Series: The Jesus Factor

#1 The Historical Jesus
 

Introduction: What is this series about? 

    * It is based on questions that you asked.
    * It should help you get to know exactly who Jesus was.
    * I will try and answer all the questions.
    * What is fact and what is fiction.

 

 

What does HE look like?
 
Bible never gives any physical description of Christ.

Most of the images we have of Jesus today are probably not accurate. Jesus was a Jew, so He likely had dark skin, dark eyes, and dark hair. This is a far cry from the blond-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned Jesus in many modern pictures. One thing is clear: if it were important for us to know what He really did look like, Matthew, Peter and John, who spent three years with Him, would certainly be able to give us an accurate description, as would His own brothers, James and Jude. Yet, these New Testament writers offer no details about His physical attributes.
 
Questions about dates?

    * What date exactly (m/d/y) Jesus b’day & the day when he was dead? Everybody predicted it on different dates around the world!
    * When was Jesus born? Every Christmas always said “2000 years ago” (since I was kid until I had my kids)
    * I understand that Jesus was actually born in the year 3. How was the date calculated; what reference did they use?

Questions about the Date. 

    * December 25 year 0 of course!
    * When Jesus was born is unknown also.

  * It was influenced by the fact that the Jewish feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) and the Roman festival of Saturnalia
    * What should we do?
 

The Big Question!

    * What did the Lord Jesus do between the age 12-30? Is there a historical Jewish literature for it?
    * What was He doing during His 12 to 30 years old? Why there is no record of His journey during that age?
    * What happened to Jesus between his last appearance as a child till age 30 when he began his ministry?  How did he live his life?
    * The story in the bible about Jesus tells us about Jesus at the age from birth to 13 years old and 30-33 years old. Where was Jesus and what did Jesus do at the age 13-30 years old?


What was Jesus doing between 12-30 years old? 

    * Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3 Then they scoffed, "He's just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us." They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.
    * Luke 4:22  Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. "How can this be?" they asked. "Isn't this Joseph's son?"

 
Other sources:

    * Unknown Life of Jesus Christ, published in French in 1894.
    * Infancy Gospels
    * Protoevangelium.
    * None of these books can withstand any textual or scholarly criticism.
 

2 Other reasons for this gap.

    * The Bible does tell us that from 12 to 30 years of age Jesus lived in Nazareth and worked with his father as a carpenter. Why didn't Jesus begin his ministry before he was 30. Two reasons suggest themselves. 
      
      Before the age of 30 no young man was accepted as mature in the society of that time. So for Jesus to begin his ministry before he was 30 years old would have meant that he would not have had respect as a teacher--most likely he would have been ignored or even despised as a young upstart.
      
      Also, God's plan included John the Baptist's work in preparation for the public ministry of Jesus. John too had to wait until he was 30 so that his ministry would be respected by the people.

 
The marriage question

    * Buy the CD by Jim Heugel May of 2006.
    * Answer: (Take a deep breath)
    * No, Jesus Christ was not married.
    * This myth is absolutely false and has no basis theologically, historically, or Biblically. While a couple of the "Gnostic gospels" mention Jesus having a close relationship with Mary Magdalene, none of them specifically states that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, or had any romantic involvement with her.
    * The Gnostic Gospels were accounts of Jesus life that tried to humanize him.  There were other groups that tried to deify Him.  

 
So What’s the Problem here?

    * We may not completely believe that the Bible is the word of God.
    * We haven’t really taken the time to read it.
    * We love conspiracy Theories.
    * Critically, Historically, Textually the Bible has stood the test of Time.  

GO Question

1. What is your view on God's Trinity (the father, the son, the holy spirit) ? Do you believe our God is three or one ? can you logically explain this ?

2. What do you think of the temptation that Jesus faces in the desert after 40 days of fasting? would a normal person with sin pass that test? why/why not ?

3. Pertaining to question 2, Do you think Jesus ever sin in His life ? The "proof" of His anger is in Matthew 21:12-13. does this matter to you ?

4. what do you think of the existence of Heaven and Hell ?

5. Does anyone ever heard of purgatory ? do you believe in that ?

6. Do you think God is cruel and want to send people all to hell ? why / why not ?

7. Do you have this nagging question that if God knows Adam and Eve is going to sin and lead all mankind to destruction, why would he create them at the first place ? What do you think of the plan of salvation in Jesus that God has devised for us ?