According to MSN.com adding salt to boiling water does NOT make it boil faster. It actually takes longer because salted water has a higher boiling point. Did you know that adding baking soda or vinegar to the water of boiling eggs to make them easier to peel has been proven false as well? Did you know that some products claiming to be “all -natural” actually contain artificial ingredients? The list of untrue or unrealistic claims goes on!
What about the Bible? Some believe that some of the claims made in the Bible are false. For example, let’s look at the resurrection of Jesus. Did Jesus rise from the dead? It is an honest question. I mean, a man coming back to life…really? It is a fair question to consider. So, let’s start with the reality of his death. His death is vital because you cannot “rise from the dead,” if you are not truly dead.
Matthew 26:59. The chief priests, elders, and ALL the council sought people who would lie about Him. They lied about Jesus to convict Him for a death sentence.
Matthew 26:60. The religious leaders had to work hard to find those who would lie to achieve the desired conviction.
Matthew 26:67. The religious leaders gave Jesus a significant beating.
Matthew 27:1-2. Jesus was bound and delivered to the Roman Governor. Pilate was a key leader among this world power. Escaping such a confinement would be near impossible, and definitely not probable. Some may say, “His disciples got together, overtook the Roman guard, and helped him escape.” Well, that sounds like an exciting movie plot or novel, but it does not sound like the disciples who all ran from Jesus at his arrest – and one of them even denied knowing him when confronted at Jesus’ trial (Matthew 26:69-75). A group of fearful men overtaking the well-trained Roman guard is really grasping at straws and has no foundation in any historical account.
Matthew 27:20-26. The chief priests and elders stirred up the crowds of people to hate Jesus to such degree that the crowds demanded for a known criminal to be released instead of Jesus. John 18:40 tells us that Barabbas was a robber. They demanded for Jesus to be crucified.
Matthew 27:27-31. Jesus was then surrounded by a number of soldiers. They striped him. They put a purple robe on Him (the color of royalty), painfully pressed a crown of thorns on his brow, placed a reed in His hand – and then they knelt down and mockingly said, “Hail! King of the Jews!” THEN, they spat on Jesus, took the reed from his hand and pounded His head with it. After this beating and humiliation, they put Jesus’ own clothes back on Him and led Him to His own crucifixion.
The crucifixion was created by the Romans as a cruel punishment for non-Roman criminals. The word excruciating was actually created for this punishment to describe the pain suffered during the crucifixion. The word excruciating means “out of the cross.”
Matthew 27:32. Jesus has received such a beating – inhumane treatment – that another had to carry His cross.
Matthew 27:41-43. The chief priests, scribes, and elders continued mocking Jesus while He hung on the tree. They saw His appearance all bloodied and altered…and no compassion was voiced. They dug in deeper.
John 19:30. Jesus declares from the cross, “It is finished!” The Bible then says that Jesus “gave up the ghost.”
Historical Evidence of His death & resurrection:
1. There are 4 eyewitness accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John)
2. The impact of His death on His followers (the fearful disciples were made bold and now willing to die for Him).
3. Tacitus (historian), in his Annuals (written AD 115), book 15, chapter 44, writes of one named Jesus, the leader of the Christians. He also states Jesus was executed under Pontius Pilate
4. Josephus refers to Jesus in books 18 and 20 of the Antiquities of the Jews, written about AD 93 or 94. He refers to Jesus as the brother of James.
Jesus did live on earth. Jesus was executed under Pilate.
John 19:34. To be buried, Jesus needed to be dead. Jesus was beaten horribly. He had peg-like nails driven through his hands and feet. He had thorns pressed through His brow. He hung on a tree making it hard to breath. In such a weakened state, He would had to of gather enough strength to push off from His feet to grab enough air to breath. But the Bible is clear, He gave His life (“gave up the ghost.”) John 19:34 is the final point of clarity, the soldier drove a sword through His side after His death, and blood and water flowed out … confirming His death. Jesus was dead and then buried.
Matthew 27:62-66. The religious leaders were still scared. They saw His miracles. They were envious of His abilities and crowds of people. They were afraid Jesus might rise from the dead … I mean, didn’t He raise Lazarus from the dead? So, they make every effort to protect themselves and discredit any potential “resurrection.” They begin to spread the rumor of the disciples coming to steal His dead body and claim His resurrection before He is even in the grave a day.
Matthew 28:1-4. An earthquake, the great stone is moved, an angel with a countenance of lightning, and the brave Roman soldiers falling down like dead men … this is an incredible scene!
ARGUMENTS:
1. Some say that the Disciples stole His body. Really? These guys were so sacred a few days ago that they all ran away. Now some want us to believe these fishermen and a tax collector took on the trained Roman guards?
Some say, “well, the guards were asleep!” If the guards were asleep at the time, how did the disciples role the great stone away from the grave without waking the guards? Why would the disciples leave the grave clothes behind? Wouldn’t they have wanted to move quickly for a successful escape? If the guards were sleeping, how would they know the disciples were the ones who stole away the dead body of Jesus?
Everything that Jesus taught pointed to speaking truth. For the disciples to steal the body, they would have had to lie. The disciples had no motivation to steal the body – and consider the mental state of the disciples, they were now without a leader for the first time in 3 years. Also remember, the fact that Jesus’ body was missing from the tomb, is not debated. Argument is over the body being stolen. The gospel of Matthew even mentions this theory among the unbelievers (Matthew 28:11-15).
2. Some say He never really died and just woke up. At best, Jesus would have been in a crazy weakened state, and would have been in the ICU (in today’s standards) in light of all He just went through. And if Jesus was not God, and did not rise from the dead…who rolled the great stone away?
3. Some say the disciples had hallucinations about seeing the risen Jesus. Well, to be fair, it was an incredibly stressful time. However, Jesus was not seen just by the disciples. The Bible records over 20 post-resurrection appearances. In fact, just Paul’s account in I Corinthians 15:3-11 says that 100’s of people saw Him resurrected:
o Cephas
o The Twelve
o 500 people at once
o James
o All the apostles
o Saul
Then in I Corinthians 15:11 it says, “so we preached and so you believed!” The apostles are not alone on this point of resurrection. Many believed!
The disciples dramatically changed after the resurrection. Peter went from denying Jesus at His trial to preaching Jesus on the day of Pentecost – and 1,000’s got saved! They ALL gave their lives for the gospel! In fact, we know that:
Judas – committed suicide after his betrayal
James the son of Zebedee– beheaded by Herod (Acts 12:2)
What about the rest of the apostles?
Paul – beheaded in Rome under Nero
Peter – crucified upside down (he didn’t feel worthy to be crucified in the same position as Jesus) in Rome around the same time as Paul’s death.
Bartholomew – There are widespread accounts of his missionary travels in India, Armenia, Ethiopia, and Southern Arabia. There are varying accounts of how he was killed. Some believe he was whipped to death in Asia Minor.
Andrew – went to the area of modern-day Russia. He is credited for being the first to bring the gospel to that region. He also went to modern day Turkey and Greece. He is believed to be crucified on X shaped cross in Greece.
Simon – Ministered in Persia and was crucified after refusing to sacrifice to the sun god.
Thomas – He had an active gospel ministry in the area east of Syria and went as far as India. Believers in India of that time claim 4 soldiers pierced him through with their spear.
Philip – was known to be most active in North Africa and then Asia Minor. In Asia Minor it is said he saw the wife of a Roman proconsul accept Christ as her Savior. The Roman proconsul then arrested him and hung him by iron hooks upside down for his execution.
Matthias – replaced Judas. He ministered in Syria with Andrew. Tradition records he suffered death by burning.
John – the only apostle who is believed to have died of old age. He was the leader of the church in Ephesus and cared for Mary, the mother of Jesus, in his own home. He died in exile on Island of Patmos. (A Latin tradition records he escaped unharmed after being thrown into boiling oil in Rome.)
James (son of Alphaeas) – ministered in Syria. Josephus (a Jewish historian) reported that he was stoned and then clubbed to death.
Matthew – preached in Persia and Ethiopia. He was stabbed to death in Ethiopia.
All for the gospel of Jesus…does this sound like a bunch of liars or those not convinced of the resurrection of Jesus?
So, the big question is — Why is the resurrection so important?
1. Because without the resurrection our faith is in vain! “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” (I Cor. 15:14)
2. Because the resurrection is one of the foundations on which Christianity stands (I Cor. 15:3-4)…along with the virgin birth (Is. 7:14; Matt. 1:18, 25), the deity of Christ (I Jn. 4:15, 5:5; Jn. 10:30), and Jesus’ atonement for our sins (Rom. 5:10-11; II Cor. 5:21).
3. Because Jesus rising from the dead is fulfilled prophecy (Mk. 8:31; Ps. 16:10-11; Isaiah 53:12). Without this fulfilled prophecy, we would not believe He is who He said He is.
4. Because our justification is dependent on His resurrection (Rom. 4:25). A dead Savior cannot save!
A witness in a criminal case is on the witness stand and the lawyer asks him a crucial question that will prove his client’s innocence or guilt. His answer? “I don’t recall or I simply can’t remember.” What happened? During the discovery phase, the witness told the lawyer the entire account with absolute clarity! The sad reality came to light. The witness lied on the stand and the lawyer could not prove he was lying.
This kind of purposeful lying is frustrating to the justice system, but it has gotten many guilty people out of a lot of trouble. There is coming a time that such a defense will not hold up before the judge. There is coming a time that such a defense will be totally useless – the judgment seat of Christ for the believer and the Great White Throne judgment for the unbeliever.
Our best defense for that future date is to improve our memory right now! We must sharpen our memory of the very person of God!
Take a moment and read Luke 22:19-22; I Cor. 11.
Now, consider the some in the Bible who chose not to remember who the LORD God is. King Ahab forgot God and led a whole nation into deep trouble. Moses forgot who God is for a moment, under pressure, and he didn’t see the blessing of the Promised Land.
We have all had a struggle with our memory at some point in time! We ask our family, “Where are my keys?” or “Has anyone seen my sunglasses?” My favorite helper question is, “Where did you have them last?” Well, if I could remember that I wouldn’t be asking you for your help! I do not want to mislead you. You should know I have an incredible memory…it is just very short!
The truth is, we all forget more than the location of our keys, sunglasses, or appointments. We also tend to forget about God. We tend to forget what He has done for us AND who He is!
What exactly about God do we forget that brings so much trouble? We forget who He is! We all call those closer to us different names (i.e. - honey, babe, sweetheart, bubba, or brute). The other names identify different understandings of their personality and abilities. Let’s take a quick look at some of the different names of God and see how they give us a window into understanding our great God!
The children of Israel forgot about El Shaddai (God’s ultimate power over all) when they were between Egypt and Red Sea (Exodus 14:10-11)
Elimelech forgot about the Jehovah Jireh (God provides) when he fled Israel and ran to Moab during a famine (Ruth 1)
Saul forgot about El Elyon (the most High…absolute of lordship) and chose rebellion, increasing isolation, arrogance, and attention-seeking in a clear “spiritual blindness” pursuit. Rejecting the “absolute Lordship” of God led Saul to refuse to accept God’s choosing David as the next king. Saul’s spiritual blindness so overcame him that he even sought out the witch of Endor! (I Sam. 15:24-26; 28:3-20).
…but happens when we remember who God is?
When Hagar remembered El Roi (the God of Seeing) (Gen. 16:13) things changed! This impacted Hagar’s life journey!
When David remembered Yahweh Rohi ("The Lord Our Shepherd" (Psalm 23:1) – After David pondered his relationship as a shepherd to his sheep, he realized that was exactly the relationship God had with him, and so he declares, “Yahweh-Rohi is my Shepherd. I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). This greatly impacted David’s relationship with God!
Things change when we remember El Gibhor (“Mighty God”) (Isaiah 9:6). This is the name describing the Messiah, Christ Jesus, in this prophetic portion of Isaiah. As a powerful and mighty warrior, the Messiah, the Mighty God, will accomplish the destruction of God’s enemies and rule with a rod of iron (Revelation 19:15)…and everything changes! My attitude changes from flippant or carefree to fearing the Lord and overwhelming gratitude!
Who is Jesus? He is God…He is my Shepherd…He is the Lamb for me…He is the Mighty God. Remember who He is. He will change your life for the better … in the most dramatic ways possible!!
Do we see how much Jesus loves us? He initiated a love relationship with us (I John 3:16; 4:10, 19). He is ready to forgive us. He is plenteous in mercy and full of compassion to us (Psalm 86:5). He is faithful to us (Lamentations 3:22-23). The Good Shepherd is the One who consistently strengthens my relationship with Him. The Good Shepherd is the One who is always good…no matter what.
In the business world there must be a dozen (if not dozens) of books and seminars entitled, “The Pathway to Success.” Time will be spent on how to dress for success, the attitude for success, and the actions that will lead to success. Everything is geared to be appealing and exciting to the human eye.
However, Psalm 23 reminds us that the desired successful mountain top experiences are often misinterpreted or misunderstood. Many a Christian will look at Christians during mountain top experiences and say how they long to be like that! A person sees a lot of people saved, God seems to be clearly reflected in their life, and there seems to be a joy that never ends!
When we look at the mountain tops, we often fail to realize or remember that it will take the paths in the valley to get to the mountain top! This is usually the last place any of us want to go…but it is the place that leads to the mountain top. We must trust the Lord that the valleys will lead to mountain top times in His time.
Before David was King, he was a shepherd fighting off dangerous animals.
When we lived in Colorado, we often enjoyed taking people for a day trip into the mountains. We lived at 7000 feet above sea level, but a drive up Mount Evans would easily double that distance. The views were spectacular! It was definitely worth the drive. However, to get to the mountain peak we had to drive through the valley.
You cannot get to the mountain top without going through the valley. What we often want is a helicopter ride instead – and that can be very costly (financially and spiritually). But the reality is...it will cost me something when the Lord leads me through the valley as well.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” It doesn’t say that we will necessarily die there, but it does say we walk through it!
1. It brings glory to God with dependence on Him alone (Hebrews 11:6)
2. It gives proper perspective (Hebrews 11:13)
3. It helps me help others (II Cor. 1:3-5)
4. It is the best watered path, and as a result, it helps us grow (James 1:3-4)
The Psalmist says, “I will fear no evil for thou are with me.” When a boxer goes into the ring, his abilities are revealed for all to see. Last year, I watched the weigh in and news conference of a big fight. Both fighters were trying to show themselves to be stronger and tougher than the other; however, one of the fighters was particularly proud and cocky. He made quite the big show for all the reporters and cameras. He even attempted to intimidate his opponent in every way possible. When it came time for the fight, the fighter who was so big at the news conference was knocked out with one punch.
When we are in the valley the Lord reveals us to ourselves. That can be a very frightening thing. We often think we are more than what we are! We think we were more courageous, more powerful, more skilled, and definitely more spiritual!
“You will never know the fullness of Christ, until you feel the emptiness of everything else but Christ.”
What leads to the mountain top experiences is realizing that we are nothing without Him.
God’s desire is to bring me to higher ground! Our Good Shepherd knows the way of the valley. He also knows the peak of the mountain … and He knows what is needed to bring us to the peak. In the meantime, remember that when you see folks in those mountain top experiences – remember they went through the valley to get there.
So … center your attentions on these 4 areas as you live life each day...so when you begin to walk through a valley, you are fortified!
Lastly, the ultimate reward is fearing no evil. That is quite the prize! Where does peace come from? Where does fearing no evil originate? It is all rooted in the reality of God’s presence (Exodus 33:14). The story is told of a few ladies from the USA Judo Olympic Team walking down the streets of Sydney, Australia after their competition that day. Before they knew it a group of men decided they were going to mug these ladies ... not knowing they were Olympians … in the martial arts. The ladies warned them to stay away and they refused. The men made their move and before the men knew what had happened, they were all face down on the ground subdued by the ladies awaiting the police to arrive. Knowing just that story, most if not all of us would feel safe walking around with those ladies. Their mere presence would calm our fears of evil. If we were to see them in action it would calm our fears even more.
You and I have seen God in action. We have seen answers to prayer. We have seen people saved. We have seen people baptized. We have seen Him build His church! We have read of his own actions in the Bible: the walls of Jericho came down without anyone touching them, the Red Sea parted to dry ground for more than a million people to pass through it before the enemy arrived, Jesus healed the nobleman's son and the woman with the issue of blood... it even came to the point that people would tear apart a roof and lower a man into the house -- just to get close to Jesus. The understanding was clear: if I can just get to Jesus, everything will be better.
