Real Answers to Big Questions: Is Jesus God’s Son?
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 7/5/2015
Why isn't phonetic spelled the way it sounds? Why is a boxing ring square? Why are yawns contagious? What causes hiccups? Why don’t we say first-teen and second-teen instead of 11 and 12? We all have questions, don’t we? Some questions—like these—are inconsequential. Other questions are more meaningful and thought provoking. Where do we come from? Why are we here?
Last Sunday, I began a short series in answer to three very big questions. I call them the God questions:
• Is God real?
• Is Jesus God’s Son?
• Is the Bible God’s Word?
Being able to provide compelling answers to these three questions will not only strengthen our own faith, but we’ll be in a better position to share our faith with others. Last week, I shared three good reasons to believe that God is real, which included the evidence of cosmology, creation, and conscience. Having a sound, solid answer to the question of God’s existence gives our faith a rock-hard foundation. But lots of people believe in God who aren’t necessarily Christians. The difference between Christianity and every other religion in the world is Jesus. If God exists, the next question we have to ask is: Is Jesus God’s Son? In other words, was Jesus really divine or was he just a nice guy? How do we know that Jesus really was who He claimed to be? How do we know that the carpenter from Nazareth is the God through whom all the universe was crafted?
Jesus once asked His disciples, “Who are the people saying I am?” (Matthew 16:13 TLB). They gave a variety of answers but Peter capped the discussion by saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16 NKJV).
Many months later, Peter would defend his answer as he preached the first recorded message after Jesus’ death and resurrection to a standing-room-only crowd on the day of Pentecost—50 days after the resurrection. As Peter preached, he built a powerful case in defense of the divinity of Jesus. In this sermon, Peter offers three pieces evidence in this case for Christ—evidence that confirms beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. This morning I’d like to elaborate on each piece of evidence Peter submits. The first item that Peter enters into evidence is the miracles of Jesus.
• THE MIRACLES OF JESUS
Peter began his morning message, saying, “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know” (Acts 2:22 NLT). Miracles, wonders, and signs are three words the New Testament often uses to refer to the same thing. The word “miracle” refers to what was done; the word “wonder” refers to the effect a miracle had on people; and the term “sign” indicated the purpose of the miracle. These miracles were signs that God was with those who did them.
Unfortunately, you and I weren’t there to witness them, so we have to rely on others’ eyewitness testimony about these miracles.
Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that the Bible is not the inspired word of God. Instead, let’s simply treat each book of the New Testament as the personal testimony of its author. The four Gospels—written independently by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—together record more than three dozen specific miracles that Jesus of Nazareth performed during His ministry. Peter’s audience was well aware of this and the fact that Jesus carried out a ministry of healing and other miracles was common knowledge. The Pharisees had accused Jesus of performing miracles by the power of Satan, but they did not deny that He had performed them. The Talmud, a Jewish book of history and law, claims that Jesus was a sorcerer and he performed miracles through the dark arts. But the fact that the Talmud records that Jesus really did perform the miracles, inadvertently corroborates what Matthew, Mark, Luke and John claimed.
Even the most skeptical critics cannot deny that the historical Jesus carried out a ministry of miracle-working and exorcism. Rudolf Bultmann, one of the most skeptical scholars this century has seen, wrote back in 1926: “Most of the miracle stories contained in the gospels are legendary or at least are dressed up with legends. But there can be no doubt that Jesus did such deeds, which were, in his and his contemporaries’ understanding, miracles, that is, deeds that were the result of supernatural, divine causality. Doubtless he healed the sick and cast out demons.”
Back in Bultmann’s day the miracle stories were thought to be influenced by stories of mythological heroes and, hence, at least in part legendary. But today it is recognized that the hypothesis of mythological influence was historically incorrect. Craig Evans, who is considered one of the world's premiere historical Jesus scholars, says that "the older notion" that the miracle stories were the product of mythological influence "has been largely abandoned." He says, "It is no longer seriously contested… that miracles played a role in Jesus’s ministry." The only reason left for denying that Jesus performed literal miracles is the presupposition of anti-supernaturalism.
When Peter said “as you well know,” he probably flung his arms wide. Everyone present, even those who did not live in Palestine, would have been acquainted with the name of Jesus and the well-documented miracles He had performed.
Jesus performed miracles of healing, miracles of nature, and even miracles of restoring life. And all of them were carefully documented by not just one, but four biographers who believed so fully that Jesus was the promised Messiah that they willingly died for their belief. The power of Jesus to perform miracles if compelling evidence that He was, in fact, the Christ, the Son of God. But, then Peter provides another piece of evidence—the prophesies of Jesus.
• THE PROPHESIES OF JESUS
Peter says that “Jesus was given to you, and with the help of those who don’t know the law, you put him to death by nailing him to a cross. But this was God’s plan which he had made long ago; he knew all this would happen” (Acts 2:23 NCV), then goes on to quote one of the many prophesies made by David concerning the coming Messiah. The Jews would have listened closely at the mention of David. “The sweet psalmist of Israel” remained a favorite of the Jewish people. They believed that the Messiah would be a descendant of David and a rightful heir to David’s throne. Why would they believe that? Because it was prophesied many centuries before Jesus was born.
Of course, that’s just one prophesy. There are over a hundred predictive prophesies in the Old Testament Scriptures concerning the Christ that were recorded centuries before Jesus was ever born: He was to be called the Son of God (Psalm 2:7); He was to be a descendant David (Psalm 89:3); He was to be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14); He was to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2); He would minister in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1); He would be betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9); He would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12); He would face His accusers in silence (Isaiah 53:7); He would be crucified with sinners (Isaiah 53:12); His hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22:16). The list just goes on and on. These prophesies act like a fingerprint that only Jesus could match. In fact, think of these prophecies like an address.
If you want to mail me a letter, you have to write my address on the envelope including several specific points of identification. Writing IL on the envelope you eliminate people who live in any other state. By writing Palmyra on it, you eliminate people from other cities. By writing Water Plant road, you eliminate people on other streets. By writing 9820 on it, you eliminate other houses on that street. And by writing my name, you eliminate other people in my household. Thus, each point of identification narrows down the number of people who could receive my letter. Similarly, each prophecy in the Old Testament narrows down the possible candidates for Messiah.
The messianic prophecies were so definite and specific that no impostor could ever fulfill them all. Yet, Jesus fulfilled every detail. Not one of the predictions concerning Jesus missed the mark.
In his book Science Speaks, Peter Stoner, a distinguished mathematician, calculated the odds of just eight of the predictive prophecies about Jesus having been fulfilled coincidentally in the life of one man. Based on the laws of chance and probability, the odds are 1:1017 (NEXT SLIDE)! Let me help you make that huge number sink in a little more sensibly. A dollar bill is six inches long. It would take 10,560 dollar bills laid end-to-end to extend one mile. The moon is about 239,000 miles from the earth. So, it would take 2,523,840,000 dollar bills laid end-to-end to extend from the earth to the moon. But that’s just a little over two and a half billion; the number Peter Stoner calculated is mind boggling. If you possessed that many dollar bills, you could lay them end-to-end and stretch them from the earth to the moon and back twenty times. Now imagine that one of those bills is counterfeit, and you have to randomly pick it out on the first try. And that is just eight prophesies. Jesus fulfilled over a hundred of them to the smallest detail.
But even if we are not convinced by the miracles of Jesus or prophesies of Jesus, Peter goes one to provide one final piece of evidence: the resurrection of Jesus.
• THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
Peter may have pointed a finger at the crowd saying, “you put him to death by nailing him to a cross” (Acts 2:23 NCV). But then He announces: “God raised Jesus from the dead and set him free from the pain of death, because death could not hold him” (vs. 24 NCV). And Peter repeats it emphatically, “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this” (vs. 32 NLT).
In the time between Passover and Pentecost, curious Jews had probably gone to the empty tomb of Joseph of Arimathea and peered into its darkness. Many were probably asking the question, “What happened to the body?” This question must still be answered by those who do not believe in the Resurrection. To destroy Christianity, the enemies of that fledgling movement had merely to produce the body of Jesus. They couldn’t do it. It was common knowledge that every precaution had been taken to assure that the body of Jesus was not stolen. It was also common knowledge that the next morning, the tomb was empty. What happened to the body? The friends of Jesus could not have taken it (it was too well guarded); the enemies of Jesus would not have taken it (that would have accomplished the opposite of what they wanted). Nevertheless, it was gone. Rumors may have been circulating: “I know a man who knows a man who claims to have seen Jesus of Nazareth alive after He died.” Peter said, in effect, the answer to the puzzle was simple: Jesus is risen! These words are the heartbeat of Christianity.
The Resurrection is mentioned over one hundred times in the New Testament. In addition to the original twelve, Paul (who was once a persecutor of Christians) also saw Jesus risen form the dead. Paul writes, “He was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 1:4). Ignatius, who was a pupil of the apostle John and martyred for his faith in Jesus, wrote about Jesus just 70 years after the crucifixion, saying, “He was condemned: He was crucified in reality, and not in appearance, not in imagination, not in deceit. He really died, and was buried, and rose from the dead.”
The Resurrection gave their voices strength, their hearts courage, and their feet wings! The apostles believed not in a dead Savior, but in a living Redeemer, who helped and strengthened them. Every day, they risked their lives for a resurrected Lord.
When Peter said “we are all witnesses,” he probably waved him arm, indicating the other eleven Apostles. The Law in those days demanded that “The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses” (Deut. 19:5 NLT). The case for Christ was established not by just two or three witnesses, but twelve men and at least a half dozen women. Peter’s audience was looking at twelve men of unimpeachable character who personally had nothing to gain and everything to lose by preaching Jesus Christ. Even if you reject the miracles, the prophesies and everything else the Bible says, you’ve still got to deal with the testimony of twelve men who say they saw Jesus come back from the dead. They believed it with all their hearts and they died for their belief. Can we really believe that the disciples just made the whole thing up? Lee Strobel has well said, “People will die for their religious beliefs is they sincerely believe they’re true, but people won’t die for their religious beliefs if they know their beliefs are false.”
When Peter said, “God raised Jesus from the dead,” every listener probably wondered, “Could it be true?” Everything hung on that question. Peter had presented the facts. He made his case. Finally, he was ready to put the two thoughts together: “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Christ!” (Acts 2:36 NLT).
Conclusion:
Jesus is all we imagine Him to be—and so much more. If we give the case for Christ a closer look, we will never come away disappointed. He’s not less than we’ve heard, He’s more—much more! His claims are not empty; He is the fullness of God. He is limitless in the extent of His power and wisdom, and in the sweep of His existence. He is without beginning of years or end of days. He is “the Christ, the Son of the living God!”
Invitation:
Now that we’ve answered the big questions about God and Jesus, next week we’ll answer the big question about the Bible—is the Bible God’s Word? Before stepping down from the podium, Peter issued a challenge and a promise. He said, “Repent and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38 NIV). The challenge is the same. The promise is the same. If you want to answer that challenge and claim that promise, now’s the time.
