend the knee. We want to keep living our lives without (39:34) anyone telling us what to do. And so there is a powerful animus towards individual autonomy.

(39:42) I’m the master of my own fate. I’m the captain of my own ship. Leave me alone.

(39:48) So when someone of significance like Jesus comes in and says, No, you’re not. (39:55) I’m the master of your fate. I’m the rightful captain of your ship.

(40:01) Then they’re looking for some reason to dismiss it. And I really am stunned at the kinds of reasons (40:09) that satisfy people to dismiss Jesus of Nazareth, because the evidence for him is so good. The (40:16) evidence is so powerful.

People do things for lots of reasons, sometimes irrational reasons. (40:22) I understand rational objections against Christianity. Sometimes people do things (40:28) for emotional reasons, sometimes for prejudicial reasons.

Sometimes they do it just because they’re (40:33) headed. And I think that’s at the heart of a lot of not only the rejection of Christ, (40:40) but the appeal of things like Gandalf’s Da Vinci Code. Because when you go into the history, (40:45) the history is bad.

There’s no history there at all. And many Christian thinkers have stepped up (40:54) to the plate and knocked that softball out of the park, as they’ve done with a lot of others. (40:59) But it appeals to people because it tells people something they want to hear.

It gives them a (41:06) reason they think is credible for just dismissing Christ. That’s what they’re after. (41:16) And so people have wanted to get rid of Jesus from the moment he began his ministry, (41:24) and they have wanted to get rid of him throughout those 2,000 years, and people want to get rid of (41:32) him today.

Not in the violent ways so much, but mentally and in their psychological (41:44) ways to try and rationalize things away. Let’s look at this final thing and then come back and (41:52) talk about the key point that was made here. Because when you look at the character of Jesus, (41:59) he is unassailable.

He was sinless. Not only was he sinless and unassailable, but he was kind, (42:09) humble. He was courageous.

He was good and caring and compassionate. (42:15) But he had a character of strength. He was bold.

He was truthful. He was wise and discerning. (42:25) He was both loving and gracious, and he was strong.

And so the character of Jesus, again, (42:32) is unassailable. There’s nothing in the character of Jesus. And the people have made stuff up, (42:38) of course.

But in the historical records that we have, the character of Jesus is without fault. (42:49) And so this event that’s recorded where Jesus stands before Pilate, for those of you who went (42:58) through the Truth Project, we highlighted that in the very beginning of the Truth Project because (43:03) of this incredible statement that Jesus makes before Pilate. He was quiet through most of the (43:08) trial.

And then before Pilate, he begins to open up, and they have this dialogue. (43:16) And Jesus, I think, as Paul points back to what the Scripture says, as Paul writes, (43:23) to the good confession that Jesus made before Pilate, was that Jesus said, (43:30) for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth. (43:36) You stop and think about how audacious this is.

I mean, how many of you know why you were born? (43:46) How many of us can openly declare and say, I was born for this? I came into the world for this (43:52) reason. I mean, you know, some people, you know, will say some silly things like, I was born to (43:57) dance, or, you know, I was made to fish, or something like that. But for Jesus to openly (44:06) declare to Pilate a statement which is beyond the bounds of a finite individual to say (44:15) that Jesus said, I was born for this reason.

I came into this world to testify to the truth. (44:22) So, it was the words of Jesus that caused people to reject him. It’s not, (44:29) people don’t reject him because he healed the sick.

They don’t reject him because he made the (44:35) blind see. They don’t reject him because he raised Lazarus from the dead. They will reject him because (44:42) of his words.

And with that rejection, and you and I need to recognize and understand this, (44:49) this rejection that we find from people, and hopefully in the relationship you have with (44:55) people, it’s not going to be a violent rejection. I don’t mean violence, but I mean one in which they (45:01) just throw up their hands and say, I don’t want anything to do with this, because you’ve been (45:04) praying for them. And you’ve built this trusting relationship with them, and they wouldn’t do that (45:09) to a friend.

But they will want to reject him, and they won’t be rational in that rejection. (45:19) Because it’s something beyond the physical. It won’t be because of lack of evidence.

People do (45:26) not reject Jesus because of a lack of evidence. They reject him because of the evidence, but (45:33) because of his words. It’s his words that are at the heart of why people want to say no to him.

(45:41) Which means, what we’re facing here is a spiritual battle. And as we lay out in the (45:47) Engagement Project as well, that you then are responsible. Your responsibility, (45:54) and what you’ve been entrusted to, your family’s been entrusted to the primary work of the kingdom.

(46:00) You live at ground zero in your Jerusalem. You live at ground zero, and you have that (46:05) responsibility now as a priest to bring before the Lord those who providentially live around you. (46:13) And so, we recognize that this is a spiritual problem.

It’s not an evidential problem. You (46:19) will never be able to argue someone into their acceptance of Jesus. This is a spiritual battle, (46:28) and you need to wage that war there.

Now, we are responsible for being a good witness (46:35) and to testify. We’re enjoined in the scripture to give a reason. (46:42) So, we give our apologetic in the right way, at the right time, with wisdom, as Colossians 4 says, (46:51) conduct yourself with wisdom toward outsiders.

But we need to always recognize this is a spiritual (46:58) battle, and we have to fight it as a spiritual battle. So, the birth of Jesus was spectacular, (47:06) and we looked at that. It was filled with this burst of heavenly and miraculous activity, (47:14) but the life of Jesus was powerful.

For 30 years, there was virtually nothing, and then for three (47:21) years, three solitary years, it was filled with miracles and words that astonished all (47:28) of the people who heard Him, all the people who encountered Jesus. It was filled with bold words (47:37) and bold actions, actions like cleansing the temple, actions of overturning the many tables. (47:44) Jesus was bold in what He said.

He was bold in what He did because He was not just one of (47:54) authority. He was the authority. He was the authority with a capital A. It was the divine (48:04) authority on earth.

He called the religious leaders to task. He called the Pharisees, (48:12) whitewashed tombs, vipers, hypocrites, full of dead men’s bones. I’ve talked to people often, (48:21) and they talk favorably of Jesus, but they will only speak favorably of Jesus (48:31) if they can simply reduce the words of Jesus down to the things that are soft and tender.

(48:40) But the tough, bold words of Jesus are what will cause people to walk away. (48:50) Jesus was unafraid to speak the truth. He was courageous and bold, yet He was gracious and (48:58) kind.

He was humble. In fact, remember Jesus saying, come to me, all you who are weary and (49:04) heavy laden. Make my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, (49:11) and you will find rest for your souls.

And of course, this is what we pray for. This is what we (49:17) hope will happen to those of our neighbors who do not know the Lord, who are not in Christ, (49:23) that they will one day find that rest in Christ. We refer to this passage from John 21, (49:31) where there were also many other things that Jesus did.

Were every one of them to be written, (49:36) I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (49:41) So here we have, in less than an hour, we’ve attempted to try and summarize the life of Jesus, (49:48) the words of Jesus, and yet we know that the world couldn’t contain all that He did and all (49:57) that He said. But our purpose here was to help us understand that there is no one like Jesus, (50:04) and that the testimony of Jesus is going to be primarily found in simply telling people (50:12) about Him, about His life, about His character, about His works, and about His words.

(50:20) I hope this plays, and we’ll give it a shot. In fact, I think what I’m going to do, (50:26) I’m going to get out of this. We’re going to play it straight (50:29) this way, because I want you to get video effect as well.

(52:20) So Jesus said that He and God are one. He will try to kill them. (52:26) Actually, He did.

He said that no matter how good we try to act, it’s not going to work. (52:32) He said whoever does not believe in Him will remain dead. (52:37) Jesus said whoever does believe in Him will live forever.

(52:43) Will live forever. There never was nor will there ever be a man like Jesus, and that is the (53:09) story that we need to tell. We need to tell it to those (53:15) whom God is going to give us the opportunity to speak, and in the context of what we have been (53:22) saying, that one of the words of Jesus was that we were to love God and love our neighbor.

(53:28) The scripture says everything is boiled down to this, that we are to love our neighbor. (53:34) Part of loving our neighbor is that we have this steadfast sacrificial zeal that seeks their true (53:39) good, and their true good is found in whether or not they’re in Christ or not. So we must be (53:46) diligent in our prayers, interceding for them, taking their name before the throne of grace, (53:54) praying that God will give us an opportunity, pray that He will soften their hearts, soften (53:58) their minds, pray that He would grant them repentance, and then pray that He would give us (54:05) the grace to speak, and the opportunity to speak, wisdom of when to speak.

But when we do, (54:13) we need to know who Jesus is. It’s easy for us to say we know who Jesus is, but do we know (54:21) His life? Do we know His words? Do we know enough about Him that we can express to (54:28) our neighbors when they ask, and point them to this man when there was no one like Him, (54:38) nor will there ever be anyone like Him. And the historical record is as clear as can be.

(54:44) Man who spoke words that astonished people 2,000 years ago, and they astonish us today. (54:52) So may God grant you the grace to do so, and to be faithful and effective as a witness for Christ. (55:03) Okay, so Mark, I’m going to stop here.

I think we’re getting down to the close of our (55:09) time together, so I’ll turn this back over to you. (55:12) All right. Thank you, Dr. Tackett.

Awesome presentation. I know I had a couple of (55:17) questions from folks around previous presentations. If you go to deltackett.com (55:23) forward slash webinars dash two, you’ll be able to find all the previous live stream recordings (55:29) that we’ve had up to this point.

I’ll include that in a follow-up email so you don’t have to (55:33) bring that down. The other thing is we will be sending out the recording link, (55:38) and you can share that with folks. We will also be sharing, sending Dr. Tackett’s (55:45) slides in PDF format as well, so you’ll have that to also be able to review.

Again, Dr. Tackett, (55:53) thank you for an awesome hour of teaching, and just ask, would you close our time in prayer? (56:00) I sure will, and I’ll remind you that in our list that we’re going through, (56:05) the claims to the resurrection of Jesus, we’re now moved to the point where we’re ready to talk (56:10) about the death and the resurrection of Christ, and I know that there are some of you, maybe you (56:17) have just gone through our 40 articles that we wrote to take us from resurrection through Pentecost (56:26) and beyond, but this will be a summation of those. We’ll try to do it as best we can, (56:33) and as few webinars as we can, but there’s so much there, and the criticality of the death and (56:42) resurrection of Jesus is such that we don’t want to do it in injustice. Okay, so thank you again (56:51) for joining us tonight.

Father, we thank you for each of these dear people. Lord, you know I wish (56:59) we could have a conversation with each and every one of them. We could talk about questions, (57:06) we could talk about things that they have run into, or things that they personally run into, (57:13) their own questions, but Father, that you would answer those, that you would direct them (57:18) to your word, to other resources.

Father, we as the body of Christ might be the light and soul (57:27) that you’ve made us to be, for certainly our culture is in desperate need for the bride of (57:34) Christ to be what you have made her to be. May it be so all for your glory, in Jesus' name we pray. (57:41) Amen.

Amen. Thank you, Dr. Tackett. Thank you, everyone.

Quick note, we’re taking July 4th off (57:48) next month, so we’ll be resuming first week of August, but I’ll be sending out a note (57:53) to remind everyone of that. So thanks again for being with us. God bless you.

(1:00:19) Bye.