The Coming of Truth

 Last Sunday’s sermon was preached by Brother Kevin on “The Coming of Truth” (John 8: 48-58). The sermon and the whole service can be watched on our WIC YouTube Channel:


Intro

- Jesus said He came to reveal the truth.

- John 18:37: Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

- Many try to deny the truth that Jesus revealed.

- They try attack his humanity in order to invalidate his divinity.

- As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, let us try to understand a bit more about the man called Jesus

1) His Humanity

- Most scholars agree that Jesus was a real person.

- There are 40 independant texts that refer to Him

- They agree that He was a carpenter from Nazareth, was baptized by John, was a preacher and healer and died by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate.

- The evidence for Jesus is myriad - they were written by his believers, historians and his opponents.

- In fact, historians agree that Jesus was one of the best documented individuals in history.

- These were eye witness accounts:
   - by AD 95, Clement of Rome was already quoting from the gospels and epistles - proving they were already in circulation at that time..
   - AD 144, the first 22 books of the NT were already compiled.

- In contrast, the Hadiths were only compiled 230 years AFTER the death of Muhammad.


2) His Divinity

- Historians stop short of acknowledging the ressurection of Christ.

- They do however, acknowledge that His followers believed in the resurrection - to the point of death.

- At the time confessing the resurrection of Christ was a death sentence.

- Thallus a Greek historian wrote about the darkness after the crucifixtion in AD 55, trying to explain it as a normal solar eclipse.

- Josephus was a Jewish historian born in AD 26. He was a devout Jew and wrote
"Around this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, [added - if indeed one ought to call him a man]. For he was one who did surprising deeds and a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was called [added - was] the Messiah. When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who in the first place came to love him did not give up their affection for him, for on the third day, he appeared to them restored to life. The prophets of God had prophesied this and countless other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of Christians, so called after him, have still to this day not died out."

- Paul himself was a staunch opponent of Christianity by his own admission and yet he remains the most prolofic advicate for Christs deity today.

- When we look at the evidence, we can conclude that either a mass hysteria possesed the early church or that the apostles really did witness a risen Christ.


Summary

- As we approach Christmas, do we accept both the humanity and divinity of Christ?

- Many who are not Christian acknowledge Him, but very few choose to embrace the whole truth.


1 John 2:21-23 NIV
[21] I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. [22] Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. [23] No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

- I would like to end with a quite from a song about this man who lived 2000 years ago:

One man, came to reveal a mystery
Changing the course of history
Made the claim, He was God

Ageless, born of a virgin Mary
Spoke with a voice that's carried
Through the years
It's persevered... 

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