CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 A Look at Jesus’ Life
Chapter 3 Jesus’ Identity
Chapter 4 Jesus’ Preparation
Chapter 5 Jesus’ Ministry
Chapter 6 Jesus’Teaching
Chapter 7 Jesus’ Death
Chapter 8 Jesus’ Resurrection
Chapter 9 A Time to Reflect
Chapter 10 The Alternative
Chapter 11 In Conclusion
Appendix
Chapter 1
Introduction
This is part 3 of the series “Is the Bible True” using the analogy of a lighthouse. Although called Part 3, it is complete in itself and does not depend on having read the earlier booklets.
Part 1 looked at the creation and foundations of the Bible, creating order out of disorder,
Part 2 the building blocks- that was the Jewish nation. These comprised the writings of the Old Testament, which foretold the coming of Jesus as “God with Us”.
Part 3 fulfils that prophecy, by God coming down to live among us as a real human being. It looks at the life of Jesus in the New Testament, where he describes himself as the Light of the World, completing our lighthouse analogy. But as with all analogies this is incomplete elsewhere he is pictured as the cornerstone, the foundation stone, and also the capstone- the final stone at the top of a building, so we will be looking at Jesus as the founder and the finisher of the Christian faith. The apostle John, as we will explore later, recognises the pre-existence of Jesus not just as a prophet who brings the word of God but the Word made Flesh, in other words, God himself, with a human body.
As before, the approach will be
● To present the Bible as an authentic document, by examining what it says, to test the truth or otherwise of what is written and explore its relevance for our generation.
● To makethe Bible accessible to the ordinary reader who doesn’t have any specific scientific, literary or theological knowledge, making it as comfortable to read as picking up a mystery novel. I use the word mystery as it contains statements which need explaining.
● And, most importantly, to show a way to achieve personal fulfilment in life, with the help of a God who cares about you, even loves you, a God you can know personally. This immediately poses another question- how can we personally know the God who is creator of the universe?
If you do not have a copy of the Bible, it is worth buying one so that you can look up the context of the Bible references. The New International Version is excellent. You may prefer a different version, of which there are several. The Good News Bible deserves aspecial mention as it combines reliability with simple and straightforward language.
But if you do not wish to buy one yet, it is readily available online on a number of websites including www.biblestudytools.com and www.biblegateway.com, which provide not just the text of the Bible, but also explanations to help to understand it.
But can a book written some 2000 years ago really have any relevance to us today? Anemphatic Yes! Quite simply, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.
As we look at the life of Jesus, I will respond to the questions in that verse by Rudyard Kipling. For the benefit of those who have not read the earlier parts, I repeat it here.
“I keep six honest serving-men,
They taught me all I knew;
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.”
We seem to have been created to ask questions, questions which our innate curiosity causes us to ask to try to make sense of what we see around us and how we fit into the greater scheme of things. Good questions to ask as we explore the New Testament.
The life of Jesus, a person unique in history, is described in the first four books of the New Testament, the Gospels. His parents were called Mary and Joseph. Only it is not quite as simple as that. It would seem a somewhat unlikely story. His mother, engaged to Joseph but not married, became pregnant without having had sex.
Not only that, it is about this man who was dead and then came back to life again. We will respond to the what, the how and the why later! But as you read on, perhaps you will realise that it is fact not fiction, truth not falsehood and that it all really happened.
So Part 3 is about unpacking this unlikely story, demonstrating its truth and what it can mean to each one of us. It is a call to faith in the invisible God.
The Key Message of the New Testament
Karl Barth, an influential 20th century theologian, was asked by a student if he could summarise his whole life’s work in theology in one sentence. Barth allegedly said something like, “Yes, I can. In the words of a song I learned as a child- Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” That simple statement is what Part 3 is about, examining its implications for each one of us how he demonstrated that love. Expanding on that statement, in the words of John’s gospel Chapter 3, “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son that anyone who believes in him shall not die but have everlasting life”, a summary of answers to the who, what, how and why. Now that really is Good News! What does it mean, “Gave his son?” Quite simply, God made Jesus a
substitute for us. It is the reality in this verse that underpins the entirety of the biblical narrative. We deserved to die because of our disobedience- our sin, but Jesus took our sin upon himself and was executed. In the Christian sense, it means releasing Christians from the consequences of their sin- death. Jesus’ death by crucifixion pays the price for our sin. But it didn’t stop there. He was raised from death to everlasting life. That everlasting life is promised to all who believe. The jargon word for that is that he redeems us.
Jesus’ life’s work was to demonstrate the love of God. He taught, preached, healed all manner of sicknesses and diseases, he showed love to all especially the downtrodden, founded a New Kingdom and invited all to enter into it showing The Way to achieve that. But the barrier is Sin. Sin separates. Sin is basically deviation from God’s standards the 10 Commandments which were revealed to Moses when the Israelites were in the wilderness, having escaped from slavery in Egypt. Their purpose was to provide guidance for the moral and spiritual lives of God’s people.The essence of them is to love God with your complete being, and to treat your neighbour, in its widest interpretation, as you would like to be treated yourself.
Jesus demonstrated and taught a wider interpretation of these, with the aim of giving the people an understanding of the Kingdom, or the Kingship, of God and the eternal – yes eternal, hope that they could fulfil through him.
It may be true, but so what? What is Christianity all about? What’s in it for Me?
Not surprisingly it’s all about Jesus Christ. Jesus’ own explanation was that he said “I have come that they may have life, life in all its fullness”. But we have to remember that a life that is full has times of hardship, difficulty and disappointment. Jesus is there in those times as well.
Many would say that they are fulfilled as they are, life is pretty good thank you, but I will refer back to an observation included in the first booklet where I coined a phrase “Good is the Enemy of the Best”. I was curious to see if someone else had already said this, so I carried out an internet search, and to my amazement, this is what I found. Voltaire, an 18th century French writer and philosopher observed that “The Best is the Enemy of Good”. He explained it by saying that “Close is sometimes Good Enough” and “Exact is far too costly”. Yes, it can be costly but what I am saying is that the best- a truly fulfilled life – is actually achievable through Jesus. But much more on that later.
The Gospel Writers
The life of Jesus is described in the first four books of the New Testament, calledcGospels (gospel simply means Good News)
Matthew’s gospel portrays Jesus as a King, Mark as a servant, Luke as a man, and John as the divine Son of God. Yes, he is all of those, encapsulated in this one person.
Who then is Jesus
We started part 1 with the words, “In the Beginning, God”. We start this section similarly, reading from John’s gospel, which takes us back to the creation accounts – “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” How was the Word made Flesh? By the manner in which Mary conceived, which we will explore later. Again, he was fully human, yet he was also fully God!
The Israelites had put their hope in the promise of a Messiah. A military leader, a king like King David who would free them from oppression by foreign forces to establish a New Kingdom under God’s rule. But their Messiah came as a helpless newborn baby who needed keeping warm, feeding, changing, just like every other baby in the world. As Stuart Townend expressed it in a modern hymn, “Fullness of God in Helpless Babe”. Or in a Charles Wesley hymn, “Our God Contracted to a Span, Incomprehensibly made Man.” Quite remarkable if you pause there and think about it!
As an adult Jesus criticised almost everything about the practices of the religious leaders, and their interpretation of the law. They never really came to terms with who Jesus was. He was their promised Messiah, but they did not recognise him as such. In the end they saw to it that he was executed. What they didn’t expect was that he would be brought back to life. He was executed on a Friday but raised by God from the dead on the third day, Sunday, two days later. But to everyone, including the Jewish people who do acknowledge him for who he was and is, he gives the right to become children of God- children born not of blood, not through the desire or will of man, but born of God, as citizens of a New Kingdom, the Kingdom of God.
Thus the Kingdom of God is a body of believers who have accepted this invitation and submitted to God as their head of state, their King. It is as if a state within a state.
So this is the story of Jesus, the founder of the Christian faith.
Christianity is a unique religion in that Jesus, the founder of Christianity, is presented as God coming down to the earth and living among us, and he is the only founder of a religion who does not have a grave.
So, again I pose the question, “What’s in it for Me?” Simply, a fulfilled life now, but that you are invited to entering into eternal life, beginning now, continuing after the death of your body- a body which is doomed to decay, to be raised back to life, like Jesus was, and live forever in that perfect place way beyond our wildest dreams where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will have passed away. This is described at the end of the final book of the Bible, Revelation. An out-of-this-world statement- literally, but hopefully by having accepted the authenticity of what has gone before this, you will accept the authenticity here. Are you tempted or maybe just curious? But remember! This is part of a new covenant which is a promise that God will forgive sin and restore the fellowship with people who turn to him and who would receive Life in all its Fullness.
Before we look at this in detail, here is a challenge. The challenge is to read the whole of one gospel in full. I would suggest Mark’s gospel. It is the shortest, and it confines itself to Jesus’ adult life from the start of his ministry. You may be surprised to know that if you do this you will have done something that many Christians have not done! Most Christians read anything from a couple of Bible verses to a couple of chapters of the Bible in one sitting, because there is so much in it. That method allows examination of the details of the passage, understand what the passage means, and apply it to our lives. Even so the knowledge gained can be somewhat fragmented. It’s like winding a fork in the middle of a bowl of spaghetti- it pulls strands in from all over the plate.
But consider the advantages of reading one book of the Bible in one sitting.
● You can keep track of characters and the plot.
● You can follow the unfolding of the narrative.
● You appreciate the context in which it was written.
● You cannotice themes more easily.
● You can read the books of the Bible how they were originally intended to be read.
l suggested Mark’s gospel, partly because it is the shortest but above all it is succinct and completely down to earth, concentrating on his ministry. It presents a call to wholehearted discipleship. It should take not more than a couple of hours of reflective reading. Read it in one sitting or maybe the first 8 chapters first and then come back later to read the second 8 chapters, because it really is a meaty read. The first 8
chapters are taken up with Jesus’ ministry of something under 3 years, but the whole of the second half is devoted to describing his teaching and healings in the last week of his life on earth, leading to his betrayal, arrest, trial, conviction and execution. It will give a foundation describing the whole period of Jesus’ ministry up to the time of his death.
Chapter 2
A Look at Jesus’ Life
In the next chapters we continue to unravel those questions, Who, What, When, Where, How and Why.
Reality Check
Did the events described in the gospel actually happen? Was it all made up? Are we into the realms of fairy stories? To answer this question we must simply look to the Jews, his fiercest opponents. Never have they denied the actual existence of Jesus Christ- his life, ministry and death. It is their interpretation of his life and ministry where the dispute would lie. For example, they had seen the way he healed people, but quarrelled with him on the occasions when he healed people on the Sabbath, which they saw as a day of rest.
The fact is that Jesus was a historical figure. There is no need to add that his life and death was a pivotal point in the whole of creation. A turning point for humanity. The beginning of a new world order, into which we are all invited to participate. His life story is presented in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke each from their own perspective. John’s gospel has a more theological approach.
It is helpful to split the study into four parts- his birth and the events that preceded it, his life, his death and the circumstances which led to it, and his resurrection from the dead. There is so much in what we will be looking at that is Super-natural.
Jesus’ Birth
We begin by looking at what happened to an engaged couple, Joseph and Mary, who lived in Nazareth, in the north of what is now modern day Israel.
In Luke’s gospel we read that an angel named Gabriel visited Mary, just a young teenager, telling her that she was going to have a baby, whom she should name Jesus.
We must pause here and first ask the question “What is an Angel?” The answer is that in the Bible an angel is simply a messenger from God, always depicted as a male figure with human form, but not confined to time and space as we are.
Mary asked the angel how it could happen, telling him that she was a virgin. He explained that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her and her child would be called the Son of the Most High. The angel was saying that Jesus would be conceived not out of a sexual relationship with Joseph, but through this miraculous act. What or who is the Holy Spirit? Quite simply, the Holy Spirit implies the presence of God.
Not surprisingly, she was astounded but perhaps more surprisingly she completely trusted what the angel said. So, as Gabriel had described, Mary became pregnant. Hence Jesus, although born as a human baby boy, is also described as the Son of God.
Here is Mary – engaged, but having chosen to retain her virginity for the marital relationship. How times change!- hasn’t having sex become just another recreational activity? Pregnant, but through the “overshadowing” by the Holy Spirit.
In her culture becoming pregnant would have been a reason for Joseph breaking off the relationship. She could even have been stoned to death. The simple truth is that God had decided that this was how it was going to be done. Joseph, although initially suspecting that Mary had been unfaithful, in faith accepted what the angel had said. We read that they did not actually consummate the marriage until after the baby was born.
The first few chapters of Luke’s gospel present the wider story.
But why was Jesus born in Bethlehem when their home was in Nazareth? It is interesting to note that this was foretold by the prophet Micah some 700 years before Jesus’ birth. Speaking of Bethlehem he said “Out of you will come one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Although heavily pregnant, Jesus’ parents had made a journey to Bethlehem from their home in Nazareth in the north. But Why? It was because the Emperor Augustus had ordered a census be taken throughout the Roman Empire of which Palestine was part. Everyone had to go to their hometown to register. So Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem, because he was a descendant of King David who had been born there, and there she gave birth to Jesus.
Here we must pause and reflect. Because this journey only takes up a few sentences in the Bible, there is much left to our imagination to understand the risks Mary and Joseph took to bring the Messiah into the world.
Mary was in the latter stages of her pregnancy. She could have gone into labour at any time. But she and Joseph set out with a donkey as their means of transport to Bethlehem some 150 km distant. They would have faced many hazards including lions, bears, bandits and robbers, not mentioning the rugged terrain. This journey would take probably four days or even more. But they made it. God saw to it that they did!
Because all other available accommodation was taken by other travellers, she gave birth to God in human form, in less than hygienic conditions- in a cowshed, with a feeding trough as a cradle.
Some time later they returned to Nazareth where Joseph was a carpenter. But throughout his childhood his parents had made him aware of his unique position and he spent much time studying the scriptures, what we now describe as the Old Testament.
Not much else is known about the next 20 years or thereabouts of his life up to the time when he began his ministry to the nation of Israel, but it is evident that he had become very familiar with the scriptures- the Law and the Prophets.
One of the descriptive names given to Jesus was Emmanuel. Another prophecy, this time by Isaiah, 700 years previously, said “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and shall bear a son who shall be named Emmanuel”, which means “God with Us”. It is a reminder that God did not leave his creation to itself. He was there for humankind from the beginning. He never left them, yet there were times when his chosen people abandoned him. And now we do have God with us, God in the flesh. Later we will read a statement of Jesus which says, “I am with you until the end of time”.
Chapter 3
Jesus’ Identity
Who Does Jesus Say that He Is?
In this next section we are getting back to foundations. Jesus is telling us who he is, his credentials and the source of his authority and what it implies to the world and to you and me. If you still need convincing then this chapter should provide affirmation of his identity. It contains some amazing statements, each worth pondering over its implications.
“I AM”
Others had introduced Jesus’ identity, but Jesus tells us himself in the statement, found in John 8:48-59, “Before Abraham was, I Am”. He is stating that even before Abraham’s life, he existed, acknowledging that although 100% human being, he is also 100% God, the Word- the Word made Flesh, there from the beginning. Doesn’t that cause you to stop and think?
So how else is Jesus describing himself? Let’s look at some of these statements in detail. They are all powerful metaphors and invite the use of your imagination, but more so to invite you into a new way of living.
In John 8:12 he says “I Am the Light of the World”, not only completing the lighthouse metaphor as a light guiding seagoing vessels, but also in the second half of the verse there is the promise that whoever follows him will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
In John 6:35, he says “Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” Shortly after Jesus had miraculously provided food for five thousand people, bread was on the minds of the many who had followed Him. He says to them, “do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures unto eternal life, which I will give you”. It is my Father, says Jesus, who gives you the true bread from heaven. The people clamour and say give us that bread, to which Jesus replies. “I Am the Bread of Life.
In John 10:14 Jesus says, “I Am the Good Shepherd. In the shepherd’s presence sheep are safe, cared for and protected. In this metaphor, we are his flock. He says, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep.” This may sound surprising when to an onlooker, one sheep looks just the same as the next, but farmers today who use traditional methods of shepherding would say that they know each of a hundred sheep individually. And when a sheep wanders off Jesus is saying that the shepherd would go on searching and searching until he finds it. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that anyone should be lost. In addition he is predicting that he is going to lay down his life. He is going to die to save us from death.
In John 10:7, when Jesus says “I Am the Gate to the Sheep”, he is really indicating that he is the way into the sheepfold. In ancient Palestine, Jewish shepherds brought their flocks back to the sheepfold for protection against predators after a day of grazing. Our predators are materialism and self gratification which only lead to death and would lure us from the real source of fulfilment. God is a God of judgement, remember? We are all subject to God’s judgement for those things for which we have not received forgiveness. But Jesus is saying that those who enter his “sheepfold” will receive life in all its fullness.
In John 11:25, Jesus says, “I Am the Resurrection and the Life. Those who believe in me will live even though they die and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” This statement is at the very heart of Jesus’ message. This is what the whole of the Bible up to now has been leading to and it will be achieved by the manner of his death and what happened two days later.
Jesus says in John 15:5, “I Am the Vine, you are the Branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.” He is saying that as a branch gets its sustenance from the body of the tree it is from him that we receive our sustenance. But we must not forget that vines get pruned, facilitating new growth and better fruit. The same applies to us.
Finally in John 14:6, Jesus says “I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the father except through me.”
The Way
He gives us the way of being saved from the consequences of sin. He goes before us and through both his life and his death makes it possible. In chapter 3 of the final book of the Bible, Revelation there is an invitation, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me”. He is inviting you to open the door of your life to him and allow him in.
The Truth.
He is truth- the sum and substance of all the truths in the gospels.
The Life.
He is the giver of fulfilled life- natural, spiritual and eternal. Remember that “Good is the Enemy of the Best”.
How’s that for a CV?
Hopefully this has broadened your horizons.
So this is the person whose life we will be exploring.
Chapter 4
Jesus’ Preparation
How HePrepared
When Jesus began his ministry, he spent 40 days in the wilderness where he spent his time fasting and praying. Prayer is a vast subject. The appendix to this booklet is devoted to expanding on what prayer is, what it means and its vital importance. It may be helpful to read it at this stage.
During this time he was tempted by the devil and resisted the various aspects of that temptation by quoting from the Hebrew scriptures, (what we know as the Old Testament). So how much more should we be conversant with the Bible, especially the gospels?
But Who or What is the Devil? The simplest definition would be that the Devil, or Satan as he is otherwise named, is the personification of evil, completely opposed to God- the presence which tries to deviate us from doing what is right in God’s sight- to blind us from God’s truth. But make no mistake, the power of God is greater than that of the Devil.
His Helpers and Companions
Recognised as a Rabbi, a teacher of the law, Jesus chose from his many followers twelve quite undistinguished men to be with him as his first disciples who he named apostles. This was unusual, as a Rabbi would normally choose those of high intellect, and already well versed in the scriptures to follow in his footsteps and subsequently become Rabbis themselves. But Jesus’ disciples were men in whom he saw special qualities. They were quite a varied bunch, a few were fishermen by trade, there were a number of nationalists- some of whom had a fanatical hatred for the Romans and saw the way forward as violent conflict. Then there was a tax collector- tax collectors were hated by the Jews. Finally there was Judas Iscariot, a nationalist. He appears to have
been the treasurer for the group. Not much is known about him apart from knowing that he dipped into the communal purse for his own personal use, and it was he who betrayed Jesus, leading to his trial and subsequent execution by crucifixion.
A male dominated society, but women played a crucial role in supporting him and were numbered among his disciples. In fact it was to Mary Magdalene that he first revealed himself when he had risen from the dead.
The twelve disciples stayed with him for most of the time. They were learning from him and putting into practice the things they had learnt, which they would continue when Jesus was no longer with them.
But Is Jesus Relevant Today?
We noted that the Apostle Paul recognised that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Moreover, human nature has not changed. Then as now, through him we can have a personal relationship with this living God in the here and now. So the answer to that question is an emphatic yes! In his own words, Jesus said “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
His mission was all about showing how to find peace in a troubled world. He achieved this by showing who he was and what he could do as a teacher, prophet, healer, miracle worker. He showed the importance of forgiving those who did things which were wrong, but more poignantly, how we can be forgiven ourselves. That was by his death, carrying the sin of the whole world, all our sin and wrongdoing.