Surely Jesus is the Christ

Was Jesus of Nazareth truly the Christ the Son of the living God? Is it possible that single-handedly He could have perpetrated a mass deception upon all mankind? Could this lowly Nazarene have involved His own mother in a lie even to the point where she would stand and watch her own son suffer and die on a cruel cross for something she knew to be false? Could Jesus have persuaded twelve Galileans from different educational backgrounds and social casts to abandon their jobs to follow Him? Could He have convinced these men to assist Him in promulgating enthusiastically a doctrine they never really believed to be true?

What about Prophecy?

Is it possible that this man from Nazareth could have fulfilled every prophecy recorded in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah, exactly as it was stated, at the exact time, place, and in the exact manner of fulfillment, without making a single mistake? Was it by chance that God made use of an event in world politics to effect the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the place Jesus was to be born (Luke 2:1, 4-7; Micah 5:2; Matt. 2:6)? Was it by mere chance that Jesus was carried to Egypt to escape the awful decree of Herod the Great and thereby fulfill another prophecy (Num. 24:8; Matt. 2:15)? Upon His entry into Jerusalem in the closing days of His ministry, was it by chance that the owners of a small colt and the Lord's disciples all cooperated in releasing and bringing the young animal to Him that the scriptures might be fulfilled (Zech. 9:9; Matt. 21:4; Lk. 19:24-35)? Was it a mere guess that Jesus foretold the events surrounding His own death and resurrection (Jn. 18:32; Matt. 20:19; Luke 24:44-46)?

What about the Miracles?

Is it possible that the wonders performed by Jesus (which were not done in a corner – Acts 26:26) were tricks and not miracles? Even by removing all hearsay evidence and by performing wonders even before the eyes of prejudiced viewers, it is possible that Jesus could have fooled all the people all of the time? Did Jesus restrict Himself to the alleged cure of aches and pains as modern-day fake-healers do? Did He not restore sight to the blind and raise the dead (John 9:1-41; 11:1-46)? His bitterest enemies, the Scribes and Pharisees, admitted the miracles that he wrought (John 9:16; 11:47; Acts 4:16). If Jesus had failed in just one attempt to heal somebody, would not His bitterest enemies, including the Roman government, have published it in foot-long headlines throughout the whole world?

Was Jesus Resurrected?

Assuming all would agree that Jesus of Nazareth died and was buried, what is the probability that His disciples, as dejected and as unbelieving as they already were, would feign the report that Jesus was raised from the dead? Since Jesus had claimed that He would be raised from the dead after three days, Pilate had the stone sealed around the new tomb (Luke 23:53) and set a watch. He straitly commanded his soldiers, saying, “You have a watch, go your way, make it as sure as you can (Matthew 27:62-66). If it be claimed that the body of Jesus was stolen, we can immediately rule out the possibility of the Jews or the Romans having stolen it. It took a large sum of money and a promise of the intervention by the entire Jewish leadership to get the soldiers to say the body was stolen (Matt. 28:11-15). If the disciples stole the body, where would they hide it? The Roman guard probably numbered from fifteen to sixty men. There were thousands of hostile Jews in Jerusalem at this time. The city covered about 300 acres; the streets were narrow; the buildings were crowded. There were 250,000 natives of Jerusalem, and, according to Josephus, three million were there for the Passover feast.

If we assume that the disciples stole the body, is it probable that they would continue to preach the doctrine of the resurrection which they themselves knew to be untrue? Would they have suffered violent deaths (as most of them did) for a lie? Among the many appearances of Jesus following His resurrection, He appeared to over 500 brethren at once (1 Cor. 15:6). Could this have been a case of mass deception? Is it not probable that just one soul out of 500 would be left alive who could show that Jesus was not raised and that the whole things was one big gigantic lie?

The Overwhelming Conclusion!

Since it is mathematically improbable that Jesus of Nazareth could have gotten His mother, His disciples, the apostles, His bitterest enemies, and all others involved in His life, to act together exactly as they did, in the right way, at the right time, and for the exact purpose of confirming the fact that He is the Christ; and since it is improbable that one man could perpetrate a universal deception without a single mistake, and have the entire weight of Old Testament history behind His every action, the overwhelming evidence leads any reasonable and honest man to the inescapable conclusion, that, SURELY, JESUS IS THE CHRIST!

View Full Post Source: SouthsideOnline.org Articles