Easter – Palm Sunday – Jesus is the Center Point of the Gospels (Luke 1:1-4)
Easter Series: Who Do You Say that I AM?
Title: Jesus is the Center Point of the Gospels
Main Verse: Luke 1:1-4
Key Thought: Few would argue that the most important person who has ever lived is Jesus. No one has shaped the face of human civilization as much as this one person. If true, then how a person responds to Jesus is one of the most important questions the human heart can face. And what might be surprising is anyone can research the life of Jesus using historical sources. Thus, with enormous integrity, it is possible to answer the question “Who Do You Say that I AM?”
Supporting Points:
How do some answer this question:
- Buddhism: teaches that Jesus was not God but an enlightened man like Buddha
- Hinduism: teaches that Jesus is an incarnation of a small god like Krishna
- Islam: teaches that Jesus was a man and a prophet but was inferior to Muhammad
- Jehovah’s Witness: teaches that Jesus the archangel Michael, a created being that became a man
- Mormonism: teaches that Jesus was only a man who became one of many gods and that he was a polygamist and the half-brother of Satan
- New Age Guru Deepak Chopra- states that Jesus is a state of consciousness we can all aspire to
So, why don’t we believe in any of these views of Jesus? Because none of them are based upon historical sources or facts. What are some of these sources that speak of the life of Jesus?
Here are Four Writers from the First Century:
- Historian, Tacitus
- Historian, Josephus
- Author and Lawyer, Pliny the Younger
- Historian, Thallus
Key Quote:
There was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works—a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day (Josephus, Antiquities 18:3:3).
And of course- the Gospel of Luke
Before Luke was in the holy book, it was received as a history book.
Before Luke was considered inspired, it was received as informed.
Key Quote:
“As a literary historian, I am perfectly convinced that whatever else the gospels are, they are not legends. I have read a great deal of legend, and I am quite clear that they are not the same sort of thing.” (God in the Dock, C.S. Lewis)
The Text (Luke 1:1-4)
Why should we trust Luke? Luke is making a public claim by creating this document (1:1).
- He begins with “many”
- His opening statement and his prose indicate this was a polished document meant for wide circulation
- “among us”- meaning this was common knowledge
- Luke was not an eye witness- he’s even better (1:2)
- First-hand eyewitnesses (the highest quality of evidence in the first century was that from multiple eyewitnesses.)
- And Preachers “servants of the word”
- Luke has done the work of a paid scholar/historian (1:3-4)
- Has been carefully investigated
- Sensitive to the flow of events
- Written to produce the high level of certainty available in the first century
Application:
Who do you think Jesus really is?
Where did you get that information?
Luke 5:32 – Jesus is calling you
Jesus interrupted world history. Jesus wants to interrupt your personal history.