Investigating Jesus - Week 1 - Youtube Transcript - NorthPoint, Andy Stanley

- So here is what might be an uncomfortable question for some of us and an interesting and maybe even helpful

and surprisingly honest question for others of us when it comes to knowing if there is a God.0:06

And if there is a God, what God is like. And when it comes to trying to figure out who God likes,0:15

does it really come down to the Bible tells us so,0:22

or any other religious literature tells us so? I mean, we're modern people, rational people.0:29

Are we really expected to believe what we believe or believe anything based on a collection0:36

of ancient manuscripts written by potentially dozens of men only who didn't even know each other over the course0:42

of hundreds and hundreds of years in a world without science in the way that we think of modern science,0:51

and in a world where everybody believed in the gods or some kind of God?0:58

I mean, let's just be honest, all right? Weren't they just making stuff up? I mean, weren't they just guessing?1:05

Weren't they just looking at the weather patterns and try to make sense of something that just didn't make any sense in that time?1:12

And along with that, and maybe this intersects with your life, should we really be surprised1:21

that modern people seems more and more are dismissing faith in general or deconstructing their faith,1:27

the terminology that we use now, and we begin to ask really hard questions or what seem to be hard questions about faith1:33

and realize we don't really have answers? And it's not that we're sure that we're right that religion is wrong,1:39

but because we're not sure that religion is right, we just step back and it's like, I'm not sure about that anymore.1:44

I mean, should we be surprised more and more people are doing that? Or to make it personal, should we be surprised that perhaps that's where you are?1:50

Or are you surprised that that's where you are? That maybe you're in the process of walking away1:57

or you just have so many questions you're starting to lean away or maybe you're listening or watching today. And honestly, nobody in your family knows this yet,2:02

but you have your hand on the doorknob. I mean, you're about to step away and outside of faith and you're not sure how your family's gonna respond,2:10

your friends are gonna respond, maybe even your employer is gonna respond, but you're just leaning that way.2:17

And if that all there is to this is the Bible tells us so, then we shouldn't be surprised.2:24

And you should be honest with yourself. I mean, if in fact the Christian faith balances precariously2:31

on the edge of ancient declarations of superstitious men,2:38

well then why not? Why not? But as it turns out and the reason we're talking about this,2:44

and maybe this is new, or maybe this is a reminder, or maybe it's just something you've heard before, but you need to hear it again,2:51

or maybe it's the thing you've always believed, but you need some more terminology, the truth is Christians are not expected to believe2:56

what we believe based on a collection of ancient manuscripts written by men who never met each other over the course of hundreds of years in a time when everybody3:04

was superstitious and everybody believed in the gods and there was no modern science.3:11

That the foundation of our faith... And we talk about this a lot here. The foundation of our faith3:16

is far more substantial than that. It's far more sustainable than that. It's even, as we're gonna discover,3:21

it's even investigable, investigable, which is actually a word. I don't like it.3:28

I like the word investigatable, but as it turns out, that is not actually a word. And the people who keep me between the lines grammatically3:34

said, "You can't use your word. You have to use the actual word." So this is it. So, and the good news is the Christian faith is investigable,3:41

which means we are invited to kick the tires. And you're invited to ask those hard questions.3:48

And as those of us who are Christians, we don't have to look the other way and shrug and go, "I don't know, it's a mystery."3:54

And soon as we start talking about faith, we just have to take it by faith. Which when you say that, even when you think that4:01

there's something on the inside of you that says, "You know what? That works for me but it's not working for my son-in-law4:06

and it's not working for my daughter, and it's not working for the people at work, and it's not working for the people who ask me those hard questions."4:12

But it's just what you got, it's what we were raised with, it's basically what we were told.4:17

But the Christian faith does not rise and fall based on the accuracy or the in errancy of 66 ancient4:23

documents that we call books of the Bible. It rises and falls on the identity of a single individual,4:29

Jesus of Nazareth. So if you're curious about faith and you're moving4:38

in the direction of faith, or you're curious about faith and you're returning to faith,4:44

or you find that you're losing faith or you're losing your interest in faith,4:49

here's the question that you should wrestle with. And the question to wrestle with is not, is there a God,4:55

or is the Bible true? In fact, is there a God and is the Bible true? Those are generally off ramps to faith,5:02

not on ramps to faith. But here's the question. And it's not a question that perhaps5:07

you've ever been invited to ask before, and if you are a person, again, who grew up in church like I did and you've, are losing or you've lost it,5:14

or you're not even interested anymore. In fact, the only reason you're watching today is because you're staying with friends and they're making you watch this,5:21

or they sent this to you and say, "Hey, you should really watch this. This is gonna help get you back." Here's the question that you've never been invited to ask,5:27

and it's not your fault at all, it's the church's fault. The question to ask when it comes to, is Christianity5:34

something even worth taken seriously or even worth considering the question is this, is Matthew, Mark, Luke,5:42

or, not and, or John a reliable account of actual events?5:50

This is the issue, this is the question when it comes to Christianity. Is Matthew, the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John,5:56

any one of the four, a reliable account of actual events? Because if any one of these four is an actual account6:02

or reliable account of actual events, then what they say about Jesus of Nazareth is true.6:09

And if what they say about Jesus of Nazareth is true, game on, faith on.6:16

You should press on. You should lean in. For those of you who are Jesus followers,6:24

your faith is not in vain. Now, the reason that this is so confusing for so many of us6:30

is the way that the Bible was first introduced to us. And so to help you understand that I need a timeline,6:37

but I can't draw. So anyway, so I ask my friend, Joel Thomas, if he would come (audience laughs)6:44

and draw one for me. (audience applauds) (man clears throat)6:49

For those of you who don't know, Joel, he's the lead pastor at Buckhead Church. And he's really good at this, and I try not to hate him for it, but anyway.6:56

(audience laughs) And just to make sure that I didn't take credit for his work, look, he actually initialed (audience laughs) the chalkboard.7:01

So everybody, actually, I ask him to do this. Okay, so this is super important, okay? Here is, and if you don't hear anything else today, okay?7:08

Remember if you need something on a chalkboard, Joel Tom, no. If you don't hear anything else today,7:15

this is the story of the Christian faith in a nutshell, okay? There was an event.7:20

We talk about this, the resurrection of Jesus. And immediately following the resurrection of Jesus, there was a new movement.7:25

It was called a Nazarene sect. It was called the Way. It was the ecclesia or the gathering of Jesus7:32

that eventually was called the church. And immediately upon these events happening, people who were involved in the story7:39

actually documented the events for us. This is where we get the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Book of Acts.7:46

And all of this happened in the first century. In fact, all of this, it could be argued. I would argue persuasively that all of this happened7:52

before 70 AD before the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. So within 35 years or 40 if you stretch it8:00

from the time of Jesus, something happened, it started a movement and the movement was documented,8:07

as in written down, documented by the people who were part of the movement. And then 300 plus years later,8:14

the first Bible was assembled. Now the reason...8:21

And we'll talk more about this in just a minute. The reason this is important is this, the story of Jesus is not a Bible story.8:26

The story of Jesus or the narrative, or the life of Jesus is why there is a Bible.8:34

Jesus is the reason for the Bible. So when we were growing up, somebody gave us the Bible and there's all kind of story about David and Goliath,8:42

that's so cool. And then a story about the Red Sea, that's so cool. And then you get to the parts about Jesus, and I'm not even not sure I understand that,8:49

but the miracles, that's so cool. And before we know it, the story of Jesus is a Bible story. It's a story in the Bible.8:54

You need to understand if there had been no resurrection, there would've been no church.9:01

And if there was no church, there was nobody to document the story of the resurrection, because the resurrection never happened.9:06

Apart from the resurrection of Jesus, there is no Bible. And as we're gonna see, the Bible only became a collection9:11

of these extraordinary ancient documents because of what happened in the church in the 300 years following the first century.9:18

So if even one of the gospels or the accounts of Jesus life is true,9:27

then you need to lean in. Okay, enough of that. It's making me jealous.9:36

All right, here we go, come on take that. So here's the point. (audience laughs) Here's what we're gonna do. For the next few weeks, we're gonna explore9:41

one of those accounts of the life of Jesus. We're gonna explore the Gospel of Luke.9:48

It was named for its author, Luke. Luke was not one of Jesus disciples, but as we're gonna discover, he knew Jesus disciples9:54

and had conversations with Jesus disciples and James, the brother of Jesus. And the reason I introduced the whole series10:02

and the message the way I did is because when we open the Gospel of Luke, this is how Luke introduces his audience10:09

to the life and this account of Jesus. Now, we don't know how many times Luke wrote and rewrote10:16

the introduction to his account of the life of Jesus, but some of you are writers and I'm a writer,10:21

and when you're writing something important, that first line is so important, isn't? And sometimes the first word.10:27

You want people to read that first line and be hooked to that first line and just be hooked. And I think in Luke's case, like many of us who write,10:32

he wrote and rewrote and wrote and rewrote the first line of his account of the life of Jesus over and over and over.10:40

In fact, it's so good that the very first word has historical relevance.10:47

And it's so easily passed over because it's a common word and it's the very beginning of a sentence, and you tend to just go right by it.10:53

So as we begin the exploration of this incredible first century document, the Gospel of Luke11:00

is written by somebody who interviewed eyewitnesses as we're gonna discover, here is how Luke...11:05

He's a doctor, apparently. Here's how Dr. Luke, who is meticulous in terms of detail, here's how he began.11:11

So here is the first chapter, the first verse, and the first word of the Gospel of Luke.11:17

He writes, "Many," many. Now how many is many?11:24

Four? Is four many? Four doesn't seem like many, 40? Well, it depends on what we're talking about, right?11:31

Listen to how he begins his gospel. This isn't once upon a time, this isn't a fair tale, this isn't something he made up,11:37

this is certainly not how you begin to lie. He says, "Many have undertaken to draw up an account11:43

of the things that have been fulfilled among us." He says, "Now what I'm about to tell you, I'm not the first person to try to get this out right.11:52

Many people have endeavored to draw up an account of the things that have literally happened12:00

or been fulfilled right here among us." Quick question, don't answer this out loud.12:06

Do you know how many will undertake to draw up an account of your life?12:11

Not, not many. That's how many? Okay? (audience laughs)12:19

The only people that are gonna even know you existed or know I existed after our grandkids are not many,12:25

unless you do something extraordinarily great or extraordinarily horrible, okay?12:31

But not many people are gonna write up an account of our life. And Luke tells us, he's like,12:36

"Hey, I'm starting this thing out but you need to know I'm not the only one doing this. Many people have endeavored to get this down in such a way12:41

that people can understand and experience through what's written what has happened right here."12:49

Now, listen, check it out. There are not many, not many people even undertook to drop the accounts of the lives of famous people12:54

from ancient times or especially the first century. I mean, Tiberius Caesar who was Caesar13:01

during the life of Jesus. There's not a storyline. You have to piece it together. See in (indistinct) there's virtually nothing.13:06

Even Herod the Great who Josephus gives us a storyline and almost a moment by moment account13:13

of the life of Herod the Great. But other than Josephus, that's it. And Herod the Great did extraordinary things,13:18

but there's just one. But here's a question. Do you know how many detailed narrative accounts we have13:25

of the lives of ancient peasants, crucified criminals?13:31

Even famous first century rabbis? None, none.13:37

We have quotes, we have legendary stories, but I'm just telling you,13:43

this is why you gotta sit up and pay attention, there is nothing even close to close to close13:48

to what we find in Luke's presentation of the life of Jesus.13:53

But that should cause us to ask a question. Why in the world would Luke bother? I mean, he's a busy guy, lots going on, okay?13:59

I mean, food is scarce. This is the first century. Why in the world would he bother to bring us a detailed14:05

account of a Galilean day laborer turned rabbi that was executed by Rome?14:11

Who was, again, rejected by his own people and rejected by the empire. Why even tell us the story?14:18

Why is that even a story worth telling? And why would others try to tell us that story as well?14:24

Going back to the first word of his gospel, why so many? Why would one even tell us this story?14:31

Why would there be four, why would there be many? And the answer is simple, because something extraordinary happened.14:38

Something that had implications for future generations. But it wasn't just extraordinary,14:47

something good had happened. Something good had happened on behalf of not just the people14:53

in Judea and Galilee, something had happened that was good on behalf of people for the whole world.15:00

And somebody had to tell it. He writes, "Many have undertaken to draw up an account15:07

of the things that have been fulfilled among us." Not among them. This happened...15:13

This is why you gotta pay attention. This happened in his lifetime. Ancient history was often written by people15:19

who live long after the events, and they would cobble together the different writings and quotes and try to put together15:25

an account of what happened. But very, very rarely do we have anyone who actually lived15:31

during the time of the person they write about. Part of it was, you couldn't say anything negative about these people, because the people that we know anything15:37

about were famous people and rich people, and they wanted to make sure their reputation was preserved for generations, and they looked good,15:44

but not the case with Jesus of Nazareth. Luke, as we're gonna discover,15:51

and if you read the Book of Acts, he actually knew the men and women who played key roles in the story of Jesus.15:56

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He goes on, "Many have undertake to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those..."16:03

Ready for this? "Who from the first..." In other words, when this thing first began, "Were eyewitnesses and servants of the word."16:10

In other words, Luke says, "What I'm about to tell you, I got from the eyewitnesses. I talked to the people who were there."16:17

And sure enough, read the Book of Acts, he knew Peter, he knew John, he knew James, the brother of Jesus. He said, "I have interviewed everybody I can16:24

because I wanted to make sure there's at least one account that covers all the basis." Then he says this, "With this in mind, since I myself16:31

have carefully investigated." Parakoloutheo, one Greek word, carefully investigated.16:39

In other words it means having carefully followed along or having closely paid attention to the events.16:47

I myself have done all the research I can, talked to everybody I can, I too have investigated everything from the beginning.16:54

This is why Luke brings us the story of the birth of Jesus from the beginning. This is why Luke brings us the story of the birth17:03

of John the Baptist from the beginning, and the birth of Jesus, and the announcement of John the Baptist about Jesus.17:09

He said, "I've gone as far back as I can and I wanna give you the whole story."17:15

This is not once upon a time. This is not a Bible story.17:21

This is Luke telling us what happened in his lifetime and it had to be told,17:26

because it was extraordinary and it was good. And it was for the world, and it was for every generation.17:32

It is amazing, we don't even think about it. 2000 years later, we're still talking about Jesus. Are you kidding? Why?17:38

Because something extraordinary happened.

He says, "With this in mind I myself have carefully17:45

investigated everything from the beginning. I too..." Along with many others. "I too decided to write an orderly account for you."17:51

Again, here's my point. This is a point for the day, but it's such a big, big, big, big deal. Especially if you're struggling with faith,18:02

or moving in the direction of faith, or you're about to turn your back, okay? Luke is not writing the Bible.18:08

Luke didn't have any idea there would ever be the Bible. Luke didn't know if his document would survive18:16

the first century. Luke had no idea if anyone would read it other than the person he's writing it for.18:24

He's not writing the Bible. The Gospel of Luke isn't part of the Bible. The Gospel of Luke is something that,18:31

as we're gonna discover in a few minutes, was include in the collection of documents that was eventually titled the Bible18:37

because of what this story contained, when it was written, who wrote it and what it said about Jesus.18:42

Luke was documenting to life and teaching of Jesus, which means, this is important, we shouldn't take Luke18:50

seriously because it's in the Bible. We shouldn't take the Gospel of Luke seriously18:57

because it's in the Bible. Luke's account of the life of Jesus was written 300 years19:02

before the Bible was assembled, as we said a minute ago. So Luke's account, this is important,19:08

his account of the life of Jesus didn't become reliable when it was placed in the collection of documents19:13

we call the Bible. Luke's account of the life of Jesus was included19:20

in the Bible because Luke's account was considered reliable, this is so important, when it was written.19:25

Let me illustrate it this way. When you go, when you travel and you stay in a hotel, you decide to go out to eat, and you've got some jewelry,19:33

you got your iPad, you got a watch, you got some stuff that's important, and you find there's a safe in the closet in the hotel room.19:39

This is not a trick question, don't answer out loud, 'cause it's gonna sound like a trick question. Do you put things in that safe to make them valuable?19:46

Or do you put things in that safe because they're valuable? You put them in there because they're valuable.19:56

The safe doesn't make them valuable. The fact that you put them in a safe is evidence of the fact that you consider them valuable.20:03

So here's the point. Luke's account, this first century account of the life of Jesus was considered valuable20:09

the moment it was written. And it was eventually placed in the collection of books20:17

we call the Bible not to make it valuable and not to make it true, but because it had been considered valuable and true20:24

from the moment it was written because of when it was written and who wrote it.20:31

So as you struggle or if you're struggling with faith, or if you ever struggle with faith and you're like, "How could God, and evil in the world?"20:37

All those big questions that we should all be bothered by, we should all ask. Again, we don't ever have to look the other way20:44

and just pretend and God's just gonna work it all out. But I dare not look over there and see what's going on with Him.20:50

When you find yourself in all of that, or if you're considering Christianity, maybe for the first time or the first time in a long time,20:55

it really comes down to this. Is Luke lying? Is he lying?21:02

Okay, he can't be mistaken. This is when people say, "Oh, he is a mistaken." No, no, no, that's what you say if you've never read the Gospel of Luke or the Book of Acts.21:10

You read the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, you may come away with all kinds of theories, but he was mistaken.21:16

You can be mistaken about an event. And you can be mistaken about a conversation.21:22

You can't be mistaken about the story arc of an entire life, and what happened for the next 20 years21:28

after that story ended. He wasn't mistaken.21:33

It comes down to this. He either carefully investigated everything from the beginning or he didn't.21:39

And if he did... And there's no reason to think that he didn't, if he did, then my friends, you should lean in.21:48

I should lean in. We should lean in because something extraordinary happened.21:57

And if it happened, it's good. And it's good for you, and it's good for your family,22:03

and it's good for the world.

And when you read the Gospel of Luke, and if you read the Book of Acts, you know what's clear?22:08

Luke believes what he's written. Luke is absolutely confident that what he documents22:16

actually took place, because it's based on his conversations with the people22:23

who were there. Back to Luke. He says, "With this in mind, I myself have carefully22:29

investigated everything from the beginning, and I too decided to write an orderly account for you most excellent Theophilus."22:36

Theophilus was probably a wealthy believer who was like, "Okay, I believe Jesus is Messiah,22:42

and I keep hearing all these stories. Would somebody put it all together for me?" And Luke apparently wrote the Gospel of Luke,22:49

not for us and not for the world, but apparently, so this one gentleman he knew could read the whole thing and say, "Okay, now I think I've got it."22:56

"I too," he says, "I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus." And this is so powerful.23:04

And if you're wrestling with faith, I get it, I don't claim that I'd be able to answer your questions, but this next statement is so powerful.23:11

He said, "The reason I took the time to get this down, the reason I wrote this is so that you may23:17

know the certainty." In other words, he says, "I want you to know the certainty.23:23

I want you to be secure in your knowledge of the things that you have been taught."23:30

Because Theophilus was a believer and he had been taught, and Luke is like, "I wanna come in behind23:37

the things you've been taught. And I wanna give it context because I want you to have certainty."23:42

So that he wouldn't be left with the impression, and so that you wouldn't be left with the impression, and so that you wouldn't be left with the impression23:48

that Christianity is all about faith and faith. We just gotta have faith, said not Jesus, okay?23:54

We just gotta believe stuff, said nobody who followed Jesus after the resurrection.24:00

That Christianity isn't faith and faith, and Luke takes the time to document the life of Jesus so that people in the first century during the time24:05

when these events happened, would know with certainty what had happened because their faith would be anchored24:12

to an event and ultimately to a person.24:17

That Luke wanted to ensure that our faith was anchored to that event, the resurrection of Jesus.24:23

That as we saw earlier, would launch the movement, the church. And then this was so fascinating.24:30

This is such fascinating history. When it was safe and when it was legal,24:37

the bishops came out of hiding and they put together the very first Bible.24:42

And this is amazing to me. And, again, there's just... I don't even know how to put words around this.24:47

Think about Luke, he's living in the first century. Okay, things aren't going well for a lot of the little ecclesias of Jesus.24:53

He travels all around the Mediterranean Rim with the Apostle Paul on several Apostle Paul's journeys. He's seen the Apostle Paul beat up.24:58

I mean, he's seen the whole thing. Meanwhile, he's got this document that he's given to Theophilus.25:04

I'm sure he had a copy for himself. And he knows that several people have sat down and tried to create a document that pieces together chronologically25:10

the life of Jesus. He had no idea that of all the many that were written25:17

and all the many that were attempted to be written, that his would be one of four that would survive.25:23

And not only would it survive, here's what happened to it. It was meticulously copied.25:29

And then it was distributed to Christians and little ecclesias and some people memorized this entire document.25:34

And then as the years passed, it was demonized. It was collected with other Christian literature25:43

and it was burned. Toward the end of the third century, the very beginning of the fourth century, Emperor Diocletian, he was the last emperor to launch...25:49

In fact, he was really the first emperor to launch really an empire wide persecution of Christians25:57

at the deepest level. And here's what Diocletian realized. He realized the reason we can't get rid of these crazy26:03

Christians and the reason we can't get the pagan, I mean, we can't get our gods to be happy with us is because the Christians aren't making sacrifices26:09

and now the gods are angry, but we'll never get rid of the Christians until we get rid of their literature.26:16

Because understand in the ancient times, pagan religions, they didn't have literature, they didn't have a Bible, they didn't have anything.26:21

You just made sacrifices to the gods, you trusted the priest and just hoped things worked out.26:28

But these crazy Christians, they had stuff written down. This was new.26:33

I mean, the Jewish people had the Torah, but you had to go to synagogue and that was a whole different thing. These crazy Gentile Christians had this literature26:38

that just fueled this epidemic of Christianity. So he decided not only are we gonna arrest the bishops,26:45

not only are we gonna shut down these little house gatherings, we're gonna collect anything that looks26:52

like religious literature and we're going to burn it. And part of what was collected and burned were copies26:57

of the Gospel of Luke. But these brave, brave, brave Jesus followers27:04

in the late third century, early fourth century, they would risk and in some cases lose their lives,27:11

not simply over what they believed, but to protect the sacred, sacred literature27:18

that would eventually become part of your Bible, our New Testament and the document of Luke,27:25

the account of Jesus life written by Luke, was one of those documents along with the Book of Acts.27:32

But by the end of the third century, by the beginning of the fourth century, this literature had been so broadly distributed27:39

that even Diocletian with the power of Rome could do away with all that Christian literature.27:46

And then something remarkable happen. Constantine became the emperor. It's a fascinating story how he becomes emperor.27:52

His mother apparently was a Christian. Eventually he has this vision that perhaps you've heard stories of.27:58

There's so many different stories. But essentially he lifts the ban. He lifts the ban on Christian worship.28:03

And he allows the Christians to come out of the shadows and worship publicly. And when then they come out of the shadows28:09

to worship publicly and their bishops and their scholars come out of the shadows, they are able to bring28:15

for the first time in human history, this literature that has fueled this movement28:20

that accomplished so much in the first 300 years of Christianity. And they're able to bring out copies of the gospels,28:26

and copies of the letters of Paul, and copies of the letter of James. And in some cases they'd already been bundled together,28:33

and they bring these out and the empire that crucified Jesus finances, finances the assembly of the very first Bible28:38

and the very first Bibles. And Constantine orders according to one story that 50 copies be made because he wants all the Christian bishops28:48

to be singing off the same sheet of music. Not really, but he wanted them to all have work off the same text.28:56

And so now you've got the wealth of the empire, you've got the best scholars bringing, not hundreds,29:02

thousands and thousands of these manuscripts together. And they compare, and they compare, and they compare,29:09

and they compare and they authorize and they decided which do these documents are more authentic29:16

and where are the differences? And they put together the very first Bible.29:21

You see, the stories in the Bible about Jesus, they're not Bible stories. The story of Jesus, it's the story.29:29

It's the whole thing. If any one of the gospels reflects the reality29:37

of Jesus life and Jesus teaching, that's enough for us to sit up straight and pay attention, because at the end of all four gospels,29:42

Jesus is crucified by Rome and buried and seen.29:50

And he rises from the dead. And suddenly this day laborer from Galilee,29:57

this day laborer turned rabbi, this man who said such extraordinary things, but it's never gonna catch on,30:02

we're not gonna love our enemies. Are you kidding? We're not gonna do for those who won't do for us.30:08

We're not gonna be generous to people who won't be generous in return. Are you? No, we're not. No, we're not gonna do any of that.30:14

He rose from the dead and just something happened in the world. And it's why we're here.30:19

And it's why we need to pay attention. And it's why, if you're starting to deconstruct your faith, I'm telling you all the things that have fascinated you,30:25

that you've now lost your fascination with, when it comes to faith, it really comes down to the gospels, it comes down to one gospel.30:32

And for the next few weeks, it's gonna come down to the Gospel of Luke.30:38

So as we wrap up this first end of series, I wanna leave you with this.30:43

If you choose, and it's your choice, if you choose not to follow Jesus because it's inconvenient,30:50

I get that, because it is. Following Jesus will require something of you30:58

and following Jesus will require something from you. It's gonna require you to forgive people who don't deserve to be forgiven.31:04

It's gonna require you to forgive people and you're gonna feel like you're giving them a gift after they've already taken something from you.31:11

Following Jesus is gonna require you to be less selfish, less full of yourself.31:16

There are times when it's gonna be so extraordinarily inconvenient. So it's gonna cost you some money.31:23

Jesus said more about money than just about anything, way more than he said anything in about heaven, because Jesus knew that where your treasure is31:29

that's where your heart is and Jesus after your heart. So if you follow Jesus, hang on to your purse and hang on your checkbook,31:35

it's gonna cost you when you decide to follow Jesus. And if you finally decide to follow Jesus, it's gonna cost you some time.31:41

Because Jesus says that we are his body. And as part of his body, there are things we have to do31:46

and get to do for each other and for the world. So yeah, if you decide I'm not following Jesus, that takes too much time, it's too costly,31:51

it's too inconvenient, that is a somewhat valid reason not to follow Jesus. However, if you choose to follow Jesus,31:58

it will eventually make your life better and it will make you better at life, that's a guarantee. But if it's too inconvenient, I get that.32:04

That is somewhat of a valid reason not to follow Jesus.32:12

But please, please, please32:17

don't choose not to follow Jesus because you don't think there's anything to the story of Jesus.32:23

Because in spite of what you heard in college and in spite of what you've heard in culture, there is.32:29

So if you don't wanna follow Jesus 'cause it's inconvenient, you're right, it's inconvenient, but don't give up on following Jesus because you don't think32:38

there's anything to the story of Jesus until you personally as an adult investigate the story for yourself.32:44

Because the only good reason really not to follow Jesus, isn't that the Bible isn't true.32:54

It's that you decide that Luke isn't trustworthy. That many people did not endeavor to tell33:01

and record the story of Jesus, that he did not carefully investigate everything,33:07

that he did not talk to the eyewitnesses, that he didn't actually know Peter, and he didn't actually know James, the brother of Jesus,33:13

that he didn't carefully investigate everything from the beginning.33:20

But if you read it and you read the Book of Acts, you may be convinced, you may be convinced of this.33:25

That 2000 years ago, something extraordinary happened.33:34

Something extraordinary for you, and for your family, and for us, and for our culture, and for our country,33:40

and for every single generation. The story of Jesus had to be told,33:47

and Luke chose to tell it. And we will pick up his story of the life of Jesus next time33:56

in part two of "Investigating Jesus: How We Know and Why We Follow."34:04

----------

Purchased Outline:

Somebody Had to Tell It

Andy Stanley

Scripture: Luke 1:1–4

[When it comes to knowing if there is a God, what God is like, or figuring out who God likes,

does it really come down to…]

The Bible tells us so!

[Or other religious literature tells us so? Are we expected to believe based on a collection of

ancient manuscripts written by dozens of men over hundreds of years who never met? In a

world without science, where everybody believed in some sort of god, weren’t they just

guessing? Weren’t they just making stuff up?]

[Should we be surprised that people are de-converting, deconstructing, and dismissing faith?

Should you be surprised that you’re doubting?]

If the Christian faith balances precariously on the edge of ancient declarations of

superstitious men…

There are even Christians who are skeptical - or becoming skeptical - becasue they havne’t been given the clear answers or clear explanations of what Christianity is all about.

Obstacles or prespectives you might encounter.

Why not?

How do we overcome that?

The good news is faith is investigable.

[Turns out, Christians are not expected to believe based on a collection of ancient manuscripts

written by dozens of men over hundreds of years at a time when everyone believed in the gods,

and there wasn’t modern science. The foundation of our faith is anchored to something far

more substantial and sustainable. Even…]

Investigable

[We’re invited to kick the tires and ask hard questions. We don’t have to look the other way,

shrug, and say, “It’s a mystery.”]

[The Christian faith doesn’t rise and fall on the accuracy of 66 ancient documents that we call

the books of the Bible. It rises and falls on the identity of a single individual—]

JESUS of Nazareth

[If you’re curious about faith, returning to faith, or find you’re losing faith, then here’s the

question to wrestle with. It’s not: Is there a God? or Is the Bible true? Those are often offramps

rather than on-ramps to faith. Here’s the question. It’s a question folks de-converting,

deconstructing, and dismissing faith are rarely invited to ask. If that’s you, I invite you to ask

it:]

Is Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John a reliable account of actual events?

[If so, what they say about Jesus is true. If what they say about Jesus is true, it’s game on and

faith on. You should press on and lean in. If you’re a Jesus follower, your faith is not in vain.]

[This is confusing because of how the Bible was introduced to most of us. A timeline will help.]

Visual: Andy turns a chalkboard on stage to show a timeline and pictures which illustrate

his following comments.

[There was an event, the resurrection of Jesus, and immediately following it, a new movement

began. It was called a Nazarene sect and labeled “the Way.” It was eventually known as the

church. People who were involved in the story documented the events for us. All of this

happened in the first century (likely before 70 AD). Then, 300 years later, the first Bible was

assembled.]

[The story of Jesus is not merely a story in the Bible. Jesus is the reason there is a Bible.

Without Jesus, there would have been no Bible. So, if even one of the gospels is a reliable

account of the life of Jesus, then you need to lean in to what it says.]

[For the next few weeks, we will explore one account of Jesus’s life.]

LUKE

[It was named for its author. Luke knew Jesus’s disciples and had conversations with them. I

introduced this message the way I did because it’s how Luke introduces his audience to his

account of Jesus’s life.]

[We don’t know how many times Luke rewrote his introduction. I’m a writer. A first line gets

written and rewritten. Luke’s first word is so significant but can be easily passed over. His first

line is historically significant. He anchors the story of Jesus to a specific time period. So here’s

the first chapter, first verse, and first word of the gospel of Luke:]

Luke 1:1

Many…

[How many is many? Four? Forty?]

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,

[Do you know how many will undertake to draw up an account of your life and mine?]

Not

Not many

[Not many undertook to draw up an account about anyone in ancient times. You have to piece

together pieces of the life of Tiberius Caesar. Virtually nothing is written about Pilot. Herod

the Great did extraordinary things, but there’s just one written account of his life.]

[Do you know how many detailed narrative accounts we have of the life of an ancient peasant,

crucified criminals, or famous first-century rabbis? None. We have quotes and stories but no

storyline. There’s nothing close to what Luke presents about Jesus.]

[Why did Luke bother to bring us a detailed account of a Galilean day-laborer turned rabbi

that was executed by Rome? Why was that a story worth telling? Why would others attempt

the same?]

Why so many?

Something extraordinary had happened.

[It was something that had implications for future generations. But it wasn’t just

extraordinary.]

Something good had happened.

[Something good had happened for the people of the world, and somebody had to tell it.]

Luke 1:1–3

1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,

[He’s not referring to them but “us.” This happened in his lifetime. Ancient history was written by men

who lived generations after the events they recorded, but not this account. Luke knew the men and

women who played key roles in developing this extraordinary story.]

2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and

servants of the word.

3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated…

[It means having carefully followed or closely paid attention to the events.]

3 everything from the beginning.

[This is why Luke begins the story of Jesus and John the Baptist from the beginning, to give the whole

story.]

3 I too…

[Along with many others…]

3 decided to write an orderly account for you…

[Here’s my point: Luke is not writing the Bible. Luke was documenting events that happened

in his lifetime. He’s documenting the life and teachings of Jesus. We don’t take Luke’s account

seriously because it’s in the Bible.]

Luke’s account of the life of Jesus was written 300 years before the Bible was assembled.

[Luke’s account didn’t become reliable when it was included in the collection of documents

named the Bible.]

Luke’s account of the life of Jesus was included in the Bible because Luke’s account was

considered reliable when it was written.

[You don’t put things in a hotel safe to make them valuable. You put them in there because

they’re valuable.]

[Luke’s account was included because it was already valuable. It was valuable the moment it

was written. It was considered valuable and true because of who wrote it and when it was

written.]

[If you’re struggling with faith or if you’re considering Christianity, it comes down to this:]

Is Luke lying?

[He can’t be mistaken. He either…]

Luke 1:3–4

3 Carefully investigated everything from the beginning…

[… or he didn’t. If he did, and there’s no reason or evidence to think he didn’t, we should lean in because

Luke believes his own account. He claims that what follows actually happened. His account is based on

his conversations with the people who were there.]

[Something extraordinary happened, and it’s good. It’s good for you, your family, and the world.]

3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too

decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

[Theophilus was probably a wealthy and curious new believer.]

3 I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may

know the certainty of…

[I want you to be secure in your knowledge of...]

4 the things you have been taught.

[So that he would not be left with the impression, and so that we would not be left with the

impression that Christianity is to have faith in faith. Luke wanted to ensure that his reader’s

faith was anchored to the…]

Event

[… of the resurrection of Jesus. That launched the…]

Movement

[So when it was safe and legal, the bishops came out of hiding and put together the first…]

Bible

[Little did Luke know that of the many accounts (of the life of Jesus) his would be one of four

that would survive. It was meticulously copied. Then, it was distributed to gatherings of

Christians and some memorized all of it.]

[As years passed, it was demonized, collected, and burned. Late in the third century, Emperor

Diocletian realized that he would never get rid of Christians until he got rid of their literature.

Pagans didn’t have literature. This was new. He had all the Christian’s religious literature

collected and burned, including the copies of the Gospel of Luke. By the beginning of the fourth

century, Luke’s Gospel had been distributed so broadly in the empire that even Diocletian

couldn’t get rid of all the copies.]

[Then, something remarkable happened. After the conversion of Emperor Constantine to

Christianity, he allowed Christians to worship publicly and bring their literature out. The

empire that crucified Jesus now finances the assembly of the first Bible. Thousands of

manuscripts of the account of the life of Jesus were collected, compared, and authorized. They

put together the very first Bible.]

[The stories of Jesus in the Bible aren’t Bible stories. The story of Jesus is the story. It’s the

whole story. At the end of all four Gospels, Jesus is crucified by Rome, buried, and rises from

the dead. Jesus rose from the dead and something happened in the world, and it’s why we’re

here. It comes down to the Gospels.]

[So, as we wrap up this first installment of our series, I want to be clear and leave you with

this.]

If you choose not to follow Jesus because it’s inconvenient...

[I get that. It is. Following Jesus will require something of you and from you. It will require you

to be less selfish and more forgiving.]

[It may cost you some time, money, or even a relationship. However, if you choose to follow

Jesus, it will make your life better and make you better at life. But it won’t always be

convenient. Inconvenience is somewhat of a valid reason not to follow Jesus. But…]

Please don’t choose not to follow Jesus because you don’t think there’s anything to the

story of Jesus.

[In spite of what you’ve heard in college or in culture, there is. Don’t give up on following Jesus

until you’ve investigated it for yourself as an adult. The only good reason not to follow is if

you’ve determined not that the Bible isn’t trustworthy but that Luke isn’t trustworthy. That

many people did not endeavor to tell this story. Or that he did not carefully investigate

everything. That he did not talk to people who knew, followed, abandoned, and then refollowed

Jesus.]

[If you read the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, you may be convinced that something

extraordinary happened in the first century. It’s something that has relevance for the twentyfirst

century and for you.]

[The story had to be told, and Luke chose to tell it. We will pick up his account of the life of

Jesus right here next time in Part 2 of:]

Graphic: Title slide for Investigating Jesus: How We Know. Why We Follow.

[Before you go, here are three questions to keep the conversation going. I want to highlight

the third question for you to discuss.]

FOR DISCUSSION

1. Have you ever felt compelled to document the life of someone you know or knew

personally? If so, why? If not, why not?

2. As it relates to faith, have you ever experienced a season of doubt? If so, what exactly

did you doubt and why?

3. What’s your initial response to the suggestion that the Christian faith rises or falls on

the reliability of the Gospels rather than the reliability of the entire Bible?

[That distinction makes some Christians nervous. This is the church’s fault. That distinction

may be the key to recapturing and safeguarding the faith of this and the next generation. I

hope you’ll talk about it.]

==============

Other things/Leftovers:

Ideas: When John busted me for having a microwave pizza in the living room....? Or the soap thing?

Investigating....Guess Who? John busting me....

If the Christian faith balances precariously on the edge of ancient declarations of

superstitious men…

There are even Christians who are skeptical - or becoming skeptical - becasue they havne’t been given the clear answers or clear explanations of what Christianity is all about.

Obstacles or prespectives you might encounter.

Why not?

How do we overcome that?

The good news is faith is investigable.

How do you know....

Why do you follow...

So let’s say you want to share Jesus with someone. How would you go it?

Christians will often say “The Bible Says”. How does an unbeliever receive that?

[Or other religious literature tells us so? Are we expected to believe based on a collection of

ancient manuscripts written by dozens of men over hundreds of years who never met? In a

world without science, where everybody believed in some sort of god, weren’t they just

guessing? Weren’t they just making stuff up?]

[Should we be surprised that people are de-converting, deconstructing, and dismissing faith?

Should you be surprised that you’re doubting?]

Skeptics

How

[When it comes to knowing if there is a God, what God is like, or figuring out who God likes,

does it really come down to…]

Is Luke telling the truth?