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Jesus. Who Is This Man?

“… the single most powerful figure—not merely in these two millenniums but in all human history—has been Jesus of Nazareth.” R Price, Jesus at 2000 (Cover), Time, 6 Dec 1999
Solving the Riddle of Life
Is there a short cut to solving the riddle of life? Comedian Andrew Denton is quite serious when he says:

I'm overwhelmed by the pointlessness of existence.

Well known radio and TV commentator and writer Philip Adams says that he believes we live in a meaningless universe. Our only destiny, he says, is the Second Law of thermodynamics, that is, we die, we decay, and that's it! Is there some sure way of testing such pessimistic assertions about the meaninglessness of life?

The Bible says the opposite-that there is meaning to life. Is there a shortcut to testing whether or not Christianity is true?
Yes, there is! It is the answer to the question: What is the real nature of the man Jesus, who appeared two thousand years ago in Palestine claiming to be the Solution for the problems of the world?
Who is this Man?

The pop group Powderfinger won four top awards at the 15th Annual ARIA Music Awards in Sydney. In their song "JC" ('Double Allergic' album) they sing:

Oh Jesus Christ, what name do you go by now
For time is passing, with the wind blows new decrees
Canned for life, your use by date is faded
And followers of you now watch TV

Is Jesus out of date? This is no small issue. Millions of people believe that He is God.
The Bible says that following Jesus is a life and death matter. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23 NIV). You can see this in an Online Bible, with a single mouse-click on the "Romans 6:23 NIV" hyperlink.
Therefore, what is the real nature of Jesus Christ, the Founder of Christianity?
THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY STANDS OR FALLS ON THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION.
Jesus is either a LIAR, a LUNATIC, or the LORD.

The Tremendous Claims of Jesus

Jesus' Claims to Be God

Liar, Lunatic or Lord?

Thomas Schultz writes:

Not one recognised religious leader, not Moses, Paul, Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, etc., have ever claimed to be God; that is, with the exception of Jesus Christ. Christ is the only religious leader who has ever claimed to be deity [God] and the only individual ever who has convinced a great portion of the world that He is God.

(The Doctrine of the Person of Christ, p 209)

The claims that Jesus made are quite staggering.
If someone came along today and said the sort of things he said, he would be laughed out of town. He wouldn't even get a hearing.
We'd tell him, "You've gone round the bend, mate!"
Yet there has never been anyone who has made such far-out claims as Jesus did and been counted sane by a large portion of the world.
In fact most would acknowledge Jesus as a great moral teacher, yet He claimed to be much more.
So let’s look at some of Jesus’ claims ...

1. What did Jesus claim had been given to Him? (Matthew 28:18-20)
    Power to disregard God's commandments.
    Power over angels.
    All authority in Heaven and on Earth.

2. What did Jesus claim He could do? (Matthew 9:1-8)
    Get people out of trouble.
     Forgive people's sins.
    Make people wealthy.

3. While Jesus said we needed forgiveness for sin (who hasn't made a mistake?), what did He say about Himself? (John 8:46)
    Can anyone prove me guilty of sin?
    I have never been caught sinning.
    I cannot sin at all as I am God's Son.

Jesus claimed that those who believe in Him would receive eternal life. He said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) At the graveside of His friend Lazarus, when He raised him from the dead, Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life." (John 11:25, 26)
The Character of Jesus
The deeds of Christ matched His words. If a single flaw could be found in the record of His life, we would have the right to reject Him and His claims. But no such flaw exists. Those who live closest to us know us the best, and those who lived closest to Jesus found no fault in Him. His closest followers could say, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8), yet notice their claims about Jesus.

The Testimony of His Friends

4. How did Peter, one of Jesus' closest followers, describe Jesus? (1 Peter 1:19)
    The lamb of God.
    A lamb without blemish, or defect.
    The lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

5. How much sin did John, another of Jesus' closest followers, say was in Jesus? (1 John 3:5)
    Jesus had no sin.
    Jesus had a little sin.
    Jesus was totally sinful.

6. In temptation, how did He differ from us? (Hebrews 4:15)
    He was never tempted like us.
    He enjoyed wrestling with temptation.
    He was tempted just like us, in every way, but never sinned.

Pop singer PETER GARRETT of Midnight Oil fame says the message of Jesus "gives us a purpose, a hope, the ability to go on."

"The historian . . . writes the name of Jesus of Nazareth at the top of the world's greatest characters." (H G Wells)

"... the single most powerful figure-not merely in these two millenniums but in all human history-has been Jesus of Nazareth." R Price, Jesus at 2000 (Cover), Time, Dec 6, 1999

The Testimony of His Enemies

7. What judgment did Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, make about Jesus? (Luke 23:4,13-16)
     I find no basis for a charge against this man.
     I find that this man is guilty as charged.
     This man is guilty and we must punish him.

At the trial of Jesus, the religious leaders had to bring in false witnesses with trumped-up charges against Him. (Matthew 26:59-63).

8. What did Judas, the follower who betrayed Jesus, say that he had done? (Matthew 27:4)
     I have done the right thing.
     Jesus asked me to betray Him.
     I have sinned and betrayed innocent blood.

The Roman centurion who was commander over a hundred soliders, in witnessing the crucifixion of Jesus, said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15:39).

The Predictions of Jesus

Light of the worldIs there some way to test Jesus' claims? Yes there is!

His predictions about the future are a simple test
of the truthfulness of His claims to be God.

9. What influence did Jesus claim He had? (John 8:12)
    To be the best world leader.
    To be the best healer.
    To be the light of the world.

Just as the sun is the source of all life and energy in the physical world, so Jesus claims to be the inspiration of all life spiritually. The life and teachings of Jesus have inspired that which the world considers the very best in every area of life.

Courtesy Christus Rex
Portion of Sistine Chapel: Creation of Adam

THE ARTS In the arts, Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, in Rome, is considered one of the greatest masterpieces.

George Frederick Handel
George Frederick Handel
MUSIC Handel's Messiah is recognised as the height of musical genius.
LITERATURE Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and Milton's Paradise Lost the best in literature.
Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Issac Newton
SCIENCE Modern science was born out of the Christian world view. Scientists such as Sir Isaac Newton; German astronomer Johannes Keppler; Michael Faraday, the discoverer of electromagnetic induction, etc. were all motivated by their devotion to Jesus.
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
WELFARE Our hospitals and welfare institutions were begun by people who were motivated by love for Jesus. Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, was a devoted follower of Jesus. Likewise, Dr Barnardo, with children's orphanages.
CHANGED LIVES Millions in lands around the world have had their lives changed for the better by the religion of this Man.

10. What did Jesus say would pass away before His words would? (Matthew 24:35)
    The Roman occupation of Israel.
    Heaven and earth.
    The Old Testament prophecies.

Survival of the Bible

Written on the stones of buildings, printed in millions of books, inscribed on the hearts of men and women, are the timeless words of Jesus. At births, marriages and deaths, in times of joy and in times of grief, His words flow, as inspiration and comfort. Only one who was God could speak as Christ spoke, only one divine-the one who fashions the future-could foretell the unfading influence of His words. About 640 million Bibles and Bible portions are published each year. The Bible is still the world's bestseller!
World Circulation of Scriptures by Bible Societies - 2002
Bibles 24,968,093
Testaments 22,596,848
Portions (eg Gospel) 20,729,023
New Reader Portions* 12,872,976
New Reader Selections* 40,364,596
Selections 456,583,984
*New Reader Portions, Selections, and other portions less than a chapter
The Gospel of Jesus

Light of the world

The word "gospel" means "good news."
The "good news" Jesus taught was that He would set up a new world order without evil, suffering or death.
He predicted this message would "be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." (Matthew 24:14)

11. What did Jesus predict about His death and resurrection? (Matthew 17:22-23; Luke 24:6-7.)
    They would kill him and on the third day he would be resurrected.
    His legs would be broken and side pierced.
    The Roman soldiers would try and guard his tomb.

The Empty Tomb
Many people die for false causes that they believe to be true, but no-one would be prepared to die for something they knew was a lie. Yet most of Jesus' disciples died for their belief in Him.
If the resurrection of Jesus were a hoax, the disciples would have known about it. It was the resurrection of Jesus that changed them from frightened followers to courageous Christians.
The great Oxford and Cambridge scholar C S Lewis said:

"I am trying here to prevent anyone 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. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said 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. 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 patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." (Mere Christianity, pages 52, 53)

How did a penniless Jew who lived nearly two thousand years ago, who never wrote a book, or travel out of Palestine, who preached for three years and then was executed as a criminal by the Romans, have such an influence?
The only natural explanation is the supernatural one, that He is God.
Only one who was God could make predictions with such accuracy and detail. Jesus stands justified by His predictions. Likewise, both Old and New Testaments of the Bible are guaranteed as truth by His divine endorsement.

Solving the Riddle of Life

Here then, is the shortcut to solving the riddle of life. Jesus, and the Bible He inspired, is the "way and the truth and the life." Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away." (John 14:6; 6:35, 37)

Cliff Richard

"I Found the Answer"

During the 1960s Cliff Richard made it to the top of the entertainment profession.

"But there was something missing," he said. "I began to look at Buddhism and other 'isms' and then I began to read the Bible. I found that I could not fault Jesus. I continued to read and ask questions over the next three years. Then one night I lay on my bed and said, 'Well Lord, if you say that you are standing at the door knocking, then come in!'" (Good News! Bible Society NSW, Australia)

12. We can do that too! How would you like to respond to what you have learned about Jesus?
     I've found this guide helpful in understanding who Jesus really is.
     I would like to learn more about Jesus.
     I'd like to do what Cliff did and invite Jesus to come into my life.


You have just completed Topic 1.
Look forward to Topic 2 ...
Can We Trust the Bible, which discusses whether the Bible is a reliable and valid reference source.
This first lesson guide was just a preview of the course, you are not enrolled for this Course yet.
You have the option of doing this Course, via the Internet, or via Australia Post.
If you enrol for the Internet or online Course, remember to try the Quiz or Review Sheet at the end of Lesson 1.

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