Jesus Was A Good Teacher

1 Corinthians 15:3-9

INTRODUCTION

"Jesus was a great moral teacher and certainly a good man, but he was not the Son of God."

Have you ever heard anyone say that? I have. I have since heard or read that statement from friends, relatives, professors, philosophers, politicians, celebrities, and religious leaders. Even the Dalai Lama made a statement to that effect.

However, when you read what Jesus said about himself, you quickly discover a major problem with the "good moral teacher" concept. Jesus made some rather outrageous claims. He claimed to be the Son of God. He claimed to be equal to God. He claimed to have the power to forgive sins. He claimed that he would someday judge the world. He claimed that he had power over death. But those claims present a serious problem.

Here's the problem: a man who is merely a man and makes these claims about himself cannot be considered "a good moral teacher." He is either delusional or he is deceptive. A man who falsely claims to be God is either a liar or a lunatic, which means you can't call him a great moral teacher.

When people decide what they will believe about Jesus, they must choose from one of three possibilities. Either he was a liar, and he intentionally deceived people into following him, leading them away from the true God; or he was a lunatic, a paranoid schizophrenic with delusional visions of grandeur along the lines of Jim Jones and David Koresh; or he was the Son of God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. It's one of those three; those are our only options.

The reason I have spent a lot of time on this subject is because, in the post-modern world we live in, our society is full of skeptics and critics. They question everything that anyone believes. We, as Christians, need to be able to answer the questions that skeptics and critics ask intelligently, compassionately, and confidently. That is why we are in this series of The Case of Christianity. We must be able to answer those who have questions.

If we don’t give them the answers, they will look elsewhere, and the answer the world offers will not lead to the truth. We have the truth, and it is our responsibility, our duty, to share it with those who are skeptical or critical of Christianity.

Do you know who was one of the first skeptics or critics of Christianity? He is the author of many books in the New Testament…Paul. Paul was a serious threat to Christianity because he was so zealous in his persecution of the early church. Yet, after his personal experience with Christ on the road to Damascus and his independent investigation of Christianity, Paul became the most excellent defender of our faith. Much of Paul’s writings were apologetic and answered the questions of skeptics and critics. He presented the evidence in response to many skeptics and critics' questions.

1 Corinthians 15:3–9 ESV

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

SCRIPTURAL ANALYSIS

VERSES 3-4

Jewish teachers would pass on their teachings to their students, who would, in turn, pass them on to their own students. The students could take notes, but they delighted, especially in oral memorization, and became quite skilled at it; memorization was a central feature of ancient education. Paul had learned and was teaching both oral and written traditions.

First, Paul received and passed on this gospel. In rabbinic Judaism, this terminology describes the transmission of authoritative religious teachings. Paul told the Corinthians to maintain the gospel as he had given it to them because it was a sacred tradition, not a human tradition.

Second, he delivered this gospel teaching as a matter of first importance. In other words, nothing was more central or important in Paul’s gospel conception than these teachings. The teaching helps define and summarize the gospel in a memorable way.

Paul summed up his gospel as having two main points: the death and the resurrection of Christ. Both of these took place according to the Scriptures.

VERSE 6-8

Paul continued by adding a third element that expanded the second. Christ was not simply raised from the dead. He also appeared; people saw and heard him. Paul even puts a number to it, over 500.

Paul’s purpose in appealing to witnesses who are still alive is to invite his readers to check his facts if they doubt his words. We may safely rule out the suggestion that the resurrection appearances were mass hallucinations because such a mass hallucination of a demonstrably physical person is unparalleled in history. There is no such thing as mass hallucinations.

VERSE 9

In explaining why he spoke of himself in this way, Paul admitted to being the least of the apostles, not even deserving the title because he persecuted the church of God. This probably resonated strongly with his detractors. Paul wanted his audience to know he took a backseat to Jesus.

TODAY’ KEY TRUTH

Jesus has proven His Identity as the Promised Messiah.

APPLICATION

The central theme of the gospel is given here. It is the key text for the defense of Christianity. The three points that are most important are as follows:

1. Christ died for our sins. Without the truth of this message, Christ’s death was worthless, and those who believe in him are still in their sins and without hope. However, Christ, as the sinless Son of God, took the punishment of sin, “dying for sin,” so that those who believe can have their sins removed. The phrase as the Scriptures said, refers to the Old Testament prophecies regarding this event, such as Psalm 16:8–11 and Isaiah 53:5–6. Christ’s death on the cross was no accident, no afterthought. It had been part of God’s plan from all eternity in order to bring about the salvation of all who believe.

2. He was buried. The fact of Christ’s death is revealed in the fact of his burial. Many have tried to discount the actual death of Christ, from the false teachers of Paul’s day to false teachers today. But Jesus Christ did die on the cross and was buried in a tomb.

3. He was raised. Christ came back to life from being a dead person in a grave on the third day, as noted in the Gospels (Friday afternoon to Sunday morning—three days in Jewish reckoning of time). This also occurred as the Scriptures said (Psalm 16:8–11; 110; Jonah 1:17).

Paul is laying the reason why his audience and you and I can believe in Jesus.

Jesus has proven His Identity as the Promised Messiah.

CONCLUSION

Paul offered the evidence that helped him decide that Jesus was the Son of God. He truly believed Jesus’ claim of being God. You see, Paul determined that Jesus’ claim of being God was real. Paul determined that Jesus was not a liar or a lunatic. He concluded that Jesus was Lord. And that is the choice everyone must make.

So, Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. Each one of us must decide. There are many reasons I believe in Jesus.

Paul said that Jesus FULFILLS The Old Testament Prophecies.

For centuries, the writers of the Old Testament predicted the coming of the Messiah. They predicted specific things about his life, such as where he would be born, who his ancestors would be, and how he would die. They expected certain events to occur, how he would react in certain situations, and how people would react to him. Jesus

There are 60 major Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, and Jesus fulfills each.

A skeptical mind may say, Yeah, but what if...Jesus deliberately staged events in his life to appear to be prophetic fulfillments. For example, the prophecy that states the Messiah will ride triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey? Or what about the prophecy that says the Messiah will come from Capernaum? He could have intentionally moved to Capernaum when he began his ministry. If he was crazy, he might have even tried to engineer his own crucifixion to fulfill the prophecy.

A few of his prophecies could have been fulfilled intentionally, but not many. For example, the prophecy that says the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. Or the prophecy says he will be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. Or the prophecy that says he will be of the line of David. Or the prophecy that says his bones would not be broken on the cross. Or the prophecy said men would gamble for his clothes after his death. How does He manipulate those events so that He fulfills prophecy? Obviously, He could not, unless He was who He claimed to be.

Yeah, but what if...The writers of the gospels fabricated those events to make it look like Jesus was the Messiah.

Well, if Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John had all become millionaires off of royalties from their gospels, then maybe one could suspect such a thing. But that isn't what happened. They didn't become celebrities; they became wanted men. Matthew was axed to death in Ethiopia, Mark was dragged to his death in Alexandria, Luke was hanged on an olive tree in Greece, and John, who was the only one to die of natural causes, was at one time thrown into boiling oil and then exiled on the Isle of Patmos. I found it difficult to believe these men would embellish the truth to the extent that it would cause their own deaths.

Ok, well, maybe He did fulfill these prophecies. Maybe there are other people throughout history whose lives have also been a coincidental fulfillment of prophecy. Is that possible?

It isn't. Mathematicians Peter Stoner and Robert Newman wrote about it in a book called Science Speaks. Stoner enlisted 12 different classes of more than 600 college students to help him calculate the probability of one man fulfilling eight prophecies in his lifetime.

The students worked their way through eight prophecies, weighing all the factors, discussing each prophecy at length, examining various circumstances that might indicate that men had conspired together to fulfill a particular prophecy, and they made their estimates conservative enough that so that they were able to achieve unanimous agreement even among the most skeptical students. Stoner and his group concluded that the mathematical chance of one man fulfilling eight of the prophecies is one in one hundred million billion. That's a 1 with 17 zeros after it.

It's impossible to think that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament by mere coincidence. It's impossible to believe that he manipulated events to make it appear that he was fulfilling prophecy because many prophecies were beyond his control. And it's impossible to think that the gospel writers lied about Jesus fulfilling prophecies because they each suffered greatly for what they believed and what they had written. Therefore, I believe in Jesus because he fulfills Old Testament prophecy.

Jesus has proven His Identity as the Promised Messiah.

Paul said that Jesus Was RAISED From the DEAD.

Let me make something clear. When we say we believe Jesus was raised from the dead, we don't mean in a spiritual, metaphysical, allegorical sense. We mean it in the most literal sense of the word. His human body was dead. Completely lifeless. His heart stopped beating. The blood in his veins stopped flowing. He stopped breathing. He was as dead as dead can be. Then, after three lifeless days in the tomb, his body stirred. His heart started beating, his lungs filled with air, his eyes opened, and he was, once again, alive. That's what the Bible teaches, and that's what Christians have believed for 2000 years.

Yeah, but what if...The resurrection stories are really just legends that developed years after the death of Christ?

Maybe there was a gradual development over the years: First, he was a great teacher who died a tragic death, then the legend grew that he had risen from the dead, then the legend grew that he had claimed to be God, then the Gospel writers put words in his mouth making these claims, and the legend grew and grew until it finally spun out of control.

There's no question that fairy tales develop about historical figures over time. But in the case of Jesus, his followers affirmed from the very beginning that he had died and had risen from the dead. In the first New Testament book, 1 Thessalonians, written around 49 A.D., Paul affirms that Jesus has been raised from the dead.

In the book of First Corinthians, which Paul wrote in 56 A.D., he recites a creed that he had taught them when he preached there six years earlier. In the ancient church it was common for believers to memorize and recite creeds—brief statements that summarize what we believe. Paul reminded them of one of the early creeds when he said...

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

Christianity has always taught that Jesus was raised physically from the dead. It wasn't an idea that developed over a period of time. Christians taught that Jesus was raised from the dead at a time when there were still people alive who could dispute their claims.

Indeed, false legends about Jesus did, in fact, appear. One legend had him resurrecting a dead bird when he was a child. Another legend had him miraculously repairing a carpentry mistake made by his father, Joseph. There were even legends about the resurrection, with him coming out of the tomb as the Jewish authorities and Roman soldiers watched in awe.

When these legends popped up, early church leaders disputed them, saying, “No, that's not how it happened. We have the testimony of credible eyewitnesses. This story has been told and retold since the day it happened; it has been meticulously recorded by historians (such as Luke) and by those who personally knew Jesus; there's no need to embellish and mythologize what we know to be fact.” The false legends about Jesus were quashed while the facts were preserved.

The disciples believed that Jesus was physically raised from the dead. I believe that Jesus is who he claimed to be because he was raised from the dead; he conquered death. I wish we had time this morning to cover all the evidence supporting this fact; volumes have been written on the subject. Jesus' victory over death proves that he was God's anointed Messiah--he was who he claimed to be.

Jesus has proven His Identity as the Promised Messiah.

Paul said that Jesus Radically TRANSFORMED His Disciples

When Jesus died, he died alone. Nearly all of his disciples abandoned him. Judas betrayed him. Peter denied him. The rest deserted him, except for John. They were all cowards, but who can blame them? They were afraid they would be the next to die for what had seemingly become a lost cause.

Then, something happened in the following weeks that changed everything. Their cowardice disappeared. They became bold. They began courageously speaking the name of Jesus in public places. Signs and wonders began to follow them wherever they went. Suddenly, this group of men who once appeared to be afraid of their shadows could not be intimidated by anyone. And they could not be stopped. You could beat them, and still they preached. You could imprison them, and still they preached. You could torture them, and still they preached. The only way the authorities could shut these men up was to kill them—and they did. All of the disciples but one died for their faith.

Earlier, I mentioned what happened to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The fate of the other disciples was no different.

Here are a few examples: Philip was thrown in jail, scourged and crucified as was Simon and Andrew and Bartholomew. Matthias was stoned and beheaded. Peter was crucified upside down. Thomas — "Doubting" Thomas — was killed by the thrust of a sword in Parthia, all because they would not denounce their belief in the resurrected Christ.

What drove these men to be willing to die for the name of Jesus? Could it have been that they co-conspired to fabricate a myth about the resurrection of Jesus, and made an oath to each other: "Guys, let's keep the gag, the lie going even if it kills us." I don't think so.

If Jesus didn't actually physically rise from the dead, the disciples would have known it. They would know the truth of the resurrected Christ. If the resurrection is false this means the disciples all died not for a misguided belief they were taught, but for something they knew to be a lie. But something happened to change the character of the disciples after the death of Jesus. They claim it was an encounter with the resurrected Christ, and I believe them. There's no other way to account for the radical transformation in the lives of the disciples. They went from cowards to martyrs. The resurrected Jesus radically transformed the disciples.

Want more proof? Jesus is still radically transforming his disciples TODAY!! I've experienced it. You have experienced it!

Jesus has proven His Identity as the Promised Messiah.