Have you noticed that what you
were taught in science at school changes as the years go by? Not just in terms
of scientific advances, but just in terms of the content taught on specific
topics meaning that if you do biology A-level they tell you that you might as
well scrap what you learnt at GCSE and start again because it’s all so much
more complicated.
Or for those who don't really like science, how about this: Remember the tooth fairy? You
know when one of your baby teeth came out, you’d hide it under your pillow at
night, which is pretty gross really, and you’d get up in the morning and the
tooth would have magically been replaced by some money. In my day 50p was a good
return for a tooth, nowadays I know kids who get £2 per tooth!!! Madness!
My parents one year even went to
extreme lengths, not in the amount of money they gave me, but in the effort
they went to to match what they gave me to what had happened. I had a tooth
which cracked in half, so half was out and half still in my mouth.
So, my dad, trying to be funny I
guess, sawed a 2p piece in half, and out it under my pillow in place of the
half tooth!
Anyway, my point being from this
that when you’re little you believe in the Tooth Fairy and you believe in Santa
Claus. But, when you get older, you figure out, hopefully on your own, and not
by a friend at school who’s clocked it first, that neither are real.
You grow out of believing in the
stories, realize they are not true, and get on with your life.
There is a real sense of this in
some of Arcade Fire’s lyrics, especially in the epic song “Wake Up”.
Although I am sure that the lead
singer Will, in particular, is searching and investigating Christianity in some
way, there is sense in this song that he almost brackets Christianity and Bible
stories in the fairytale category.
“Children, wake up!” is the refrain.
You may have believed it and it
may have been fun and brought some comfort when you are little, but when you
grow up, you need to wake up and move on.
So the first question I want us
to think about in relation to the Bible and Jesus is:
Is it all a load of rubbish, or
is what you read in it historical fact?
Can what you read about Jesus be
trusted?
Well, the interesting thing is
that from a purely historical view, no serious historian would deny the
existence of the person of Jesus of Nazareth. There is a lot of evidence for
His life even outside of the Bible.
Then, if you compare the number
of copies of NT documents and the date of them compared to the events they
record you find that the weight of evidence is overwhelming.
Something like Caesar’s Gaelic
Wars which would be taken as factual by historians across the board has 10
copies in existence and they date from around 800 years after the event too
place.
There are over 24000 copies of
the NT or parts of it and they date from as close 30 year and at most 300 years
after the event.
So if you want to write off the
Bible then you have to write of a whole load of ancient history at the same
time.
Ultimately what the Christian
faith hinges on is, who Jesus is? And did He rise again from the dead? The resurrection makes
Christianity rise or fall
One things we can be certain of
is that the tomb was empty. Jesus body was no longer there when the women
returned to the tomb to go and anoint and embalm His body.
So, did someone steal it?
The disciples could have stolen
the body, but two things make this effectively impossible.
One is that they all fled and
did not see where He was buried and they were in hiding for fear the same thing
might happen to them. There was no way they’d have had the guts to do it, never
mind the fact there was a Roman guard placed on duty at the tomb precisely so
no one could remove the body.
Two is that all but one of the
11 remaining faithful disciples died horrific deaths for what they believed and
the other spent the later years of his life in exile. They would not have died
for an obvious fabrication.
The religious authorities could
have stolen the body. But, this makes no sense because they wanted rid of
Jesus. When the disciples and others started claiming He had risen and causing
trouble, as the religious leaders saw it, they could have just produced the
body and all would’ve been over and done with.
The Roman guard could’ve move
it. Again for them to do that, they would have been stoned for neglecting their
duty.
If Jesus didn’t really die, then
2 very strange things happened at the cross.
When Jesus’ body was requested
for burial his legs were not broken.
In order to make someone being
crucified die quicker, the Roman soldiers used to break their legs so that they
couldn’t hold themselves up to breathe.
Jesus’ legs were not broken
because He was already dead, there was no need. This also fulfilled a prophecy
made about Him hundreds of years before He was even born.
On top of that when the soldier
at the cross pierced Jesus’ side, there was water and blood flowing out.
Apparently this is medical proof of death too. But I’m no doctor.
The other reason people go for
Jesus not dying is they say that it want really Him on the cross, but someone
made to look like Him. Often Judas.
The question is, at what time
could Jesus have escaped?
From the last supper with the
disciples, where Judas was present, to the crucifixion itself, Jesus is under
close scrutiny. He could not have slipped away.
The tomb was empty and there is
not other logical explanation for it that holds up to scrutiny.
Jesus appeared to many people
after He died.
He appears to Mary in the garden
near the tomb. He appears to the disciples in the upper room.
He appears again when Thomas is
with them and invites Thomas to put his hands into the nail marks and spear
hole. Thomas wonderfully responds by worshipping Jesus as Lord and God,
something Jesus does not rebuke Him for because it is true.
The idea of giddy hallucination
can be dispelled too because Jesus appears to 500 at one time, 500 people even
if they are on the same drug do not hallucinate the same thing. Many of those
who were part of that 500 were living when that was written and could have
denied it if it was indeed false.
So, my question to you is, if
Jesus rose from the dead, what are you going to do about it?
Here are the second section of
lyrics I want us to consider:
“We’re just a million little god’s causin rain storms turnin’ every good thing to rust.”
I believe this touches on a very
interesting truth. I think what is being said here is evident in the world
around us. We all want to be in control, we want to be masters of our own
destiny, we want what we want and when we want it.
But in our wanting to be god of
our own lives we mess up the good things around us.
If you think about it, this is
pretty logical, not just a thing that a Christian might say.
If every human being lives for
their own best interests that is going to cause chaos because we don’t each
live in a vacuum detached from anyone, or anything, else.
The solution that Jesus brings is
unique and radical.
In Luke’s gospel He tells us
that He has come to "seek and save the lost" and he has come not to call those who
think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners, to repentance.
Jesus calls people to come and
accept the free offer of forgiveness He brings.
The amazing thing about Jesus is
that He doesn’t just say these things but actually does something about them,
hence my reason for defending Jesus’ resurrection earlier.
Jesus comes, shows His love by
dying to save people, and then rises again and proves He is exactly who He says
He is, and, has done exactly what He said He came to do.
If you are willing to give Jesus
a chance by reading about Him, I think you will see a wonderful man. Not just a
bunch of fairy stories, but a real life hero. Jesus has compassion on the weak,
the needy, the poor the outcast. He has harsh words to say to those who abuse
others and put themselves first.
He comes to offer mercy, grace,
kindness, forgiveness and love, if only people will come to him, relinquish
their desire to be the god of their universe and let Him be that.
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