Historicity of
the New Testament
part 7
Other amazing demonstrations of validity of the New Testament rendering of Christ are also revealed in the historical vindication of statements made by Christ himself.
In John 18, Jesus identifies himself as the “light of the world.” This seems on the surface as megalomania gone awry. If someone said that today, they would be ushered to the funny farm post haste, especially if they were a world leader or someone with position and power. Jesus, however, was nothing at the time except a lowly carpenter with a rag tag crew of followers.
Yet this insane assertion, made either by the carpenter’s son himself or perhaps by the writer for the fictional character he was creating, has been remarkably fulfilled for two thousand years as directed prophesy. The world’s greatest paintings, most beautiful music and literature have all been influenced by the person of Jesus Christ.
Think about the man who lived by the pool for 38 years while people came and went for healing of their bodies. Every time the waters would stir, someone would beat him to it. He believed he could not get himself there to be healed. Where was the Peace Corps? Where was the Christian Children’s fund? Can you think of ANY historically recorded charity from the past, even in the Roman Empire, who made an impact for the poor and down trodden? Where is the “Mother Teresa” of the past? They don’t exist.
Most of the world’s Hospitals, great educational institutions and charitable organizations have been created in His name. This is also true of social reforms such as the abolition of slavery. There have been millions over the last two centuries who have found that following Jesus affords them the opportunity to receive the light of life.
Realistically, instead of the ravings of some ego maniac, or philosophizing fictional character, the words of Christ have been proven, by historical revelation, to have been the sanest and truest words ever spoken.
Christ also says, “Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but not one word, not one stroke of a pen of my word shall ever pass away.” Who would he be to think that an obscure carpenter’s son, from some despised nation with only a few close allies who really knew him, would have anything to say that wold interest the entire world? We’d tell him to get a life.
And yet, for two thousand years, his words have NOT passed away. They have been heard and read and loved by more people in more nations all over the world than any other person who has ever lived.
As I have said, the Romans had no charities, and condemned criminals where slowly tortured to death on a cross for crimes against the state. Jesus told his followers that he too would be killed in this way. This certainly doesn’t bring anyone a vision of something to be looked forward to. In fact just the opposite is true, this kind of death was best not to be witnessed at all and quickly forgotten.
Christ told his followers that if he be lifted up on the cross, that he would draw all men to himself. Sure enough, grave yards are full of crosses over tombs all over the world. People from every walk of life, every nation, every level of education, every age, every level of wealth, have been drawn to the cross. Who could have predicted such a thing within human reason??? But there it is, littered across the landscape of history all over the world.
Jesus also said; “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” This is an impossible claim that also has been fulfilled in history. That a group of followers lead by an ignorant and impulsive fisherman (Peter), would be perpetuated and multiplied despite opposition and intense persecution from all sides, is a pipe dream at best. Even more ridiculous is the notion that this church would be built upon Peter’s belief the Jesus was the Son of God. But the dream continues even to this day.
Jesus also predicted that knowledge of him would reach the “ends of the Earth”. This too would seem a lunatic’s rhetoric given the times and impossibility of the notion during that time. But today, tech developments have seen to it that this same Word from an obscure carpenter are heard all over the known world, and still this continues.
Amazingly, there is nothing that has been said in Christ’s name that has NOT come true. Some things have yet to manifest, but there is NO record of something having failed.
Ezekiel 11:19
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
One need only read of the outlandish human rights tragedies that are common place in the Old Testament to see that indeed something else has happened to mankind since the life of Christ graced the Earth.
Just a few outrageous examples, or at least ones WE would call outrageous: Samson has a first wife whom he at first likes, then she gives him trouble. He has her burned as a result, or set on fire, if you will. Jezebel is a woman who seeks power where there is none for her, she is killed, and her body thrown to the dogs. All they find left of her is her hands and her head. A king has 70 sons, or princes, and when he is disposed, all the sons are killed, then beheaded, and the skulls are separated into two bags and brought to the gates of the city and placed into two piles at the doors. These were probably kids, too. When Joshua was told to invade the land of Canaan, he was told to slaughter even the women and children, and then burn everything.
Ask yourself a question: If God the Father told YOU to run down helpless women and children with a sword and slaughter them, could you do it? Joshua was obedient of course, but had no problem with it. This is the way the world was. People back then knew no human rights, no social reforms, no charity. Yet today, our answer to God would probably be “No, I won’t slaughter children, even for greater reasons God may have.” Because, you know, Jesus would never ask you to do that. The world of that day also did not have the Holy Spirit raining down on them. Today you have a heart of flesh that those people did not know of, they only knew a heart of stone and had to be dealt with accordingly.
part 7
Other amazing demonstrations of validity of the New Testament rendering of Christ are also revealed in the historical vindication of statements made by Christ himself.
In John 18, Jesus identifies himself as the “light of the world.” This seems on the surface as megalomania gone awry. If someone said that today, they would be ushered to the funny farm post haste, especially if they were a world leader or someone with position and power. Jesus, however, was nothing at the time except a lowly carpenter with a rag tag crew of followers.
Yet this insane assertion, made either by the carpenter’s son himself or perhaps by the writer for the fictional character he was creating, has been remarkably fulfilled for two thousand years as directed prophesy. The world’s greatest paintings, most beautiful music and literature have all been influenced by the person of Jesus Christ.
Think about the man who lived by the pool for 38 years while people came and went for healing of their bodies. Every time the waters would stir, someone would beat him to it. He believed he could not get himself there to be healed. Where was the Peace Corps? Where was the Christian Children’s fund? Can you think of ANY historically recorded charity from the past, even in the Roman Empire, who made an impact for the poor and down trodden? Where is the “Mother Teresa” of the past? They don’t exist.
Most of the world’s Hospitals, great educational institutions and charitable organizations have been created in His name. This is also true of social reforms such as the abolition of slavery. There have been millions over the last two centuries who have found that following Jesus affords them the opportunity to receive the light of life.
Realistically, instead of the ravings of some ego maniac, or philosophizing fictional character, the words of Christ have been proven, by historical revelation, to have been the sanest and truest words ever spoken.
Christ also says, “Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but not one word, not one stroke of a pen of my word shall ever pass away.” Who would he be to think that an obscure carpenter’s son, from some despised nation with only a few close allies who really knew him, would have anything to say that wold interest the entire world? We’d tell him to get a life.
And yet, for two thousand years, his words have NOT passed away. They have been heard and read and loved by more people in more nations all over the world than any other person who has ever lived.
As I have said, the Romans had no charities, and condemned criminals where slowly tortured to death on a cross for crimes against the state. Jesus told his followers that he too would be killed in this way. This certainly doesn’t bring anyone a vision of something to be looked forward to. In fact just the opposite is true, this kind of death was best not to be witnessed at all and quickly forgotten.
Christ told his followers that if he be lifted up on the cross, that he would draw all men to himself. Sure enough, grave yards are full of crosses over tombs all over the world. People from every walk of life, every nation, every level of education, every age, every level of wealth, have been drawn to the cross. Who could have predicted such a thing within human reason??? But there it is, littered across the landscape of history all over the world.
Jesus also said; “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” This is an impossible claim that also has been fulfilled in history. That a group of followers lead by an ignorant and impulsive fisherman (Peter), would be perpetuated and multiplied despite opposition and intense persecution from all sides, is a pipe dream at best. Even more ridiculous is the notion that this church would be built upon Peter’s belief the Jesus was the Son of God. But the dream continues even to this day.
Jesus also predicted that knowledge of him would reach the “ends of the Earth”. This too would seem a lunatic’s rhetoric given the times and impossibility of the notion during that time. But today, tech developments have seen to it that this same Word from an obscure carpenter are heard all over the known world, and still this continues.
Amazingly, there is nothing that has been said in Christ’s name that has NOT come true. Some things have yet to manifest, but there is NO record of something having failed.
Ezekiel 11:19
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
One need only read of the outlandish human rights tragedies that are common place in the Old Testament to see that indeed something else has happened to mankind since the life of Christ graced the Earth.
Just a few outrageous examples, or at least ones WE would call outrageous: Samson has a first wife whom he at first likes, then she gives him trouble. He has her burned as a result, or set on fire, if you will. Jezebel is a woman who seeks power where there is none for her, she is killed, and her body thrown to the dogs. All they find left of her is her hands and her head. A king has 70 sons, or princes, and when he is disposed, all the sons are killed, then beheaded, and the skulls are separated into two bags and brought to the gates of the city and placed into two piles at the doors. These were probably kids, too. When Joshua was told to invade the land of Canaan, he was told to slaughter even the women and children, and then burn everything.
Ask yourself a question: If God the Father told YOU to run down helpless women and children with a sword and slaughter them, could you do it? Joshua was obedient of course, but had no problem with it. This is the way the world was. People back then knew no human rights, no social reforms, no charity. Yet today, our answer to God would probably be “No, I won’t slaughter children, even for greater reasons God may have.” Because, you know, Jesus would never ask you to do that. The world of that day also did not have the Holy Spirit raining down on them. Today you have a heart of flesh that those people did not know of, they only knew a heart of stone and had to be dealt with accordingly.
Ezekiel 11:19
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
Where did you get that heart of flesh?
All these things we have reviewed have no rational explanation if Jesus was not who He said he was, God come in the Flesh. You can’t get away with the assertion that the writers exaggerated his claims or miss quoted him. The writers were not idiots, they would have been shocked by the lunatic fringe rhetoric they were hearing, and they would have softened things up a bit to make Jesus’ words more acceptable. The claims have been fulfilled, whether Jesus said them or not. You can’t charge the now dead writer’s with manufacturing the fulfillments. If Christianity were false, and incorrectly represented as is claimed by many all over the world, then this is a greater miracle than if we were just reviewing the Words of Christ and the resulting truths of reality that follow, all on thier own.
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
Where did you get that heart of flesh?
All these things we have reviewed have no rational explanation if Jesus was not who He said he was, God come in the Flesh. You can’t get away with the assertion that the writers exaggerated his claims or miss quoted him. The writers were not idiots, they would have been shocked by the lunatic fringe rhetoric they were hearing, and they would have softened things up a bit to make Jesus’ words more acceptable. The claims have been fulfilled, whether Jesus said them or not. You can’t charge the now dead writer’s with manufacturing the fulfillments. If Christianity were false, and incorrectly represented as is claimed by many all over the world, then this is a greater miracle than if we were just reviewing the Words of Christ and the resulting truths of reality that follow, all on thier own.
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