Ophemmy

After you were born, life will begin to expose you to different options in the world we live. First, you will be introduced to your Parents Your parents will start teaching and controlling how to approach your new world. They will start exposing you to what they know and what they want you to see. Then you start to interact with things around you: toys, tv programs, kids play From here you start seeing how other people interacts with the world and with each other And then you start school and you begin to correlate things and build your personality as the world presents several options of people's opinions and actions ...this to be continued

My Prayers Almighty God, source of Love and Life who brings abundance to all, Please bless the works of my hand, bless my ventures, bring prosperity to me and my family now. We ask that blessings beyond my basic needs be filled: Money beyond measures, Income beyond measures that surpass any financial responsibilities or challenges, More than Enough to feed everyone around me healthy food. Give me sound health and vibrant wellness. Beyond the material needs, please uplift our souls. Inspire our creativity and resourcefulness. Guide us in improving our lives. Please help us to hold on to you And let us find peace. Amen

Did the Apostles believe Jesus is God? Jesus of Nazareth spent his first thirty years in relative obscurity, working as an unheralded carpenter in a small village of Judea. But in the following three years he uttered words that astounded all who heard them, words that ultimately changed our world. He also performed feats no other person has, calming storms, healing diseases, restoring sight, and even raising the dead. But the greatest difference between Jesus Christ and all other religious leaders is that, according to Christians, he claimed to be God (See, “Did Jesus Claim to be God?”) . If this claim of his is false, the message of the gospel loses all credibility. That message is that God loved us so much that He became a man to die for our sins, offering us eternal life with Himself. Thus, if Jesus is not God, then we have been lied to. Some religions teach that Jesus was a created being. And books, like The Da Vinci Code, have become best-sellers by saying neither Jesus nor his apostles taught that he is God (See “Mona Lisa’s Smirk”). These attacks on the divinity of Christ raise the question of what happened nearly 2000 years ago that caused Christianity to claim that its founder, Jesus Christ, is actually God. In “Did Jesus Claim to be God” we see that the evidence from the New Testament points strongly to the fact that Jesus did claim to be God. But were the eyewitnesses, who heard Jesus’ words and saw his miraculous deeds, convinced that he is equal in every way with his Father? Or did they think that Jesus was merely a higher created being or a great prophet like Moses? To sort out truth from fiction, we need to go back to the words of the apostles who were there when Jesus walked the earth, and wrote their testimonies of what they saw and heard. The Eyewitnesses Jesus had picked very ordinary men to be his followers. He spent three years with them, teaching them about himself and explaining to them the deep truths of God’s Word. During those three years, Jesus performed numerous miracles, made audacious claims, and lived an absolutely righteous life. Later, these apostles wrote down many of Jesus’ words and deeds. These New Testament accounts have been called extremely reliable, far exceeding all other ancient historical documents for authenticity Scholars have noted that the New Testament reveals an objectivity that makes the apostles’ accounts about Jesus totally believable. They honestly reported what they saw and heard. Historian Will Durant remarks: “These men were hardly of the type that one would have chosen to remold the world. The Gospels realistically differentiate their characters, and honestly expose their faults.”1 When they first encountered Jesus, the apostles had no idea who he was. However, as they heard his profound words and saw him restore sight to the blind and raise the dead, they may have recalled the prophecies indicating the Messiah would be God Himself. (Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2). But as they saw him dying on the cross, Jesus appeared defeated and powerless. Any thoughts they might have had that Jesus was God undoubtedly vanished at the cross. However, three days after that traumatic event, the one, who had appeared impotent while hanging on the cross, miraculously appeared alive to his followers. And he had risen bodily. They saw him, touched him, ate with him, and heard him talk of his glorified position as the supreme authority in the universe. Simon Peter, who was one of the closest of Jesus’ disciples, and an eyewitness, wrote: “We saw it with our own eyes: Jesus resplendent with light from God the Father….We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard---God’s glory, God’s voice.” (2 Peter 1: 16, 17 The Message ) But does the fact that the apostles saw God’s glory and heard God’s voice through Jesus mean that they regarded him as God? New Testament scholar A. H. McNeile gives us the answer: “…no sooner had the Life of Jesus ended in apparent failure and shame than the great body of Christians---not an individual here and there, but the mass of the Church---passed over at once to the fixed belief that He was God.” 2 So, did the apostles who wrote the New Testament accounts really believe that Jesus is God, or did they regard him as a created being? If they regarded Jesus as God, did they consider him as the Creator of the universe, or something less? Those who deny Jesus’ deity say that the apostles taught that Jesus is God’s supreme creation, and that the Father alone is the eternal God. So, to clarify their beliefs about Jesus, we will examine their words, asking three questions: Did the apostles and early Christians worship and pray to Jesus as Lord? Did the apostles teach that Jesus is the Creator written of in Genesis? Did the apostles worship Jesus as Preeminent in the universe? Lord After Jesus ascended, the apostles stunned both Jew and Roman by proclaiming Jesus as “Lord”.3 And the apostles did the unthinkable and worshipped Jesus, even praying to him as if he was God. Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” as he was being stoned to death. (Acts 7:59). Other believers soon joined Stephen, who even in the face of death, “never ceased for a single day…to teach and to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus (Acts 5:42). The apostles, most of whom were martyred, passed on their knowledge of Jesus to church fathers who carried on their message into the next generation. Ignatius, a disciple of the Apostle John, wrote about Jesus' 2nd coming, "Look for him that is above the times, him who has not times, him who is invisible". In a letter to Polycarp he states "Jesus is God", "God incarnate," and to the Ephesians he writes, "...God Himself appearing in the form of a man, for the renewal of eternal life." (Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians 4:13) Clement of Rome in 96 A. D. also taught Jesus’ divinity, saying, “We ought to think of Jesus Christ as of God.” (2nd Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians 1:1) Polycarp, also a pupil of John’s, was tried before the Roman proconsul for worshipping Jesus as Lord. While the frenzied crowd shouted for his blood, the Roman judge demanded he proclaim Caesar as Lord. But Polycarp went to the stake, rather than renounce Jesus as his Lord, responding, "Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?"4 As the early church grew, Gnostics and other cults began teaching that Jesus was a created being, inferior to the Father. This came to a head in the fourth century when Arius, a popular preacher from Libya, persuaded many leaders that Jesus wasn’t fully God. Then in 325 A. D. at the Council of Nicaea, church leaders met to resolve the issue of whether Jesus is the Creator, or merely a creation.5 These church leaders overwhelmingly affirmed the long-held Christian conviction and New Testament teaching that Jesus is fully God. Creator In Genesis the God of the Bible is revealed as Creator of everything from the tiny atom to the magnitude of space with its billions of galaxies. Thus, it would have been heresy for a Jew to think an angel or any other created being was the Creator. Isaiah confirms that God (Yahweh) is the Creator: “This is what the Lord, the Creator and Holy One of Israel says…I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the millions of stars are at my command….I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!” (Isaiah 45:11a, 12, 13b) So, did the apostles view Jesus as part of creation, or as the Creator?” John’s Testimony When Jesus’ disciples gazed at the stars on dark evenings, they most likely didn’t even dream that the Creator of those stars might be in their very presence. Yet after his resurrection, they saw Jesus with new eyes. And before he left earth, Jesus began to unfold mysteries to them about his identity. Recalling his Lord’s words, John begins his gospel by revealing who Jesus is: “In the beginning the Word (logos) already existed. He was with God, and he was God….He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make. Life itself was in him and this life gives light to everyone.” (John 1:1, 3-4) Although scientists now believe the universe had a beginning from nothing, they can’t tell us who was there to start it all. John reveals that before creation, “the Word already existed”, and was “with God.” So who or what is this pre-existent Word? John’s next words clarify who he is talking about: “the Word was God.7 As a Jew, John believed in one God. But John is talking about two entities here, God and the Word. Jehovah’s Witnesses, who teach that Jesus was created, erroneously translate this passage to mean the Word is a god rather than the God. But New Testament scholar F. F. Bruce writes that “rendering the phrase as “a god” is a frightful mistranslation because the omission of the indefinite article is common with nouns in the predicative construction.”8 Therefore, John, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, tells us: the “Word” existed before creation the “Word” is the Creator who created everything the “Word” is God Thus far, John has told us that the Word is eternal, Created everything, and is God. But he doesn’t tell us whether the Word is a force or a person until verse 14. “So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us.” He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father” (John 1:14). John clearly refers here to Jesus. Furthermore, in his epistle he confirms it: “The one who existed from the beginning is the one we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus Christ, the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). John tells us that “nothing exists that he didn’t make.” If nothing existed apart from him, it follows that Jesus couldn’t have been a created being. And according to John, the Word (Jesus) is God. Paul’s Testimony Unlike John, the apostle Paul, (formerly Saul) was a bitter opponent and persecutor of Christians, until Jesus revealed himself to him in a vision. Years later, Paul reveals to the Colossians what he had learned of Jesus’ identity: “He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of creation. For by Him all things were created…all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Col. 1:15-17 NASB). Paul reveals several important things in this passage: Jesus is the exact image of God Jesus is the “first-born” of creation Jesus created everything Jesus is the reason for creation Jesus existed before everything Jesus holds creation together What does “exact image of God” mean? Bruce remarks: "To call Christ the image of God is to say that in Him the being and nature of God have been perfectly manifested--that in Him the invisible has become visible."9 Thus, God being visible in Christ coincides with Jesus’ own words to Philip, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). In verse 15, the Greek word for “first-born” (prototokos) means ‘“supreme’ rather than in the temporal sense of ‘born after.”10 According to Bruce, Paul is referring to “Christ's pre-existence and cosmic activity in creation, and “denotes not only Jesus’ priority but also his primacy."11 What makes this clear is verse 16 which tells us that everything in the universe was created both through Jesus Christ, and also for him. In verse 17 we see the eternal Christ sustaining creation. According to Paul, every atom, each DNA strand, and all the billions of galaxies are held together by the power of Jesus Christ. Thus, Jesus is the one from whom everything originated, the one for whom it was created, and the one that holds it all together. Hebrews’ Testimony The New Testament book of Hebrews12 also reveals Jesus as the Creator of everything. Its opening passage reflects Paul’s words to the Colossians: “Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. But now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he made the universe and everything in it. The Son reflects God’s own glory, and everything about him represents God exactly. He sustains the universe by the mighty power of his command” (Heb. 1:1-3a) Just as John and Paul reveal, the author of Hebrews tells us that prior to Jesus becoming a man, God created the universe through him. And Hebrews also reveals Jesus Christ as the one who sustains it. Verse 3 speaks of Jesus as the “perfect imprint and very image of God’s nature.”13 The Greek word here means that “the Son is the effulgence, the out-raying of the glory of God’s glory.”14 This statement, that Jesus is the “perfect imprint” of the infinite God, confirms that the apostles believed Jesus is fully God. The author of Hebrews then goes on to tell us that Jesus is not only superior to the prophets, but he also is far above the angels. “This shows that God’s Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is far greater than their names” (Heb. 1:4). John Piper explains why Jesus is vastly superior to angels: “No angel in heaven ever received such honor and affection as the Son has received from all eternity from his Father. As great and wonderful as angels are, they do not rival the Son…..The Son of God is not an angel--- not even the highest archangel. Rather God says, ‘Let God’s angels worship him!” (Hebrews 1:6). The Son of God is worthy of all the worship that the hosts of heaven can give---not to mention ours.”15 The author of Hebrews then discloses the deity of Jesus: “But as to the Son, He [the Father] says to Him, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever….” (Heb. 1:8 Ampl.) Later in Hebrews, we learn that Jesus Christ “is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” a clear statement of his eternal Deity (Heb. 13:8). A created being is not the same today as yesterday because there would have been a time when he didn’t exist. It would be difficult to construe these passages in Hebrews to mean anything other than the fact that Jesus is the God spoken of in the Old Testament, who along with His Father and the Holy Spirit, created the universe. The apostles must have been appalled to learn that the one they had seen bleed and hang suspended on a Roman cross is the very One who created the tree it was made from as well as the men who nailed him to it. Preeminent One The early Christians were accused by the Romans of stealing glory from Caesar, and by the Jews of robbing glory from God (Yahweh). Christianity is criticized by some as being “too Jesus focused.” But is that what the apostles thought? Let’s hear again from Paul as he writes to the Colossians about Jesus. “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col. 1:19 ESV). Paul writes that God is pleased to have Jesus as the preeminent person in the universe. But the Old Testament clearly teaches that God will never relinquish his preeminence to a created being (Deut. 6:4, 5; Ps. 83:18; Prov. 16:4; Is. 42:11). Isaiah speaks clearly of God’s (Yahweh’s) preeminence. “Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. I have sworn by my own name, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to my name.” (Isaiah 45:22, 23 NLT) But how can both Jesus and Yahweh be preeminent? There may be a clue in Genesis, where the Hebrew word used for God the Creator is plural (Elohim). And, when Isaiah states that God alone created everything, the Hebrew word for God (Yahweh) is also plural. Dr. Norman Geisler concludes, “Biblically speaking, there is more than enough evidence to conclude that the fundamental nature of God is portrayed by the Scriptures as a plural oneness.”16 Paul attributes to Jesus the same words of honor Isaiah attributes to Yahweh: “Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:6-11 NLT) This passage reveals that before Jesus became a man, he had the full rights of the Godhead. Paul also tells us, “that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Over seven hundred years before Christ, God tells us through Isaiah that He alone is God, Lord, and Savior: “Before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no Savior” (Isaiah 43:10,11). We are also told in the Old Testament that Yahweh alone created the universe. That “every knee shall bow to Him.” That He is “the Lord, the King of Israel.” “The Redeemer.” “The First and the Last.” Daniel calls Him “Ancient of Days.” Zechariah speaks of God as “the King, the Lord of Hosts who will judge the earth.” But in the New Testament we hear John call Jesus “Savior,” “The Alpha and Omega,” “The First and the Last,” “The King of Kings” and Lord of Lords.” Paul tells us “every knee will bow to Jesus.” It is Jesus alone who the apostles tell us will judge our eternal destiny. Jesus is the preeminent Lord of the universe. Packer argues that Christianity makes sense only if Jesus is fully God: “If Jesus had been no more than a very remarkable, godly man, the difficulties in believing what the New Testament tells us about his life and work would be truly mountainous. “But if Jesus was the same person as the eternal Word, the Father’s agent in creation, ‘through whom also he made the worlds’ (Heb. 1:2 RV), it is no wonder if fresh acts of creative power marked his coming into this world, and his life in it, and his exit from it. It is not strange that he, the Author of life, should rise from the dead….The Incarnation is in itself an unfathomable mystery, but it makes sense of everything else that the New Testament contains.”17 Conclusion If Jesus is Yahweh, then the Christian message is that God Himself came to earth, allowed men to spit on Him, mock him, and nail Him to a cross as a supreme sacrifice for our sin. God’s perfect justice could only be satisfied by God Himself as the payment for our sin and unrighteousness. No angel or created proxy would suffice. Such an act of condescension demonstrates the immensity of the Father’s love as well as the high value He places upon each of us (See “Why Jesus?”) . And this is exactly what the apostles taught and so fervently preached. In his parting words to the Ephesian elders, Paul encouraged them to “shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28 NASB). Paul is echoing Zechariah’s prophecy where God (Yahweh) says, “In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem….and they will look on Me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son (Zech 12:8a, 10b). Zechariah reveals that the one pierced on the cross was none other than God, Himself. Thus, we see that Jesus Christ brings Old and New Testaments together like separate instruments harmonize to create a beautiful symphony. For, unless Jesus is God, Christianity loses its central theme. But if Jesus is God, all other major Christian doctrines fit together like pieces of a puzzle.” Kreeft and Tacelli explain:18 “If Christ is divine, then the incarnation, or ‘enfleshing’ of God, is the most important event in history. It is the hinge of history. It changes everything.” “If Christ is God, then when he died on the cross, heaven’s gate, closed by sin, opened up to us for the first time since Eden. No event in history could be more important to every person on earth than that.” “If Christ is God, then, since he is omnipotent and present right now, he can transform you and your life right now as nothing and no one else possibly can.” “If Christ is divine, he has a right to our entire lives, including our inner life and our thoughts.” The apostles made Jesus Lord of their lives, wrote of him as the Creator, and worshipped him as preeminent. These first hand eyewitnesses were absolutely convinced that God had visited planet earth in the Person of Jesus Christ, who will return as King of kings and Lord of lords, as well as our eternal Judge. In his letter to Titus, Paul reveals Jesus’ identity, and God’s purpose for our lives: “For the grace of God has been revealed bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with self-control, right conduct, and devotion to God, while we look forward to that wonderful event when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. 19 (Titus 2:11-13 NLT).

Is Jesus God? Have you ever met a man with such personal magnetism that he is always the center of attention? Possibly his personality or intelligence---but something about him is enigmatic. Well, that’s the way it was two thousand years ago with Jesus Christ. But it wasn’t merely Jesus’ personality that captivated his followers. Those who witnessed his words and life tell us that even though he was human, he was remarkably different from all other men. Eyewitnesses tell us that Jesus was a man who grew physically, ate, slept, felt pain, and eventually died. Their written accounts also describe Jesus as walking on water, calming storms, healing the blind and lame, and even raising the dead. Furthermore, they tell us that Jesus appeared alive to them after they watched him die on the cross. Jesus’ greatness was obvious to all those who saw and heard him. But, whereas most great people simply fade into history books, Jesus of Nazareth is still the focus of numerous books and media controversy. And much of that controversy revolves around the radical claims Jesus made about himself. As an unheralded carpenter from an obscure Judean village in what is modern day Israel, Jesus made claims that, if true, have profound implications on our lives. Jesus said that those who have seen him, have seen God, and that the way to God is through him---alone. According to Jesus, you and I are special, part of God’s great plan for us, with him as the center of it all. These and other claims like them stunned everyone who heard them uttered. It was primarily Jesus’ outrageous claims that caused him to be viewed as a threat by both the Roman authorities and the Jewish hierarchy. Although he was an outsider with no credentials or political powerbase, within three years, Jesus changed the world for the next 20 centuries. Although some have wondered if Jesus really existed, even most non-Christian scholars acknowledge him as a real person. The great non-Christian historian, H. G. Wells, ranked Jesus as the most influential person ever (see http://www.y-jesus.com/bornid_1.php). Other great leaders have left an impact---but nothing like that unknown carpenter from Nazareth. What was it about Jesus Christ that made the difference? Was he merely a great man, or something more? Some believe he was merely a great moral teacher; others believe he was simply the leader of the world’s greatest religion. But many, including former skeptics, believe something far more. Former Cambridge professor and skeptic C. S. Lewis came to the shocking conclusion that Jesus’ claims wouldn’t allow us to call him simply a great moral teacher. So who is the real Jesus? Let’s take a closer look at this man who changed our world. As we take a deeper look at the world’s most controversial person, we begin by asking: could Jesus have been merely a great moral teacher? Great Moral Teacher? Even those from other religions acknowledge that Jesus was a great moral teacher. Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, spoke highly of Jesus’ righteous life and profound words.1 Likewise, Jewish scholar Joseph Klausner wrote, “It is universally admitted … that Christ taught the purest and sublimest ethics … which throws the moral precepts and maxims of the wisest men of antiquity far into the shade.”2 Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has been called the most superlative teaching of human ethics ever uttered by an individual. In fact, much of what we know today as “equal rights” actually is the result of Jesus’ teaching. Historian Will Durant, a non-Christian, said of Jesus that “he lived and struggled unremittingly for ‘equal rights’; in modern times he would have been sent to Siberia. ‘He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant’—this is the inversion of all political wisdom, of all sanity.”3 Many, like Gandhi, have tried to separate Jesus’ teaching on ethics from his claims about himself, believing that he was simply a great man who taught lofty moral principles. This was the approach of one of America’s Founding Fathers, President Thomas Jefferson, who cut and pasted a copy of the New Testament, removing sections he thought referred to Jesus’ deity, while leaving in other passages regarding Jesus’ ethical and moral teaching4. Jefferson carried around his cut and pasted New Testament with him, revering Jesus as perhaps the greatest moral teacher of all time. In fact, Jefferson’s memorable words in the Declaration of Independence were rooted in Jesus’ teaching that each person is of immense and equal importance to God, regardless of sex, race, or social status. The famous document sets forth, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights …” But one thing Jefferson didn’t answer: If Jesus falsely claimed to be God he couldn’t have been a good moral teacher. But did Jesus really claim deity? Before we look at what Jesus claimed, we need to examine the possibility that he was simply a great religious leader? Great Religious Leader? Surprisingly, Jesus never claimed to be a religious leader. He never got into religious politics or pushed an ambitious agenda, and he ministered almost entirely outside the established religious framework. When one compares Jesus with the other great religious leaders, a remarkable distinction emerges. Ravi Zacharias, who grew up in a Hindu culture, has studied world religions and observed a fundamental distinction between Jesus Christ and the founders of other major religions. "In all of these, there emerges an instruction, a way of living. It is not Zoroaster to whom you turn; it is Zoroaster to whom you listen. It is not Buddha who delivers you; it is his Noble Truths that instruct you. It is not Mohammad who transforms you; it is the beauty of the Koran that woos you. By contrast, Jesus did not only teach or expound His message. He was identical with His message."5 The truth of Zacharias’ point is underscored by the number of times in the Gospels that Jesus’ teaching message was simply “Come to me” or “Follow me” or “Obey me.” Also, Jesus made it clear that his primary mission was to forgive sins, something only God could do. In The World’s Great Religions, Huston Smith observed, “Only two people ever astounded their contemporaries so much that the question they evoked was not ‘Who is he?’ but ‘What is he?’ They were Jesus and Buddha. The answers these two gave were exactly the opposite. Buddha said unequivocally that he was a mere man, not a god—almost as if he foresaw later attempts to worship him. Jesus, on the other hand, claimed … to be divine.”6 And that leads us to the question of what Jesus really did claim for himself; specifically, did Jesus claim to be divine? Did Jesus Claim to be God? So what is it that convinces many scholars that Jesus claimed to be God? Author, John Piper explains that Jesus claimed power which uniquely belonged to God. “…Jesus’ friends and enemies were staggered again and again by what he said and did. He would be walking down the road, seemingly like any other man, then turn and say something like, ‘Before Abraham was, I am.’ Or, ‘If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.’ Or, very calmly, after being accused of blasphemy, he would say, ‘The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ To the dead he might simply say, ‘Come forth,’ or, ‘Rise up.’ And they would obey. To the storms on the sea he would say, ‘Be still.’ And to a loaf of bread he would say, ‘Become a thousand meals.’ And it was done immediately.”7 But what did Jesus really mean by such statements? Is it possible Jesus was merely a prophet like Moses or Elijah, or Daniel? Even a superficial reading of the Gospels reveals that Jesus claimed to be someone more than a prophet. No other prophet had made such claims about himself; in fact, no other prophet ever put himself in God’s place. Some argue that Jesus never explicitly said, “I am God.” It is true that he never stated the exact words, “I am God.” However, Jesus also never explicitly said, “I am a man,” or “I am a prophet.” Yet Jesus was undoubtedly human, and his followers considered him a prophet like Moses and Elijah. So we cannot rule out Jesus being divine just because he didn’t say those exact words, anymore than we can say he wasn’t a prophet. In fact, Jesus’ statements about himself contradict the notion that he was simply a great man or a prophet. On more than one occasion, Jesus referred to himself as God’s Son. When asked whether he thought it far-fetched for Jesus to be the Son of God, lead singer of U2, Bono, answered: “No, it’s not far-fetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn’t allow you that. He doesn’t let you off the hook. Christ says, No. I’m not saying I’m a teacher, don’t call me a teacher. I’m not saying I’m a prophet….I’m saying I’m God incarnate.” And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet we can take.” 8 Before we examine Jesus’ claims, it is important to understand that he made them in the context of the Jewish belief in one God (monotheism). No faithful Jew would ever believe in more than one God. And Jesus believed in the one God, praying to his Father as, “the only true God.”9 But in that same prayer, Jesus spoke of having always existed with his Father. And when Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus said, “Philip, have I been with you so long and you don’t know me? Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father.”10 So the question is: “Was Jesus claiming to be the Hebrew God who created the universe?” Did Jesus Claim to be the God of Abraham & Moses? Jesus continually referred to himself in ways that confounded his listeners. As Piper notes, Jesus made the audacious statement, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”11 He told Martha and others around her, “I AM the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he is dead, yet shall he live.”12 Likewise, Jesus would make statements like, “I AM the light of the world,”13 “I AM the only way to God,”14 or, “I AM the “truth.”15 These and several other of his claims were preceded by the sacred words for God, “I AM” (ego eimi)16. What did Jesus mean by such statements, and what is the significance or the term, “I AM”? Once again, we must go back to context. In the Hebrew Scriptures, when Moses asked God His name at the burning bush, God answered, “I AM.” He was revealing to Moses that He is the one and only God who is outside of time and has always existed. Incredibly, Jesus was using these holy words to describe himself. The question is, “Why?” Since the time of Moses, no practicing Jew would ever refer to himself or anyone else by “I AM.” As a result, Jesus’ “I AM” claims infuriated the Jewish leaders. One time, for example, some leaders explained to Jesus why they were trying to kill him: “Because you, a mere man, have made yourself God.”17 Jesus’ usage of God’s name greatly angered the religious leaders. The point is that these Old Testament scholars knew exactly what he was saying—he was claiming to be God, the Creator of the universe. It is only this claim that would have brought the accusation of blasphemy. To read into the text that Jesus claimed to be God is clearly warranted, not simply by his words, but also by their reaction to those words. C. S. Lewis initially considered Jesus a myth. But this literary genius who knew myths well, concluded that Jesus had to have been a real person. Furthermore, as Lewis investigated the evidence for Jesus, he became convinced that not only was Jesus real, but he was unlike any man who had ever lived. Lewis writes, “Then comes the real shock,’ wrote Lewis: ‘Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He claims to forgive sins. He says He always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time.”18 To Lewis, Jesus’ claims were simply too radical and profound to have been made by an ordinary teacher or religious leader. What Kind of God? Some have argued that Jesus was only claiming to be part of God. But the idea that we are all part of God, and that within us is the seed of divinity, is simply not a possible meaning for Jesus’ words and actions. Such thoughts are revisionist, foreign to his teaching, foreign to his stated beliefs, and foreign to his disciples’ understanding of his teaching. Jesus taught that he is God in the way the Jews understood God and the way the Hebrew Scriptures portrayed God, not in the way the New Age movement understands God. Neither Jesus nor his audience had been weaned on Star Wars, and so when they spoke of God, they were not speaking of cosmic forces. It’s simply bad history to redefine what Jesus meant by the concept of God. Lewis explains, Now let us get this clear. Among Pantheists, like the Indians, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with God….But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God, in their language, meant the Being outside the world, who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips.19 Certainly there are those who accept Jesus as a great teacher, yet are unwilling to call him God. As a Deist, we’ve seen that Thomas Jefferson had no problem accepting Jesus’ teachings on morals and ethics while denying his deity.20 But as we’ve said, and will explore further, if Jesus was not who he claimed to be, then we must examine some other alternatives, none of which would make him a great moral teacher. Lewis, argued, “I am trying here to prevent anyone from 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.”21 In his quest for truth, Lewis knew that he could not have it both ways with the identity of Jesus. Either Jesus was who he claimed to be—God in the flesh—or his claims were false. And if they were false, Jesus could not be a great moral teacher. He would either be lying intentionally or he would be a lunatic with a God complex. Could Jesus Have Been Lying? Even Jesus’ harshest critics rarely have called him a liar. That label certainly doesn’t fit with Jesus’ high moral and ethical teaching. But if Jesus isn’t who he claimed to be, we must consider the option that he was intentionally misleading everyone. One of the best-known and most influential political works of all time was written by Niccolò Machiavelli in 1532. In his classic, The Prince, Machiavelli exalts power, success, image, and efficiency above loyalty, faith, and honesty. According to Machiavelli, lying is okay if it accomplishes a political end. Could Jesus Christ have built his entire ministry upon a lie just to gain power, fame, or success? In fact, the Jewish opponents of Jesus were constantly trying to expose him as a fraud and liar. They would barrage him with questions in attempts to trip him up and make him contradict himself. Yet Jesus responded with remarkable consistency. The question we must deal with is: What could possibly motivate Jesus to live his entire life as a lie? He taught that God was opposed to lying and hypocrisy, so he wouldn’t have been doing it to please his Father. He certainly didn’t lie for his followers’ benefit, since all but one were martyred rather than renouncing his Lordship. And so we are left with only two other reasonable explanations, each of which is problematic. Benefit Many people have lied for personal gain. In fact, the motivation of most lies is some perceived benefit to oneself. What could Jesus have hoped to gain from lying about his identity? Power would be the most obvious answer. If people believed he was God, he would have tremendous power. (That is why many ancient leaders, such as the Caesars, claimed divine origin.) The rub with this explanation is that Jesus shunned all attempts to move him in the direction of seated power, instead chastising those who abused such power and lived their lives pursuing it. He also chose to reach out to the outcasts (prostitutes and lepers), those without power, creating a network of people whose influence was less than zero. In a way that could only be described as bizarre, all that Jesus did and said moved diametrically in the other direction from power. It would seem that if power was Jesus’ motivation, he would have avoided the cross at all costs. Yet, on several occasions, he told his disciples that the cross was his destiny and mission. How would dying on a Roman cross bring one power? Death, of course, brings all things into proper focus. And while many martyrs have died for a cause they believed in, few have been willing to die for a known lie. Certainly all hopes for Jesus’ own personal gain would have ended on the cross. Yet, to his last breath, he would not relinquish his claim of being the unique Son of God. New Testament scholar, J. I. Packer, points out that this title asserts Jesus’ personal deity A Legacy So if Jesus was above lying for personal benefit, perhaps his radical claims were falsified in order to leave a legacy. But the prospect of being beaten to a pulp and nailed to a cross would quickly dampen the enthusiasm of most would-be superstars. Here is another haunting fact. If Jesus were to have simply dropped the claim of being God’s Son, he never would have been condemned. It was his claim to be God and his unwillingness to recant of it that got him crucified. If enhancing his credibility and historical reputation was what motivated Jesus to lie, one must explain how a carpenter’s son from a poor Judean village could ever anticipate the events that would catapult his name to worldwide prominence. How would he know his message would survive? Jesus’ disciples had fled and Peter had denied him. Not exactly the formula for launching a religious legacy. Do historians believe Jesus lied? Scholars have scrutinized Jesus’ words and life to see if there is any evidence of a defect in his moral character. In fact, even the most ardent skeptics are stunned by Jesus’ moral and ethical purity. According to historian Philip Schaff, there is no evidence, either in church history or in secular history that Jesus lied about anything. Schaff argued, “How, in the name of logic, common sense, and experience, could a deceitful, selfish, depraved man have invented, and consistently maintained from the beginning to end, the purest and noblest character known in history with the most perfect air of truth and reality? To go with the option of liar seems to swim upstream against everything Jesus taught, lived, and died for. To most scholars, it just doesn’t make sense. Yet, to deny Jesus’ claims, one must come up with some explanation. And if Jesus’ claims are not true, and he wasn’t lying, the only option remaining is that he must have been self-deceived. Could Jesus Have Been Self-Deceived? Albert Schweitzer, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1952 for his humanitarian efforts, had his own views about Jesus. Schweitzer concluded that insanity was behind Jesus’ claim to be God. In other words, Jesus was wrong about his claims but didn’t intentionally lie. According to this theory, Jesus was deluded into actually believing he was the Messiah. Lewis considered this option carefully. He deduced that if Jesus’ claims weren’t true, then he must have been insane. Lewis reasons that someone who claimed to be God would not be a great moral teacher. “He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell.”24 Most who have studied Jesus’ life and words acknowledge him as extremely rational. Although his own life was filled with immorality and personal skepticism, the renowned French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) acknowledged Jesus’ superior character and presence of mind, stating, “When Plato describes his imaginary righteous man…he describes exactly the character of Christ. …If the life and death of Socrates are those of a philosopher, the life and death of Jesus Christ are those of a God.”25 Bono concludes that a “nutcase” was the last thing one could label Jesus. “So what you’re left with is either Christ was who He said He was---or a complete nutcase. I mean, we’re talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson….I’m not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside down by a nutcase, for me that’s far-fetched….”26 So, was Jesus a liar or a lunatic, or was he the Son of God? Could Jefferson have been right by labeling Jesus “only a good moral teacher” while denying his deity? Interestingly, the audience who heard Jesus—both believers and enemies—never regarded him as a mere moral teacher. Jesus produced three primary effects in the people who met him: hatred, terror, or adoration. The claims of Jesus Christ force us to choose. As Lewis stated, we cannot put Jesus in the category of being just a great religious leader or good moral teacher. This former skeptic challenges us to make up our own minds about Jesus, stating, "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."27 In Mere Christianity, Lewis explores the options regarding the identity of Jesus, concluding that he is exactly who he claimed to be. His careful examination of the life and words of Jesus led this great literary genius to renounce his former atheism and become a committed Christian. The greatest question in human history is, “Who is the real Jesus Christ?” Bono, Lewis, and countless others have concluded that God visited our planet in human form. But if that is true, then we would expect him to be alive today. And that is exactly what his followers believe. Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead? The eyewitnesses to Jesus Christ actually spoke and acted like they believed he physically rose from the dead after his crucifixion. If they were wrong then Christianity has been founded upon a lie. But if they were right, such a miracle would substantiate all Jesus said about God, himself, and us. But must we take the resurrection of Jesus Christ by faith alone, or is there solid historical evidence? Several skeptics began investigations into the historical record to prove the resurrection account false. What did they discover? BODY COUNT: Did Jesus rise from the dead? We all wonder what will happen to us after we die. When a loved one dies, we long to see him or her again after our turn comes. Will we have a glorious reunion with those we love or is death the end of all consciousness? Jesus taught that life does not end after our bodies die. He made this startling claim: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again.” According to the eyewitnesses closest to him, Jesus then demonstrated his power over death by rising from the dead after being crucified and buried for three days. It is this belief that has given hope to Christians for nearly 2000 years. But some people have no hope of life after death. The atheistic philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote, “I believe that when I die I shall rot, and nothing of my own ego will survive.”1 Russell obviously didn’t believe Jesus’ words. Jesus’ followers wrote that he appeared alive to them after his crucifixion and burial. They claim not only to have seen him but also to have eaten with him, touched him, and spent 40 days with him. So could this have been simply a story that grew over time, or is it based upon solid evidence? The answer to this question is foundational to Christianity. For if Jesus did rise from the dead, it would validate everything he said about himself, about the meaning of life, and about our destiny after death. If Jesus did rise from the dead then he alone would have the answers to what life is about and what is facing us after we die. On the other hand, if the resurrection account of Jesus is not true, then Christianity would be founded upon a lie. Theologian R. C. Sproul puts it this way: “The claim of resurrection is vital to Christianity. If Christ has been raised from the dead by God, then He has the credentials and certification that no other religious leader possesses. Buddha is dead. Mohammad is dead. Moses is dead. Confucius is dead. But, according to…Christianity, Christ is alive.”2 Many skeptics have attempted to disprove the resurrection. Josh McDowell was one such skeptic who spent more than seven hundred hours researching the evidence for the resurrection. McDowell stated this regarding the importance of the resurrection: “I have come to the conclusion that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever foisted upon the minds of men, OR it is the most fantastic fact of history.”3 So, is Jesus' resurrection a fantastic fact or a vicious myth? To find out, we need to look at the evidence of history and draw our own conclusions. Let’s see what skeptics who investigated the resurrection discovered for themselves. Cynics and Skeptics But not everyone is willing to fairly examine the evidence. Bertrand Russell admits his take on Jesus was “not concerned” with historical facts.4 Historian Joseph Campbell, without citing evidence, calmly told his PBS television audience that the resurrection of Jesus is not a factual event.5 Other scholars, such as John Dominic Crossan of the Jesus Seminar, agree with him.6 None of these skeptics present any evidence for their views. True skeptics, as opposed to cynics, are interested in evidence. In a Skeptic magazine editorial entitled “What Is a Skeptic?” the following definition is given: “Skepticism is … the application of reason to any and all ideas—no sacred cows allowed. In other words … skeptics do not go into an investigation closed to the possibility that a phenomenon might be real or that a claim might be true. When we say we are “skeptical,” we mean that we must see compelling evidence before we believe.”7 Unlike Russell and Crossan, many true skeptics have investigated the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. In this article we will hear from some of them and see how they analyzed the evidence for what is perhaps the most important question in the history of the human race: Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Self-Prophecy In advance of his death, Jesus told his disciples that he would be betrayed, arrested, and crucified and that he would come back to life three days later. That’s a strange plan! What was behind it? Jesus was no entertainer willing to perform for others on demand; instead, he promised that his death and resurrection would prove to people (if their minds and hearts were open) that he was indeed the Messiah. Bible scholar Wilbur Smith remarked about Jesus: “When he said that He himself would rise again from the dead, the third day after He was crucified, He said something that only a fool would dare say, if He expected longer the devotion of any disciples—unless He was sure He was going to rise. No founder of any world religion known to men ever dared say a thing like that.8 In other words, since Jesus had clearly told his disciples that he would rise again after his death, failure to keep that promise would expose him as a fraud. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. How did Jesus die before he (if he did) rose again? A Horrific Death and Then. . . ? You know what Jesus' last hours of earthly life were like if you watched the movie by road warrior/brave heart Mel Gibson. If you missed parts of The Passion of the Christ because you were shielding your eyes (it would have been easier to simply shoot the movie with a red filter on the camera), just flip to the back pages of any Gospel in your New Testament to find out what you missed. As Jesus predicted, he was betrayed by one of his own disciples, Judas Iscariot, and was arrested. In a mock trial under the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, he was convicted of treason and condemned to die on a wooden cross. Prior to being nailed to the cross, Jesus was brutally beaten with a Roman cat-o’-nine-tails, a whip with bits of bone and metal that would rip flesh. He was punched repeatedly, kicked, and spit upon. Then, using mallets, the Roman executioners pounded the heavy wrought-iron nails into Jesus' wrists and feet. Finally they dropped the cross in a hole in the ground between two other crosses bearing convicted thieves. Jesus hung there for approximately six hours. Then, at 3:00 in the afternoon—that is, at exactly the same time the Passover lamb was being sacrificed as a sin offering (a little symbolism there, you think?)—Jesus cried out, “It is finished” (in Aramaic), and died. Suddenly the sky went dark and an earthquake shook the land.9 Pilate wanted verification that Jesus was dead before allowing his crucified body to be buried. So a Roman guard thrust a spear into Jesus' side. The mixture of blood and water that flowed out was a clear indication that Jesus was dead. Jesus' body was then taken down from the cross and buried in Joseph of Arimathea's tomb. Roman guards next sealed the tomb, and secured it with a 24-hour watch. Meanwhile, Jesus' disciples were in shock. Dr. J. P. Moreland explains how devastated and confused they were after Jesus’ death on the cross. “They no longer had confidence that Jesus had been sent by God. They also had been taught that God would not let his Messiah suffer death. So they dispersed. The Jesus movement was all but stopped in its tracks.”10 All hope was vanquished. Rome and the Jewish leaders had prevailed—or so it seemed. Something Happened But it wasn't the end. The Jesus movement did not disappear (obviously), and in fact Christianity exists today as the world's largest religion. Therefore, we’ve got to know what happened after Jesus’ body was taken down from the cross and laid in the tomb. In a New York Times article, Peter Steinfels cites the startling events that occurred three days after Jesus' death: “Shortly after Jesus was executed, his followers were suddenly galvanized from a baffled and cowering group into people whose message about a living Jesus and a coming kingdom, preached at the risk of their lives, eventually changed an empire. Something happened. … But exactly what?”11 That's the question we have to answer with an investigation into the facts. There are only five plausible explanations for Jesus' alleged resurrection, as portrayed in the New Testament: Jesus didn't really die on the cross. The “resurrection” was a conspiracy. The disciples were hallucinating. The account is legendary. It really happened. Let's work our way through these options and see which one best fits the facts.