(continued…) Secondly, very few would accuse Jesus of lying, but to call the miraculous accounts in the Gospels ‘Legends,’ is to accuse somebody else of lying. If Jesus did not heal the sick, feed the 5,000, calm the storm, raise the dead, and rise from the dead himself, others must have added that all later. Therefore, everything in EmailMeditation #3156 about whether or not Jesus could have been a liar; all of that about lying to get out of trouble and not into trouble; all of that now applies to the disciples. To say many stories about Jesus were mere legends simply shifts the blame for the deception onto the disciples. Jesus, according to this theory, was indeed a great moral teacher, but never said anything crazy or deceptive. It was the disciples who perverted his message, inventing and propagating the lie that Jesus was something more than a man, the Son of God, and all that.
The Gospels were written in the first century, and so it would have been those first-generation Christians that were proclaiming those lies. Therefore, we have to ask, what on earth did they have to gain by it? This theory simply moves the same questions about Jesus as a liar one step down the line. Again, we must ask, what did the disciples gain from their deception? The answer is absolutely nothing. Only one of the disciples died a natural death. All the others were killed for proclaiming Jesus as the Risen Lord, and in the most unpleasant ways. Peter was crucified upside-down, others were sawed in half, thrown overboard to sharks, beheaded, stoned, or skinned alive. Many of the early Christians who believed in Jesus as Lord were dragged from their homes and thrown to the lions. Why would anyone lie to invite that kind of treatment?
You might well endure all that if you believed in heaven, and, if you believed in heaven because you saw Jesus back from the dead. But no one would endure all that for a lie. By the middle of the first century, a mere twenty years after Jesus’ resurrection, there was a strong Christian community in Jerusalem. This was the city in which Jesus was crucified and buried; where the authorities could have easily produced the dead body of Jesus to stop the movement. But there was no body, Jesus was in heaven, and his message was spreading all around the Mediterranean. It was a long time before anyone had anything to gain by being a Christian, so why would anyone maintain a lie to do so? One of the greatest proofs of the Christian faith is the existence of the church. How did it get started, based on the resurrection of a man, killed by the authorities, and buried in the very city in which he was proclaimed to be alive? Christianity began in a hostile environment. All who were in power were against it, both the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman government. And it began not as a Legend proclaimed decades later, but within the lifetimes of those who saw it all.
Jesus was not a Lunatic, a Liar, or a Legend. Only one possibility remains, and this one also begins with ‘L.’ Jesus was, and is, our Lord, just as he said. Jesus is LORD over all life and death, Savior of the world, God himself visiting his creation. I need not describe that option any further here. That is what this daily blog and my entire “Getting to Know Jesus” website is all about.
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.
–Acts 16:31
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“I prefer to believe those writers who get their throats cut for what they write.”
–Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), French inventor, mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and adult convert to Christianity
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II Peter 1:12-19 — So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
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O God, who hast proven Thy love for mankind by sending us Jesus Christ our Lord, and hast illumined our human life by the radiance of his presence, I give Thee thanks for this Thy greatest gift.
For my Lord’s days upon the earth;
For the record of his deeds of love;
For the words he spoke for my guidance and help;
For his obedience unto death;
For his triumph over death;
For the presence of His spirit with me now;
I thank Thee, O God.
Grant that the remembrance of the blessed life that was once lived out on this common earth under these ordinary skies may remain with me in all the tasks and duties of this day. Let me remember:
His eagerness, not to be ministered unto, but to minister;
His sympathy with suffering of every kind;
His bravery in the face of his own suffering;
His meekness of bearing, so that, when reviled, He reviled not in return;
His steadiness of purpose in keeping to his appointed task;
His simplicity;
His self-discipline;
His serenity of spirit;
His complete reliance upon Thee, His Father in heaven.
And in each of these ways give me grace to follow in His footsteps.
Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I commit all my ways unto Thee. I turn over my soul to Thy keeping. I pledge my life to Thy service. May this day be for me a day of obedience and of charity, a day of happiness and of peace. May all my walk and conversation be such as becometh the gospel of Christ. Amen.
John Baillie, Diary of Private Prayer, 1949; Sixth Day, Morning.
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