272: Matt Colby – The Empty Tomb

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Welcome to Good Chris Selfie and
talks.

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I’m Levi.
And I’m Chris, and I’m Brian.

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Thank you for joining us this
week on this podcast.

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We select one Talk a week to
help us get the Bible in our

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Daily News feed.
We post a new episode at the

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start of each week.
With the short intro beforehand

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to kind of set the stage for the
talk you’re about to listen to.

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And now, let’s talk more about
this week’s talk.

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Everyone, this is Jason Hensley
and I’m going to be joining you

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now on the good Christadelphian
Talks Podcast.

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So thank you for having me.
I’m quite excited to be able to

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talk to you about this week’s
talk.

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This is my first one, So this is
a talk by Brother Matt Colby.

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It was given in 2019 at the
Brant County CYC Ultimate

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Frisbee Challenge, which sounds
like a pretty exciting event.

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Now this talk’s not about
Frisbees or anything along those

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lines.
Instead, this talk is called the

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Empty Tomb, and it is part of a
series all about reasons to

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believe.
First off, that’s just a really

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exciting topic.
I think that as more and more

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knowledge becomes available,
there’s going to be people

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asking more and more questions.
Why do we believe in Scripture?

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Why do we believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ?

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Why do we believe in a coming
Kingdom of God?

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These are going to be questions
that people are going to ask us

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or that our young people are
going to be asking, and we need

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to have answers for them.
This series presents some good

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answers.
I think it’s a very good

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introduction for us in getting
into some of these challenging

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questions.
And I specifically chose the

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second class because.
As you can probably guess from

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the title, The Empty Tomb, it’s
all about the resurrection of

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Jesus.
And what I really love about

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this is the resurrection of
Christ is essentially what

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everything hinges on for us as
Christians.

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Our faith is really based on
whether or not that took place.

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So what Brother Matt does is he
walks through it, he walks

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through evidences different
possibilities of what could have

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happened.
And he ultimately, as you can

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probably guess, comes to the
conclusion that clearly a

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powerful miracle must have taken
place.

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So I leave you with that.
Listen to this class.

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I hope that you enjoy it.
I hope that you’re inspired by

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it, and that you can recognize
by hearing these things the

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solid foundation upon which our
lives and everything we know is

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built.
The Lord Jesus has been raised

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and we believe that and we know
it.

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Thanks for coming here this
morning.

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I’m really happy to be here with
you.

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All the four of the world’s
major religions are based on

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what we might call philosophical
propositions.

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So they have something to say,
you know, about morality and and

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maybe who we should be and how
we should act.

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But they don’t really make a
bolder claim about the state of

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things, about the state of the
world.

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But there are four of the
world’s major religions that do

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have something a little bit
bolder to say about God, about

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the universe, about what we
should believe.

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And and those four religions are
Judaism, Buddhism, Islam and

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Christianity.
And of those four religions that

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take a stronger stance, well,
within Judaism, somebody of the

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Judaistic faith today would tell
you that that their founding

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father, Abraham, is dead and
buried.

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And Buddhists would tell you
that Guatemala Buddha died and

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was buried, and that was it.
And those of the Islamic faith

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would tell you that their
founder, the great Prophet

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Muhammad, died and was buried.
And that’s the last we saw of

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him.
And of those four, perhaps of

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the most major world religions,
only Christianity makes a bolder

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claim, says something that seems
crazy.

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That seems unbelievable.
It puts it right out there for

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us to test the accuracy of it.
Because only Christianity claims

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that at a point in history a man
was raised from the dead.

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And not only that, but that a
lot of people saw it.

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And it puts it out there so that
we can examine it, look at the

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evidence for or against it.
And of course we know that man

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was was our Lord Jesus the
Christ.

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And the fact that he really
lived, that he was a real live

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human being is is really beyond
dispute today in scholarly

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circles among historians, even
among atheist historians.

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Everybody who knows anything
who’s looked at the facts would

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acknowledge that that as much as
any historical figure ever

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really lived and and was a true
person, Jesus was.

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And here’s a quote from from an
atheist historian named Michael

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Grant about Jesus.
He says to sum up, modern

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critical methods fail to support
the Christ myth theory.

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So as you may guess, the Christ
myth theory says that Jesus is

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just a made-up person.
He wasn’t real at all.

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Now this is an atheist historian
who wrote this in his review of

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the Gospels.
He says it has again and again

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been answered and annihilated by
first ranked scholars.

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In recent years no serious
scholar has ventured to

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postulate the non historicity of
Jesus, or at any rate very few,

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and they have not succeeded in
disposing of the much stronger,

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indeed very abundant, evidence
to the contrary.

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And at the end of our class last
night we saw that debate, a part

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of the debate where the well
known atheist Richard Dawkins is

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forced to admit that yes, Jesus
really did live.

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It’s a fact, It’s a historical
fact as much as any other piece

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of history that we know about.
But he goes on to say, but if

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you want to say that the
miracles that he performed

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really happened and that he
really was raised from the dead,

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he said all of that.
I can’t believe it.

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He says it.
It defies logic.

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But come with me to 1st
Corinthians chapter 15.

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This is how important the
resurrection of Jesus is to the

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Christadelphian faith.
And when Paul’s writing here to

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the Corinthians, it would seem
that that in their ecclesia they

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had a problem.
The problem was some people were

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teaching that there’s no
resurrection of the dead.

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And so Paul is is combating that
idea here.

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I’m going to start reading to
you in in verse 12 First

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Corinthians chapter 15.
And Paul says, now if Christ is

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proclaimed as raised from the
dead, how can some of you say

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that there is no resurrection of
the dead?

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But if there is no resurrection
of the dead, then not even

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Christ has been raised.
And if Christ has not been

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raised, then our preaching is in
vain and your faith is in vain.

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We are even found to be
misrepresenting God, because we

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testified about God that he
raised Christ, whom he did not

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raise.
If it is true that the dead are

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not raised, For if the dead are
not raised, not even Christ has

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been raised, And if Christ has
not been raised, your faith is

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futile, and you are still in
your sins, then those also who

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have fallen asleep in Christ
have perished.

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If in Christ we have hope in
this life only, we are of all

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people, most to be pity.
But in fact, Christ has been

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raised from the dead, the first
fruits of those who have fallen

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asleep.
And Paul says, look, if there’s

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no resurrection of the dead,
then Jesus wasn’t raised from

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the dead.
And if Jesus wasn’t raised from

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the dead, then there’s no
forgiveness of sins.

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And if there’s no forgiveness of
sins, then what are we doing

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this for?
All of our preaching, all of our

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good works, all of it is for
nothing because we’re just going

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to be die, and that’s going to
be it.

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And the point is that the entire
gospel message, in fact the

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entirety of the Christian faith
in the Bible, hangs in the

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balance based on whether or not
at a point in history a man

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really was raised from the dead.
Because if it’s not true, then

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we might as well throw the rest
of it out too.

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But if it is true, well, then
you’d want to give really

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serious consideration to
everything else that we read in

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the word of God.
So in this class we want to ask

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that question.
Do we think it’s true?

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And why?
Why do we think it’s true?

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What’s the evidence for it?
We want to look at the story of

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the trial and the crucifixion
and the resurrection of Jesus

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with a critical eye.
And I want you to come with me

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to start to, to John Chapter 11.
This was, if you will, sort of

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as far as this story goes.
It was the beginning of the end

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in John Chapter 11.
And towards the end of John

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Chapter 11, the leaders of the
Jews had a problem.

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And the problem was that Jesus
had performed a miracle that was

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so impressive that even the
skeptics had.

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Now it seemed like gone and
followed after Jesus.

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Everybody who was on the fence
about him was now in Jesus the

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Jesus camp, because Jesus had
raised Lazarus from the dead.

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And so the leaders of the Jews
have a problem and I’ll start

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reading at verse 47 of John
Chapter 11.

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They they come together and they
have a meeting to discuss what

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they’re going to do about this
problem.

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Starting at verse 47 of John
Chapter 11, it says So the chief

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priests and the Pharisees
gathered the council and said,

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what are we to do?
For this man performs many

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signs.
If we let him go on like this,

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everyone will believe in him,
and the Romans will come and

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take away both our place and our
nation.

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But one of them, Caiaphas, who
was high priest that year, said

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to them, you know nothing at
all, nor do you understand that

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it is better for you that one
man should die for the people

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than that the whole nation
should perish.

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Now, the argument that Caiaphas
used is a familiar one.

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You see, what he was saying is
this.

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We’ve seen this before.
There have been false messiahs

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before that have led people away
after them, and they’ve risen up

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and revolt against the Roman
Empire.

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And every single time the Romans
came down and crushed that

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revolt.
And now here is this Jesus, and

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he’s got a larger following than
anybody we’ve ever seen.

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If he decides that he wants to
start something, that he wants

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to rise up and revolt against
the Romans, the revolt is going

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to be so big, and the Romans
will be so angry that they’ll

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come down with such force that
they’ll not only will they

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completely crush that revolt,
but they’ll lose their patience

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with us because the Romans had
let the Jews continue to govern

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themselves, continue to worship
as they as they please.

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But, he said, now that won’t be
the case.

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They’ll take all that away from
us.

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We won’t be able to live the way
we’ve always lived.

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We won’t be able to worship the
God we’ve always worshipped.

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Our nation will be taken away if
we let this continue.

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So he says, for the good of our
nation, we’ve got to put a stop

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to it.
And yes, it might be wrong to

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murder a man, but don’t the
needs of the many outweigh the

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needs of the few?
Or in this case, the needs of

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the One isn’t the greater good
at stake.

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We’ve got to preserve our
nation.

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So we’ve got to do this thing,
as uncomfortable as it might

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make you feel, We’re going to
have to kill this man.

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And from this point on, the
Jewish leaders make it known

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that they’ll be very pleased if
anybody comes to them with any

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information that leads to the
rest of Jesus.

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Essentially, when we read into
it, they put a bounty on the

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head of Jesus.
If anybody can help us out, give

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us information that leads to the
rest of this man, we’ll be very

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happy with you and we’ll reward
you.

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But they had a problem.
They couldn’t just go and arrest

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him.
They had a lot of fears.

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Come back with me.
Just a few pages to John,

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Chapter 7.
They had sent their own Temple

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Guard who was on their payroll
to go arrest Jesus and those

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guards came back empty handed.
And that’s the context for when

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we start in verse 45 of John
Chapter 7.

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The officers then came to the
chief priests and Pharisees who

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said to them, why did you not
bring him?

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The officers answered.
No one ever spoke like this man.

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The Pharisees answered them.
Have you also been deceived?

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00:13:59,920 –> 00:14:02,960
Have any of the authorities or
the Pharisees believed in him?

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00:14:02,960 –> 00:14:07,760
But this crowd that does not
know the law is accursed

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00:14:08,760 –> 00:14:13,200
Nicodemus, who had gone to him
before, and who was one of them,

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00:14:13,320 –> 00:14:16,760
said to them, Does our law judge
a man without first giving him a

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00:14:16,760 –> 00:14:18,200
hearing and learning what he
does?

224
00:14:19,160 –> 00:14:22,000
They replied, Are you from
Galilee?

225
00:14:22,000 –> 00:14:28,280
Two Search and see that no
prophet arises from Galilee.

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00:14:29,680 –> 00:14:32,320
Now, in their response to these
soldiers, they actually said two

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00:14:32,320 –> 00:14:36,080
things that we know were wrong.
First, they they say to him,

228
00:14:36,080 –> 00:14:39,280
look, none of the leaders, none
of us has believed on him, and

229
00:14:39,280 –> 00:14:40,720
we’re the people who know
everything.

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00:14:41,840 –> 00:14:43,040
Well, they were wrong, weren’t
they?

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00:14:43,240 –> 00:14:45,840
Because the man who just spoke,
Nicodemus, we’re in on the

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00:14:45,840 –> 00:14:48,000
secret at this point.
Although they don’t know

233
00:14:48,200 –> 00:14:51,800
Nicodemus was one of them and he
was a secret follower of Jesus.

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00:14:51,960 –> 00:14:54,160
And we’ll find out later there
was another man, Joseph of

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00:14:54,160 –> 00:14:57,320
Arimathea, in their midst.
They did have people who were

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00:14:57,320 –> 00:14:59,760
perhaps secretly following
Jesus.

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00:14:59,760 –> 00:15:02,200
And not only that, they say,
look, he comes from the filthy

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00:15:02,200 –> 00:15:04,240
region of Galilee.
There’s never been a prophet

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00:15:04,240 –> 00:15:09,080
that’s come from there.
But both Jonah and Nahum had

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00:15:09,080 –> 00:15:13,480
come from the region of Galilee.
But the point is this.

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00:15:13,480 –> 00:15:16,520
They had a problem.
They couldn’t even get their own

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00:15:16,520 –> 00:15:18,920
soldiers to go and arrest this
man.

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00:15:19,400 –> 00:15:21,880
So how were they going to be
able to do it successfully?

244
00:15:22,000 –> 00:15:25,240
They were afraid.
They were afraid that wherever

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00:15:25,240 –> 00:15:28,040
they went to try to find him,
the people would be there to

246
00:15:28,040 –> 00:15:30,800
stop them.
And perhaps more than that.

247
00:15:30,880 –> 00:15:34,000
It’s not written in the New
Testament, but but it’s an

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00:15:34,000 –> 00:15:36,560
assumption maybe we can make.
They might have been afraid of

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00:15:36,560 –> 00:15:43,760
Jesus himself because this man
had undeniably power of God.

250
00:15:43,800 –> 00:15:48,200
He had performed miracles.
Many of these leaders had

251
00:15:48,200 –> 00:15:52,360
watched it happen.
They’d seen it and he never

252
00:15:52,360 –> 00:15:56,240
heard anybody before.
But who knew if when backed up

253
00:15:56,240 –> 00:15:59,840
against a corner, he might lash
out and what he could do and

254
00:15:59,840 –> 00:16:03,080
what he might be capable of.
So they needed somebody to

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00:16:03,080 –> 00:16:07,720
deliver him, not only away from
the people when there were

256
00:16:07,720 –> 00:16:10,600
crowds around him that could
protect him.

257
00:16:11,760 –> 00:16:14,160
They needed somebody to deliver
him when he was in the right

258
00:16:14,160 –> 00:16:18,200
state of mind.
Now we don’t have time to turn

259
00:16:18,200 –> 00:16:21,600
to to every passage that we
might normally end this story,

260
00:16:21,600 –> 00:16:23,760
because we’re going to be
looking at the events leading up

261
00:16:23,760 –> 00:16:26,080
to the arrest of Jesus, and then
we’re going to be looking at his

262
00:16:26,080 –> 00:16:30,760
trial.
We know that Jesus was there in

263
00:16:30,760 –> 00:16:35,760
the upper room with Judas, the
man who would betray him, And I

264
00:16:35,760 –> 00:16:39,400
want you to come with me Now
back to Luke, chapter 22.

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00:16:43,280 –> 00:16:49,360
I imagine that the Pharisees and
the leaders of the Jews in their

266
00:16:49,360 –> 00:16:53,160
wildest dreams never thought
that they might actually get an

267
00:16:53,160 –> 00:16:57,040
informant who was one of Jesus’s
inner circle of disciples.

268
00:16:57,440 –> 00:17:01,120
But that’ll be exactly what
happens when Judas hears about

269
00:17:01,120 –> 00:17:02,880
the bounty that’s on the head of
Jesus.

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00:17:02,880 –> 00:17:06,040
I’m going to start reading at
verse three of Luke chapter 22.

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00:17:06,640 –> 00:17:10,040
Then Satan entered into Judas
called Iscariot, who was of the

272
00:17:10,040 –> 00:17:13,319
number of the 12.
He went away and conferred with

273
00:17:13,319 –> 00:17:16,480
the chief priests and officers
how he might betray him to them,

274
00:17:17,040 –> 00:17:19,400
and they were glad and agreed to
give him money.

275
00:17:19,599 –> 00:17:23,079
So he consented and sought an
opportunity to betray him to

276
00:17:23,079 –> 00:17:25,800
them.
In the absence of the crowd, you

277
00:17:25,800 –> 00:17:27,520
see, that was important.
It had to be in the absence of

278
00:17:27,520 –> 00:17:30,080
the crowd.
There couldn’t be people around

279
00:17:30,080 –> 00:17:33,160
him when this happened.
So Judas goes away from that

280
00:17:33,160 –> 00:17:35,880
meeting with them, looking for
the right opportunity.

281
00:17:37,120 –> 00:17:41,040
And so Judas is sitting there
with Jesus in the upper room at

282
00:17:41,040 –> 00:17:44,080
that Last Supper with the other
disciples.

283
00:17:45,080 –> 00:17:47,640
And Jesus is talking about his
death.

284
00:17:50,760 –> 00:17:53,200
And Judas realizes what’s going
to happen next.

285
00:17:53,200 –> 00:17:54,640
He knows where they’re going to
go.

286
00:17:55,480 –> 00:17:58,400
And Jesus turns to Judas, and he
says that which you’re about to

287
00:17:58,400 –> 00:18:00,280
do, do it quickly.
You remember that.

288
00:18:01,720 –> 00:18:04,160
And the other disciples don’t
understand what Jesus means by

289
00:18:04,160 –> 00:18:07,520
that.
But Judas knows and he leaves.

290
00:18:07,520 –> 00:18:11,240
He walks out into the night, and
at that point we lose track of

291
00:18:11,240 –> 00:18:16,000
him.
What happens between when we see

292
00:18:16,000 –> 00:18:18,440
him there and when we next see
him?

293
00:18:18,760 –> 00:18:23,280
At the arrest of Jesus?
Because you would think Jesus

294
00:18:23,280 –> 00:18:25,960
said what you’re about to do, do
it quickly.

295
00:18:26,040 –> 00:18:28,360
You can imagine him running
through the streets of the city,

296
00:18:28,560 –> 00:18:32,560
but it will be hours and hours
until the arrest party arrives

297
00:18:32,560 –> 00:18:34,680
with Judas to actually arrest
Jesus.

298
00:18:35,120 –> 00:18:37,600
If he was supposed to do it
quickly, how come it took so

299
00:18:37,600 –> 00:18:39,760
long?
How can we explain that?

300
00:18:39,760 –> 00:18:42,080
And we’re going to look at this
story now with more of a

301
00:18:42,080 –> 00:18:44,880
critical eye.
We’ve got to be able to explain

302
00:18:44,880 –> 00:18:48,560
these gaps that the Bible
doesn’t go to any lengths to

303
00:18:48,560 –> 00:18:52,760
explain for us.
We know that it was late at

304
00:18:52,760 –> 00:18:56,480
night by the time that Judas and
the arrest party came to to

305
00:18:56,480 –> 00:18:59,880
arrest Jesus for a number of
reasons because the disciples

306
00:18:59,880 –> 00:19:03,200
were exhausted.
Jesus went to the garden and was

307
00:19:03,200 –> 00:19:04,640
praying in the garden of
Gethsemane.

308
00:19:04,640 –> 00:19:07,160
And there are three separate
occasions where he goes back and

309
00:19:07,160 –> 00:19:09,880
finds the disciples sleep And he
says asleep.

310
00:19:09,880 –> 00:19:12,400
And he says can you not wait
with me one hour?

311
00:19:12,400 –> 00:19:15,440
And they say OK, OK And he goes
and they fall asleep again three

312
00:19:15,440 –> 00:19:18,040
different times.
It was well past their bedtime.

313
00:19:20,800 –> 00:19:23,360
And we know that it must have
been quite dark by the time they

314
00:19:23,360 –> 00:19:28,280
got there, because Jesus can see
a little bit far away the

315
00:19:28,280 –> 00:19:31,760
torches of the arrest party as
they come in the darkness of the

316
00:19:31,760 –> 00:19:34,920
night.
And John chapter chapters

317
00:19:34,920 –> 00:19:40,640
14/15/16 and 17 all take place
in the upper room after Judas

318
00:19:40,640 –> 00:19:44,080
has left the room where Jesus
goes on to talk at length with

319
00:19:44,080 –> 00:19:47,240
his disciples.
And then he gives this great,

320
00:19:47,680 –> 00:19:50,360
powerful prayer with them.
And then they sing hymns before

321
00:19:50,360 –> 00:19:52,960
they even leave the upper room
to go and walk out.

322
00:19:53,080 –> 00:19:55,120
It would have taken them
probably 20 to 30 minutes to

323
00:19:55,120 –> 00:19:57,080
walk out to the Garden of
Gethsemane.

324
00:19:57,360 –> 00:20:00,960
Hours and hours go by before
Judas actually comes back.

325
00:20:01,960 –> 00:20:06,000
How can we explain that?
So let’s just imagine for a

326
00:20:06,000 –> 00:20:09,560
second what it might have been
like for Judas, what he would

327
00:20:09,560 –> 00:20:11,760
have had to go through in order
to set this up.

328
00:20:13,160 –> 00:20:14,800
So let’s say he walks out the
door.

329
00:20:14,800 –> 00:20:17,760
Jesus said, what you’re about to
do, do quickly, and he’s running

330
00:20:17,760 –> 00:20:21,720
through the streets of the city
to meet someone we don’t know.

331
00:20:21,960 –> 00:20:25,280
He must have had a contact.
He knocks on somebody’s door.

332
00:20:25,880 –> 00:20:29,480
This is at night and the door
opens.

333
00:20:30,720 –> 00:20:35,400
What must Judas have said to
whoever his contact was?

334
00:20:36,760 –> 00:20:40,280
He must have said something like
now is the time.

335
00:20:41,160 –> 00:20:43,560
I can tell you exactly where
he’s going to be tonight.

336
00:20:43,560 –> 00:20:46,480
It’s going to be in a place away
from the city, away from the

337
00:20:46,480 –> 00:20:50,160
crowds, and he is thinking and
talking about death.

338
00:20:50,480 –> 00:20:52,720
You’ll never find him in a
better state of mind.

339
00:20:53,480 –> 00:20:57,880
He is depressed.
This is what they were waiting

340
00:20:57,880 –> 00:21:01,520
for.
But now they had a problem.

341
00:21:01,520 –> 00:21:05,480
You see, they had no idea when
the moment was going to come.

342
00:21:05,480 –> 00:21:08,520
They had this man now on their
payroll, but they didn’t know

343
00:21:08,520 –> 00:21:10,760
when the moment was going to be,
because it had to be the perfect

344
00:21:10,760 –> 00:21:14,000
moment.
And all of a sudden he’s

345
00:21:14,000 –> 00:21:17,200
knocking on their door.
And the very next day the feast

346
00:21:17,200 –> 00:21:20,160
is about to start.
The festive pilgrims, most of

347
00:21:20,160 –> 00:21:21,600
them, have already arrived in
the city.

348
00:21:21,600 –> 00:21:24,080
The city would be busier at this
time of year than almost any

349
00:21:24,080 –> 00:21:26,680
other time of the year.
So they were afraid of the

350
00:21:26,680 –> 00:21:28,560
crowds.
But more than that, according to

351
00:21:28,560 –> 00:21:31,320
the law, they could not try a
man for this kind of a crime

352
00:21:31,320 –> 00:21:34,600
during the feast.
So they had to either convict

353
00:21:34,600 –> 00:21:39,160
him tonight where the moment
would be lost, it would be gone.

354
00:21:39,400 –> 00:21:41,280
They had to make a choice.
They had to make a decision.

355
00:21:41,680 –> 00:21:43,880
But if they were going to go
through with this, there were a

356
00:21:43,880 –> 00:21:46,360
lot of things they were going to
have to arrange very, very

357
00:21:46,360 –> 00:21:49,160
quickly because they were going
to do some things that were

358
00:21:49,160 –> 00:21:50,520
illegal.
We’re going to find they didn’t

359
00:21:50,520 –> 00:21:53,360
care if they had to break the
law to make this happen.

360
00:21:53,840 –> 00:21:55,880
They just didn’t want to anger
the people.

361
00:21:56,960 –> 00:21:59,800
They were willing to do whatever
it took to get rid of this man.

362
00:22:00,040 –> 00:22:02,240
There were a lot of things that
were illegal about what they’re

363
00:22:02,240 –> 00:22:06,840
about to do.
For example, under Jewish law,

364
00:22:07,560 –> 00:22:12,600
it was illegal for the Temple
Guard to arrest somebody who was

365
00:22:12,600 –> 00:22:15,800
accused of a crime.
Under Jewish law is the

366
00:22:15,800 –> 00:22:19,280
responsibility of the person or
persons who witnessed the crime

367
00:22:19,440 –> 00:22:23,720
to go and and bring that person
to the Sanhedrin Council and to

368
00:22:23,720 –> 00:22:26,720
bring them before the judge.
It was illegal for them to just

369
00:22:26,720 –> 00:22:28,360
send the soldiers out to get
him.

370
00:22:28,640 –> 00:22:31,600
But when Judas arrives, John
chapter 18 and verse three tells

371
00:22:31,600 –> 00:22:33,880
us that the Temple guard is
there with him.

372
00:22:33,880 –> 00:22:37,440
That was against the law, but of
course the leaders of the Jews

373
00:22:37,440 –> 00:22:39,680
were going to take no chances.
This man had power.

374
00:22:39,680 –> 00:22:43,760
They wanted to make sure they
had the manpower to bring him

375
00:22:43,760 –> 00:22:47,240
back and to if his disciples
were there to to beat them back

376
00:22:47,440 –> 00:22:51,240
as well.
It was illegal under Jewish law

377
00:22:51,240 –> 00:22:53,560
to try a capital charge By
night.

378
00:22:54,160 –> 00:22:58,360
A capital charge is 1, which if
the person is is convicted, they

379
00:22:58,360 –> 00:23:01,200
would be put to death.
It’s illegal to do that.

380
00:23:01,200 –> 00:23:03,960
It was illegal to do that under
Jewish law at night.

381
00:23:03,960 –> 00:23:07,920
But they’re about to hold this
trial at night and it was

382
00:23:07,920 –> 00:23:13,840
illegal for the judges of the
trial to cross examine the

383
00:23:13,840 –> 00:23:18,160
prisoner after the testimony of
the witnesses had broken down.

384
00:23:18,960 –> 00:23:26,320
Come with me to mark chapter 14
and have a look at this.

385
00:23:26,320 –> 00:23:32,960
This is now we’re in the trial
of Jesus, and I’m going to start

386
00:23:32,960 –> 00:23:36,800
reading to you from verse 55 of
Mark chapter 14.

387
00:23:39,240 –> 00:23:44,480
Now the chief priests and the
whole council, we’re seeking

388
00:23:44,480 –> 00:23:47,760
testimony against Jesus to put
him to death, but they found

389
00:23:48,040 –> 00:23:52,800
none, for many bore false
witness against him, but their

390
00:23:52,800 –> 00:23:57,520
testimony did not agree.
You see, here’s how it works.

391
00:23:58,080 –> 00:24:01,360
During a trial under Jewish law,
you’re probably familiar with

392
00:24:01,360 –> 00:24:04,480
the biblical law that somebody
could not be convicted if there

393
00:24:04,480 –> 00:24:07,040
was just one witness.
There had to be at least two and

394
00:24:07,040 –> 00:24:12,120
preferably 2 or more witnesses.
And so if they had more than one

395
00:24:12,120 –> 00:24:14,920
witness, those witnesses would
be, we call it, sequestered.

396
00:24:15,320 –> 00:24:17,640
They’d be kept somewhere in a
separate room, away from

397
00:24:17,640 –> 00:24:20,160
everybody else.
You didn’t want them talking to

398
00:24:20,160 –> 00:24:21,440
each other.
You wanted to make sure you were

399
00:24:21,440 –> 00:24:24,280
getting the truth of the matter.
No collaboration between the

400
00:24:24,280 –> 00:24:26,720
witnesses.
So the judges, which would be

401
00:24:26,720 –> 00:24:28,840
the members of the the
leadership council, the

402
00:24:28,840 –> 00:24:32,320
Sanhedrin Council of the Jews,
would call the first witness out

403
00:24:33,600 –> 00:24:36,920
and that witness would give his
testimony of what he had seen.

404
00:24:36,920 –> 00:24:39,200
It had to be, you know, of
something that was a criminal

405
00:24:39,200 –> 00:24:42,080
act.
And at this point, there are

406
00:24:42,080 –> 00:24:45,320
three types of testimony under
Jewish law.

407
00:24:46,840 –> 00:24:49,160
And the first kind of testimony
is called a vain testimony.

408
00:24:49,160 –> 00:24:51,000
A vain testimony looks like
this.

409
00:24:51,160 –> 00:24:53,520
A single witness comes out and
they give their testimony.

410
00:24:53,520 –> 00:24:57,440
And for whatever the reason, the
judges throw that testimony out.

411
00:24:57,440 –> 00:25:00,280
They say no, that you know, the
facts don’t line up, We don’t

412
00:25:00,280 –> 00:25:02,400
believe you.
We find this to be not a

413
00:25:02,400 –> 00:25:05,680
credible witness, a vain
testimony, that witness is

414
00:25:05,680 –> 00:25:08,040
dismissed and they don’t accept
his testimony.

415
00:25:09,080 –> 00:25:11,600
The second type of testimony
under under Jewish law is called

416
00:25:11,600 –> 00:25:14,720
a standing testimony.
So that means the first witness

417
00:25:14,720 –> 00:25:17,880
comes out, they testify as to
what they have seen.

418
00:25:18,640 –> 00:25:22,040
And the council says, OK, fair
enough, thank you very much.

419
00:25:22,040 –> 00:25:24,760
And they dismiss that witness
and call out the next one.

420
00:25:24,960 –> 00:25:28,880
His testimony stands, but it
remains for it to be confirmed

421
00:25:28,880 –> 00:25:31,640
by the other witnesses.
This is why the witnesses are

422
00:25:31,640 –> 00:25:34,080
kept sequestered, so they can’t
hear what the other one is

423
00:25:34,080 –> 00:25:38,440
saying when they’re testifying.
And what they want to ensure is

424
00:25:38,440 –> 00:25:40,920
that the testimony of all the
witnesses lines up.

425
00:25:41,120 –> 00:25:43,640
The judges were expected to be
very critical of the testimony

426
00:25:43,640 –> 00:25:45,920
of the witnesses and look at all
the facts and look for any

427
00:25:45,920 –> 00:25:49,520
inconsistencies in the story.
And if the testimony of the

428
00:25:49,520 –> 00:25:52,520
witnesses doesn’t line up, the
Jewish law says, you’ve got to,

429
00:25:52,520 –> 00:25:55,480
you’ve got to throw out the case
and set the set the prisoner

430
00:25:55,480 –> 00:25:58,560
free.
But when all of the witnesses

431
00:25:58,560 –> 00:26:01,040
come in, their stories are all
stand and they all agree

432
00:26:01,040 –> 00:26:03,080
together.
And the judges say, yes, these

433
00:26:03,080 –> 00:26:05,280
are acceptable testimonies, He
is guilty.

434
00:26:05,720 –> 00:26:09,440
That’s what is referred to as an
adequate testimony when the

435
00:26:09,440 –> 00:26:12,800
testimony under the Jewish law,
they say it’s when the testimony

436
00:26:12,800 –> 00:26:14,840
of the witnesses agrees
together.

437
00:26:15,960 –> 00:26:20,440
So did you notice, Have a look
at this in verse 56 that I that

438
00:26:20,440 –> 00:26:23,880
we just read.
Many bore false witness against

439
00:26:23,880 –> 00:26:27,760
him but their testimony did not
agree.

440
00:26:29,840 –> 00:26:33,440
So they had multiple witnesses,
Lots of witnesses that came

441
00:26:33,440 –> 00:26:35,560
forward but their stories were
contradictory.

442
00:26:36,280 –> 00:26:38,720
Now remember at this point there
were at least a couple members

443
00:26:38,720 –> 00:26:41,360
on the Jewish Sanhedrin Council
who were secret followers of

444
00:26:41,400 –> 00:26:43,680
Jesus.
So while the rest of them might

445
00:26:43,680 –> 00:26:46,800
have been in on this, on this
scheme to arrest and kill this

446
00:26:46,800 –> 00:26:50,240
man, there were a few that were
doing their job, truly doing

447
00:26:50,240 –> 00:26:53,360
their job and and saying no.
Look look the facts don’t add

448
00:26:53,360 –> 00:26:54,640
up.
These witnesses don’t have their

449
00:26:54,640 –> 00:26:59,120
stories straight, and at this
point, by law, they were

450
00:26:59,120 –> 00:27:02,720
supposed to have thrown out the
case, and it was illegal at this

451
00:27:02,720 –> 00:27:05,920
point, when the testimony of the
witnesses had broken down, for

452
00:27:05,920 –> 00:27:09,640
any of the judges to cross
examine the prisoner.

453
00:27:11,720 –> 00:27:14,400
But that’s exactly what is about
to happen.

454
00:27:15,200 –> 00:27:19,720
Now let me give you an example
of what this might look like in

455
00:27:19,720 –> 00:27:22,200
this specific trial in a case
where the testimony of the

456
00:27:22,200 –> 00:27:24,600
witnesses does not agree
together.

457
00:27:26,960 –> 00:27:29,840
So one of the things that Jesus
will be charged with is that he

458
00:27:29,840 –> 00:27:31,560
threatened to destroy the
temple.

459
00:27:31,560 –> 00:27:34,840
This was sacrilege.
It could be under Jewish law,

460
00:27:34,840 –> 00:27:38,800
punishable by death.
Now these are three different

461
00:27:39,240 –> 00:27:42,240
quotes from three different
gospels of what Jesus said.

462
00:27:43,240 –> 00:27:46,360
Two of them are from the trial
of Jesus and the third one in

463
00:27:46,360 –> 00:27:49,800
John is is the actual account of
what Jesus said.

464
00:27:50,600 –> 00:27:53,960
So in Mark chapter 14 and verse
58, one of the witnesses said

465
00:27:54,720 –> 00:27:58,240
Jesus said I will destroy this
temple that is made with hands

466
00:27:58,240 –> 00:28:01,320
and within three days I will
build another made without

467
00:28:01,320 –> 00:28:05,520
hands.
OK, so that’s the kind of

468
00:28:05,520 –> 00:28:07,680
testimony that might stand in a
trial.

469
00:28:08,360 –> 00:28:10,840
He said I’m going to destroy
this temple, says the witness.

470
00:28:11,840 –> 00:28:13,960
But we look at a parallel
account of the same story and

471
00:28:13,960 –> 00:28:17,400
another witness says in
Matthew’s account that Jesus

472
00:28:17,400 –> 00:28:22,440
said I am able to destroy the
temple of God and to build it in

473
00:28:22,440 –> 00:28:25,280
three days.
Now look at those two quotes and

474
00:28:25,280 –> 00:28:29,440
are they the same?
And they’re not, Because in the

475
00:28:29,440 –> 00:28:32,640
first quote Jesus said I’m going
to destroy this temple, said the

476
00:28:32,640 –> 00:28:34,640
witness.
But in the second one, the

477
00:28:34,640 –> 00:28:39,400
witness says, he simply said I’m
capable of destroying this

478
00:28:39,720 –> 00:28:42,640
temple.
Now the first one surely could

479
00:28:42,640 –> 00:28:47,640
be construed as as as sacrilege,
but the second one, he’s just

480
00:28:47,640 –> 00:28:49,760
saying, you know, I could do it
if I wanted.

481
00:28:49,760 –> 00:28:52,360
I’ve got the power to do it now.
They might consider that to be a

482
00:28:52,360 –> 00:28:55,000
pompous claim, but it’s
certainly not breaking the law.

483
00:28:55,240 –> 00:28:58,520
This is an example of where two
witnesses would have a slight

484
00:28:58,520 –> 00:29:00,760
detail that’s different in the
telling of their stories that

485
00:29:00,760 –> 00:29:04,920
the judges would be expected to
to to compare and say no, these

486
00:29:04,920 –> 00:29:09,080
testimonies don’t line line up.
And what did Jesus actually say?

487
00:29:09,080 –> 00:29:11,120
It’s recorded in John chapter 2,
verse 19.

488
00:29:11,160 –> 00:29:14,480
Jesus said destroy this temple,
You destroy this temple.

489
00:29:14,640 –> 00:29:17,680
And in three days I will raise
it up.

490
00:29:18,000 –> 00:29:20,360
And the record adds that that
Jesus was speaking

491
00:29:20,360 –> 00:29:22,080
metaphorically.
He was talking about the temple

492
00:29:22,080 –> 00:29:24,080
of his body.
Who’s saying, you kill me and

493
00:29:24,080 –> 00:29:27,360
I’ll be raised in three days.
That’s what he actually said.

494
00:29:28,920 –> 00:29:31,600
Did you notice one interesting
thing that all three of these

495
00:29:31,600 –> 00:29:33,960
accounts got right?
Because consider this, If a

496
00:29:33,960 –> 00:29:36,760
historian is looking at the
gospel accounts, they’re

497
00:29:36,760 –> 00:29:39,360
treating this like they treat
any other historical record when

498
00:29:39,360 –> 00:29:42,480
they’re trying to assess whether
or not these are accurate.

499
00:29:42,800 –> 00:29:45,640
Each one of these gospels are
different ancient manuscripts

500
00:29:45,640 –> 00:29:48,560
that were found written at
different times by different

501
00:29:48,560 –> 00:29:50,040
people.
So they compare them to each

502
00:29:50,040 –> 00:29:54,680
other to line up the facts.
And in every single case, each

503
00:29:54,680 –> 00:29:58,560
of the three writers got the
same detail, the same they all

504
00:29:58,640 –> 00:30:02,360
remembered were recorded, that
Jesus said it was going to

505
00:30:02,360 –> 00:30:05,320
happen in three days.
Everybody remembers, Jesus said

506
00:30:05,320 –> 00:30:07,960
before it ever happened.
He said it’s going to be, it’s

507
00:30:07,960 –> 00:30:11,640
going to be in three days that
this will happen, isn’t that

508
00:30:11,640 –> 00:30:13,920
interesting that that should all
line up?

509
00:30:17,040 –> 00:30:23,120
Now come with me to Matthew
chapter 26 and have a look

510
00:30:23,120 –> 00:30:37,160
towards the end of the chapter.
At verse 63 the testimony of the

511
00:30:37,160 –> 00:30:41,920
witnesses has broken down and
the high priest is beside

512
00:30:41,920 –> 00:30:44,400
himself because they put all
this effort into convicting this

513
00:30:44,400 –> 00:30:46,560
man and they’re going to have to
throw out the trial.

514
00:30:46,880 –> 00:30:49,840
He doesn’t know what else to do.
And in verse 62 the high priest

515
00:30:49,840 –> 00:30:52,840
stood up and said, have you no
answer to make?

516
00:30:53,120 –> 00:30:56,040
What is it that these men
testify against you?

517
00:30:57,440 –> 00:31:00,680
Now I mentioned it was against
the law at this point for the

518
00:31:00,680 –> 00:31:04,160
judges to cross examine the
prisoner after the testimony of

519
00:31:04,160 –> 00:31:08,040
the witnesses had broken down,
and Caiaphas is breaking the

520
00:31:08,040 –> 00:31:10,320
law.
Now when he does that anyway,

521
00:31:12,160 –> 00:31:15,520
verse 63.
But Jesus remains silent, And

522
00:31:15,520 –> 00:31:19,920
the high Priest said to him, I
adjure you by the living God,

523
00:31:19,920 –> 00:31:23,480
tell us if you are the Christ,
the Son of God.

524
00:31:24,760 –> 00:31:26,440
Jesus said to him, You have said
so.

525
00:31:26,640 –> 00:31:29,840
But I tell you from now on you
will see the Son of Man seated

526
00:31:29,840 –> 00:31:34,240
at the right hand of power and
coming on the clouds of heaven.

527
00:31:36,680 –> 00:31:39,680
Then the high priest tore his
robes and said he has uttered

528
00:31:39,760 –> 00:31:42,480
blasphemy.
What further witnesses do we

529
00:31:42,480 –> 00:31:45,040
need?
You have heard his blasphemy.

530
00:31:45,240 –> 00:31:48,440
What is your judgment?
And they answered, he deserves

531
00:31:48,840 –> 00:31:51,880
death.
And at this point they had him.

532
00:31:52,640 –> 00:31:56,080
They had him under Jewish law.
But even more importantly for

533
00:31:56,080 –> 00:31:57,800
them, they had him under Roman
law.

534
00:31:59,160 –> 00:32:03,920
Because a little bit later on,
when Pontius Pilate is standing

535
00:32:03,920 –> 00:32:06,440
in front of them, they’ve
convicted him of death.

536
00:32:06,440 –> 00:32:08,720
But now they need to convict him
in a Roman court.

537
00:32:10,560 –> 00:32:12,560
And Pilate says, what has this
man done?

538
00:32:12,800 –> 00:32:16,240
He should go free.
Pilate wanted nothing to do with

539
00:32:16,240 –> 00:32:19,640
the death of Jesus.
And they said, this man has made

540
00:32:19,640 –> 00:32:24,440
himself the Son of God.
He’s impinging on the power of

541
00:32:24,440 –> 00:32:26,920
Caesar.
He’s claiming a power greater

542
00:32:26,920 –> 00:32:28,680
than that of your sovereign
leader.

543
00:32:29,920 –> 00:32:33,440
You see, when they had Jesus on
claiming to be the Son of God,

544
00:32:33,920 –> 00:32:36,680
they had him not just under
Jewish law, but Roman law.

545
00:32:36,840 –> 00:32:39,600
And at that point, Pilate has
nothing he can say.

546
00:32:40,040 –> 00:32:42,880
He says, All right, turn him
over to you.

547
00:32:42,880 –> 00:32:47,920
It’s in your hands.
He knew that they had him at

548
00:32:47,920 –> 00:32:51,880
this point.
And when he said what he said to

549
00:32:51,920 –> 00:32:59,200
him, I adjure you by the living
God to tell us if you are the

550
00:32:59,200 –> 00:33:01,320
Christ.
That’s what’s known under Jewish

551
00:33:01,320 –> 00:33:03,720
law as the oath of the
testimony.

552
00:33:04,720 –> 00:33:07,640
Now we talked about the Talmud
yesterday.

553
00:33:08,080 –> 00:33:17,000
Here’s a quote from the Mishnah
about the Oath of the Testimony.

554
00:33:17,280 –> 00:33:21,200
This is what the law says.
If one shall say, I adjure you

555
00:33:21,200 –> 00:33:25,200
by the Almighty, by Sabaya, by
the gracious and merciful, by

556
00:33:25,240 –> 00:33:28,960
the long-suffering, by the
Compassionate, or by any of the

557
00:33:28,960 –> 00:33:32,840
Divine titles, behold, they are
bound to answer.

558
00:33:33,080 –> 00:33:35,040
This is what was known as the
Oath of the Testimony.

559
00:33:35,560 –> 00:33:39,560
If somebody invokes that any of
the sacred titles of God to get

560
00:33:39,560 –> 00:33:43,800
you to to answer a question
according to Jewish law, you had

561
00:33:43,800 –> 00:33:46,960
to answer and that’s exactly
what the high priest had done.

562
00:33:46,960 –> 00:33:49,920
He was breaking the law and
cross examining the prisoner but

563
00:33:49,920 –> 00:33:52,640
demanding by the law that Jesus
answered the question.

564
00:33:52,800 –> 00:33:56,400
And the remarkable thing is,
even though his accusers and the

565
00:33:56,400 –> 00:33:59,080
leaders of the Jews were
breaking law after law and

566
00:33:59,080 –> 00:34:06,400
convicting him that night, Jesus
follows the law and he answers

567
00:34:06,400 –> 00:34:10,199
the question because at that
point, all he had to do was keep

568
00:34:10,199 –> 00:34:13,440
his mouth closed, and according
to the law, he could have been

569
00:34:13,440 –> 00:34:16,159
set free.
His fate was in his own hands,

570
00:34:16,400 –> 00:34:20,080
and he could choose not to be
crucified in that moment.

571
00:34:21,600 –> 00:34:24,480
But he follows their laws.
But more importantly, he follows

572
00:34:24,480 –> 00:34:28,000
the will of God, and they had
him.

573
00:34:31,440 –> 00:34:33,800
So let’s come back to our
original question that we asked

574
00:34:33,960 –> 00:34:35,800
before examining this part of
the story.

575
00:34:37,120 –> 00:34:41,960
Why did it take so long for
Judas and the arrest party to

576
00:34:41,960 –> 00:34:44,600
get to the garden, to arrest
Jesus?

577
00:34:44,880 –> 00:34:47,880
Why did it take hours and hours?
Why didn’t it happen right away?

578
00:34:48,800 –> 00:34:53,120
And the answer is, it had to.
The leaders of the Jews had to

579
00:34:53,120 –> 00:34:55,040
make a split decision.
This is the moment.

580
00:34:55,040 –> 00:34:57,760
But we’ve got to do it tonight.
We’re going to break all of

581
00:34:57,760 –> 00:34:59,280
these laws.
How are we going to do it and

582
00:34:59,280 –> 00:35:01,240
get away with it?
We need witnesses.

583
00:35:01,400 –> 00:35:03,200
They had to rustle up some
witnesses.

584
00:35:03,200 –> 00:35:06,360
They got a lot of witnesses.
But it would take time to do

585
00:35:06,360 –> 00:35:07,960
that.
They’d have to rouse people from

586
00:35:07,960 –> 00:35:10,280
their sleep that they knew would
help them out in the trial.

587
00:35:11,040 –> 00:35:13,520
But things were rushed, so by
the time the trial actually

588
00:35:13,520 –> 00:35:16,720
happens, they hadn’t had time to
properly prepare the witnesses.

589
00:35:17,680 –> 00:35:19,960
And so their stories are all
different and it doesn’t stand

590
00:35:19,960 –> 00:35:21,720
up.
Nevertheless, they had to make

591
00:35:21,720 –> 00:35:23,760
all these arrangements.
They had to get the trial set

592
00:35:23,760 –> 00:35:24,840
up.
They had to wake up all the

593
00:35:24,840 –> 00:35:26,160
members of the Sanhedrin
council.

594
00:35:26,320 –> 00:35:29,600
They had to to get the Temple
Guard ready to go with Judas to

595
00:35:29,600 –> 00:35:32,360
arrest Jesus before they finally
went there.

596
00:35:32,680 –> 00:35:35,200
And we find that knowing
everything that had to take

597
00:35:35,200 –> 00:35:37,800
place and all the considerations
that would have been weighing

598
00:35:37,920 –> 00:35:42,120
down these Jewish leaders, it
only could have taken hours and

599
00:35:42,120 –> 00:35:45,920
hours.
If you were one of the writers

600
00:35:45,920 –> 00:35:49,800
of the gospels and you were
making up this store, but you

601
00:35:49,800 –> 00:35:52,120
wanted people to believe it, but
it was fictional.

602
00:35:53,360 –> 00:35:57,240
Don’t you think that you would
write it as if Judas left?

603
00:35:57,680 –> 00:35:59,520
Jesus said what you’re about to
do, do quickly.

604
00:35:59,520 –> 00:36:02,560
And then it did happen quickly.
Because when you don’t think

605
00:36:02,560 –> 00:36:05,040
through all the details and you
don’t examine Jewish law and

606
00:36:05,040 –> 00:36:08,400
Jewish culture and all the
things that had to happen, the

607
00:36:08,400 –> 00:36:11,240
casual reader would think, this
is strange.

608
00:36:11,240 –> 00:36:15,640
Why didn’t it happen right away?
But when we look at all the

609
00:36:15,640 –> 00:36:18,760
details and Jewish law and
Jewish culture and we realize

610
00:36:18,760 –> 00:36:21,840
what had to have happened, it
only makes sense.

611
00:36:22,360 –> 00:36:25,240
A detail like this one, that it
took hours and hours for them to

612
00:36:25,240 –> 00:36:28,040
get there just lines up
perfectly with real life.

613
00:36:28,960 –> 00:36:31,760
And the Bible doesn’t go to any
lengths to explain why it took

614
00:36:31,760 –> 00:36:35,600
so long, because the Bible isn’t
even trying to defend itself

615
00:36:35,600 –> 00:36:37,080
here.
It’s just telling an accurate

616
00:36:37,080 –> 00:36:41,080
account of how things happened.
Now let’s jump forward to the

617
00:36:41,080 –> 00:36:49,640
resurrection, because as we saw
last night, ancient historians

618
00:36:49,640 –> 00:36:52,360
and modern historians alike are
confronted with a problem.

619
00:36:52,360 –> 00:36:54,920
If they don’t believe that the
resurrection really happened,

620
00:36:54,920 –> 00:36:59,720
which many of them don’t,
because all accounts in our

621
00:36:59,720 –> 00:37:01,720
history points to the fact that
it did.

622
00:37:02,640 –> 00:37:04,400
And nothing has really come down
to us.

623
00:37:04,400 –> 00:37:06,880
Despite all the chances that
people would have had and all

624
00:37:06,880 –> 00:37:10,280
the people that were opposed to
the Christian religion to say

625
00:37:10,280 –> 00:37:13,480
no, this didn’t really happen.
Nothing has come down to us to

626
00:37:13,480 –> 00:37:18,280
say that that’s the case, that
the tomb wasn’t empty.

627
00:37:20,640 –> 00:37:23,480
And so there are a lot of
theories that go into explaining

628
00:37:24,280 –> 00:37:27,680
how this might have happened.
Why was it that the tomb of

629
00:37:27,800 –> 00:37:29,880
Jesus was empty?
Because it seems to be a

630
00:37:29,880 –> 00:37:33,440
historical fact that it was.
So I’m going to, I’m going to

631
00:37:33,440 –> 00:37:35,040
tell you about some of these
theories now.

632
00:37:35,760 –> 00:37:39,240
And the first four of them we’re
going to go through pretty

633
00:37:39,240 –> 00:37:41,800
quickly because I think we can
explain them away pretty

634
00:37:41,800 –> 00:37:43,240
quickly.
They’re not particularly

635
00:37:43,560 –> 00:37:45,040
believable.
And then we’ll spend some more

636
00:37:45,040 –> 00:37:48,440
time on the fifth one.
So the first theory is what’s

637
00:37:48,440 –> 00:37:53,120
known as the swoon theory.
This theory goes something like

638
00:37:53,120 –> 00:37:55,040
this.
Jesus didn’t actually die on the

639
00:37:55,040 –> 00:37:57,600
cross.
He did suffer crucifixion, but

640
00:37:57,600 –> 00:37:58,920
he just fainted at the end of
it.

641
00:38:00,000 –> 00:38:02,880
And the soldiers and everybody
else thought he was dead, took

642
00:38:02,880 –> 00:38:04,920
him down from the cross.
They wrapped him up, put him in

643
00:38:04,920 –> 00:38:08,480
the tomb, and then he woke up
and left.

644
00:38:10,320 –> 00:38:13,360
Now the incredible thing about
this theory is that if, if it

645
00:38:13,360 –> 00:38:18,480
were true, everybody mistook
Jesus for dead, He survives

646
00:38:18,480 –> 00:38:22,480
crucifixion.
He’s wrapped tightly up into the

647
00:38:22,480 –> 00:38:27,640
burial linens placed inside the
tomb, and in his incredibly

648
00:38:27,640 –> 00:38:30,280
weakened condition and his
emaciated state, having just

649
00:38:30,280 –> 00:38:34,080
survived crucifixion, he wakes
up, is able to somehow break

650
00:38:34,080 –> 00:38:37,840
free of the burial linens, and
then roll away the stone of the

651
00:38:37,840 –> 00:38:41,240
tomb, which weighed over a ton
and took a team of soldiers and

652
00:38:41,240 –> 00:38:43,680
horses with ropes and pulleys to
pull it into place.

653
00:38:44,160 –> 00:38:47,640
He’s able to push that away by
himself, just this regular guy,

654
00:38:48,160 –> 00:38:52,800
and I think we can dismiss the
swoon theory out of hand now.

655
00:38:52,800 –> 00:38:55,240
Another theory is is the theft
theory.

656
00:38:55,600 –> 00:38:59,880
The theft theory says either the
Jews like the Jewish leaders or

657
00:38:59,880 –> 00:39:04,880
the Romans stole the body of
Jesus, perhaps to keep it away

658
00:39:04,880 –> 00:39:08,800
from his disciples.
Maybe that could explain why the

659
00:39:08,800 –> 00:39:11,280
tomb was empty.
They themselves took the body.

660
00:39:12,280 –> 00:39:14,360
Now if that were true, you’d
have to ask yourself this

661
00:39:14,360 –> 00:39:18,360
question immediately.
The leaders of the Jews had a

662
00:39:18,360 –> 00:39:21,360
problem on their hands.
The tomb was empty.

663
00:39:21,640 –> 00:39:23,720
This was a big problem for them.
They didn’t like it.

664
00:39:25,160 –> 00:39:29,200
If they had stolen the body of
Jesus, it would be as simple as

665
00:39:29,200 –> 00:39:32,200
saying just several weeks after
the resurrection, when the

666
00:39:32,200 –> 00:39:36,360
apostles are saying he has been
raised, the Lord has risen, The

667
00:39:36,360 –> 00:39:38,840
Jewish leaders could have said
no, here’s his body, we’ve got

668
00:39:38,840 –> 00:39:41,080
it.
And Christianity would have died

669
00:39:41,080 –> 00:39:43,440
right there.
Don’t you think they would have

670
00:39:43,440 –> 00:39:46,240
done it now?
The same is true with the

671
00:39:46,240 –> 00:39:49,000
Romans.
It would take a few years for

672
00:39:49,000 –> 00:39:51,880
the Romans to really start to
hate Christianity, but they

673
00:39:51,880 –> 00:39:53,120
would.
We’re going to talk about that a

674
00:39:53,120 –> 00:39:55,200
lot in the last class tomorrow
morning.

675
00:39:55,200 –> 00:39:59,160
The rapid spread of Christianity
after just a few years went by.

676
00:39:59,160 –> 00:40:02,200
The Romans would really, really
like to be able to just kill

677
00:40:02,200 –> 00:40:05,560
Christianity.
Don’t you think If they had

678
00:40:05,560 –> 00:40:08,080
stolen the body of Jesus, they
would have just brought it out

679
00:40:09,280 –> 00:40:12,680
and Christianity would have died
right there and they never did.

680
00:40:13,640 –> 00:40:17,000
I don’t think the Jews or the
Romans stole the body of Jesus.

681
00:40:17,600 –> 00:40:20,400
Now there’s also the
hallucination theory, which says

682
00:40:20,400 –> 00:40:23,640
that the disciples of Jesus and
everybody else who saw the risen

683
00:40:23,640 –> 00:40:27,040
Lord Paul tells us that over 500
people saw him at one time.

684
00:40:27,040 –> 00:40:31,000
Everybody was hallucinating.
They all saw the same thing.

685
00:40:31,680 –> 00:40:34,440
Now, if you know anything about
hallucination, then you can

686
00:40:34,440 –> 00:40:37,880
probably understand why.
This is kind of an incredible

687
00:40:38,200 –> 00:40:40,680
theory.
Those who those people who are

688
00:40:40,680 –> 00:40:43,680
prone to hallucinations tend to
have certain characteristics.

689
00:40:43,680 –> 00:40:46,440
They tend to be high strung,
nervous, and have a

690
00:40:46,440 –> 00:40:48,520
predisposition towards what they
want to see.

691
00:40:48,720 –> 00:40:51,080
Now you can certainly say that
maybe about the disciples right

692
00:40:51,080 –> 00:40:53,600
after the death of Jesus, they
would really like to have seen

693
00:40:53,880 –> 00:40:57,800
the risen Lord, but what about
all the 500 people at once?

694
00:40:57,800 –> 00:41:02,240
You see, hallucinations tend to
happen in claustrophobic tight

695
00:41:02,240 –> 00:41:07,280
spaces inside, in the dark, not
in broad daylight outside.

696
00:41:08,800 –> 00:41:12,200
How can you explain all 12
disciples seeing the exact same

697
00:41:12,200 –> 00:41:15,640
hallucination at the same time?
Or even more than that?

698
00:41:15,720 –> 00:41:19,280
500 people at one time all
seeing the same thing at the

699
00:41:19,280 –> 00:41:20,960
same time, the same
hallucination?

700
00:41:20,960 –> 00:41:23,840
That’s not real.
And even if you’re willing to

701
00:41:23,840 –> 00:41:26,720
accept that, how do you explain
that all these people who

702
00:41:26,720 –> 00:41:30,440
continue to hallucinate and see
Jesus in various situations, all

703
00:41:30,440 –> 00:41:34,160
their hallucinations stopped at
exactly the same time?

704
00:41:35,480 –> 00:41:38,000
If you don’t believe in God and
miracles and Jesus being

705
00:41:38,000 –> 00:41:40,440
anything other than a regular
human being, how do you explain

706
00:41:40,440 –> 00:41:43,640
that and you can’t?
I don’t think we can give any

707
00:41:43,640 –> 00:41:45,520
credence to the hallucination
theory.

708
00:41:46,160 –> 00:41:49,840
There’s the wrong tomb theory
which says that when the women

709
00:41:49,840 –> 00:41:54,640
first found the empty tomb, you
know, they didn’t have GPS and

710
00:41:54,640 –> 00:41:55,920
they just were in the wrong
place.

711
00:41:55,920 –> 00:41:58,480
They went to the wrong tomb,
which happened to be empty and

712
00:41:58,640 –> 00:42:02,640
it was just a geographical error
and and they never went to the

713
00:42:02,640 –> 00:42:06,000
real place.
But we know for sure that that

714
00:42:06,000 –> 00:42:08,120
there are a couple people who
knew exactly where the body of

715
00:42:08,120 –> 00:42:11,720
Jesus was.
One was Joseph of Arimathea.

716
00:42:11,720 –> 00:42:15,240
It was his tomb.
So don’t you think as soon as he

717
00:42:15,240 –> 00:42:18,800
heard the news that Jesus was
risen, he’d he’d say, oh run

718
00:42:18,800 –> 00:42:21,640
back to his tomb and and the
stone would be rolled away.

719
00:42:21,840 –> 00:42:24,480
If it wasn’t, if it was still
there, the stone was still

720
00:42:24,480 –> 00:42:26,280
there.
Don’t you think he would have

721
00:42:26,280 –> 00:42:28,480
said no, You guys are just at
the wrong tomb.

722
00:42:29,840 –> 00:42:33,320
And more than that, the record
tells us that the women who who

723
00:42:33,320 –> 00:42:37,480
found the tomb empty before
anybody else, when Jesus was

724
00:42:37,480 –> 00:42:42,000
taken down from the cross and he
was wrapped up and taken to his

725
00:42:42,000 –> 00:42:45,720
burial place, to the tomb they
marked the place where he was

726
00:42:45,720 –> 00:42:48,720
laid, That’s how they knew to
come back to the right spot.

727
00:42:49,800 –> 00:42:52,400
I don’t think we can give much
credence to the wrong tomb

728
00:42:52,400 –> 00:42:55,040
theory either.
Which brings us to the most

729
00:42:55,040 –> 00:42:58,520
credible theory of all to
explain away why the tomb could

730
00:42:58,520 –> 00:43:06,040
have been empty, which is the
fraud theory, and this one

731
00:43:06,040 –> 00:43:11,160
actually starts in the Bible.
Fraud theory says the disciples

732
00:43:11,160 –> 00:43:14,480
stole the body.
Come with me to Matthew chapter

733
00:43:14,480 –> 00:43:22,680
28 and the Roman soldiers who
were guarding the tomb.

734
00:43:22,680 –> 00:43:24,160
I’m sure many of you are aware
of this.

735
00:43:24,160 –> 00:43:30,160
They had a problem because they
woke up and the tomb was empty

736
00:43:31,600 –> 00:43:36,680
and the penalty for failing
guard duty in the Roman army was

737
00:43:36,680 –> 00:43:39,760
death.
If it became known to their

738
00:43:39,760 –> 00:43:44,000
leaders, to their centurions
that that their prisoner who was

739
00:43:44,000 –> 00:43:47,400
dead had escaped, they would be
put to death.

740
00:43:48,280 –> 00:43:50,280
They know that.
So they don’t go to their

741
00:43:50,280 –> 00:43:53,120
leaders, They go to the Jewish
leaders who had paid them to be

742
00:43:53,120 –> 00:43:56,240
there in the 1st place and they
say help us out, help us out.

743
00:43:56,240 –> 00:43:58,360
We don’t know what to do here.
Can you please help us?

744
00:44:01,800 –> 00:44:03,800
And this is what the leaders of
the Jews say to them.

745
00:44:03,800 –> 00:44:09,600
In verse 13 of Matthew chapter
28, the Jewish leader said to

746
00:44:09,600 –> 00:44:14,560
these soldiers tell people his
disciples came by night and

747
00:44:14,560 –> 00:44:17,080
stole him away while we were
asleep.

748
00:44:17,760 –> 00:44:20,960
And if this comes to the
governor’s ears, we will satisfy

749
00:44:20,960 –> 00:44:26,760
him and keep you out of trouble.
So they say, look, this is a

750
00:44:26,760 –> 00:44:29,600
problem for us too.
So here’s what we’ll do.

751
00:44:30,200 –> 00:44:32,480
You tell everybody that you fell
asleep on the job.

752
00:44:32,920 –> 00:44:35,920
Now, we know normally you’d be
put to death for that, but we

753
00:44:35,920 –> 00:44:38,800
bribed our leaders, so we’ll
make sure, because they’re on

754
00:44:38,800 –> 00:44:41,520
our payroll, that they won’t do
anything to you.

755
00:44:41,840 –> 00:44:45,040
And you just tell this story for
us and everything will be fine.

756
00:44:45,520 –> 00:44:47,320
And that’s the story that they
tell.

757
00:44:47,680 –> 00:44:49,920
And we’ll see in a minute.
That’s the story that the Jews

758
00:44:49,920 –> 00:44:53,760
would still be telling people
several 100 years later that the

759
00:44:53,760 –> 00:44:57,240
disciples stole the body.
You know, the 1st and immediate

760
00:44:57,240 –> 00:45:00,160
question that I would ask in
this situation is if if

761
00:45:00,160 –> 00:45:02,560
somebody’s telling me that the
disciples stole the body of

762
00:45:02,640 –> 00:45:06,000
Jesus and perpetrated a lie on
the entire world to tell

763
00:45:06,000 –> 00:45:09,080
everybody he has risen and
started a new religion based on

764
00:45:09,080 –> 00:45:11,600
this lie that Jesus was
resurrected from the dead.

765
00:45:13,400 –> 00:45:18,240
I’d say if the soldiers never
actually fell asleep, they were

766
00:45:18,240 –> 00:45:21,280
awake, then why didn’t they stop
the disciples?

767
00:45:22,320 –> 00:45:26,200
And if they had fallen asleep at
the at their post, then how did

768
00:45:26,200 –> 00:45:29,640
they know it was the disciples?
You see, there’s a conundrum

769
00:45:29,640 –> 00:45:31,760
here.
Either way, their story doesn’t

770
00:45:31,760 –> 00:45:35,280
add up logically, but I’m going
to give you some more evidence I

771
00:45:35,280 –> 00:45:40,520
think of of why we we can’t
really trust in the fraud theory

772
00:45:40,520 –> 00:45:44,200
either, why it doesn’t hold up
some some additional evidence.

773
00:45:44,880 –> 00:45:47,120
And the first one, the first
piece of evidence I’ll submit

774
00:45:47,120 –> 00:45:53,120
for you is is the life of the
half brother of Jesus, James,

775
00:45:53,360 –> 00:45:57,000
known by many at the time as
James the Just.

776
00:45:58,240 –> 00:46:01,480
He would eventually be the de
facto leader of the largest

777
00:46:01,480 –> 00:46:04,000
ecclesia in the world, the
Jerusalem Ecclesia.

778
00:46:06,120 –> 00:46:12,440
But while Jesus was alive and up
until he was crucified, James

779
00:46:12,760 –> 00:46:15,040
was not a believer.
He was a skeptic.

780
00:46:15,880 –> 00:46:18,400
You remember that story when
Jesus was was preaching to a

781
00:46:18,400 –> 00:46:22,960
crowd of people and his mother
and his brothers try to get to

782
00:46:22,960 –> 00:46:24,920
him.
They want to give him a message.

783
00:46:24,920 –> 00:46:27,720
And the message we presume they
want to give to him is come down

784
00:46:27,720 –> 00:46:30,480
from your soapbox and stop
talking all this nonsense.

785
00:46:31,520 –> 00:46:34,760
But they can’t get to him
because the crowd is so tightly

786
00:46:34,760 –> 00:46:36,000
packed.
So they send a message up

787
00:46:36,000 –> 00:46:38,400
through the crowd and the
message gets to Jesus and the

788
00:46:38,400 –> 00:46:40,600
message is your mother and your
brethren are outside and they

789
00:46:40,600 –> 00:46:42,920
want to speak to you.
Do you remember what Jesus said?

790
00:46:43,080 –> 00:46:46,120
The message that he said that
went all the way back reached,

791
00:46:46,240 –> 00:46:47,800
reached them on the outside of
the crowd.

792
00:46:48,200 –> 00:46:50,520
He said Mark chapter 3, verse
35.

793
00:46:50,840 –> 00:46:55,560
Whoever does the will of God is
my brother and sister and

794
00:46:55,560 –> 00:46:58,240
mother.
Now Can you imagine if you were

795
00:46:58,240 –> 00:47:01,000
the brother of Jesus and this is
the message you got?

796
00:47:03,560 –> 00:47:06,160
They’re not my true family.
If if they’re not doing the will

797
00:47:06,160 –> 00:47:09,560
of God, how must that have made
him feel?

798
00:47:10,600 –> 00:47:14,400
And in Mark chapter 6 and verse
three and four, the people said

799
00:47:14,400 –> 00:47:16,840
this about Jesus.
Is not this the Carpenter, the

800
00:47:16,840 –> 00:47:20,440
son of Mary, the brother of
James and Joseph, and of Judah

801
00:47:20,440 –> 00:47:23,040
and Simon, and are not his
sisters here with us?

802
00:47:23,600 –> 00:47:27,720
And they were offended at him.
But Jesus said unto them, A

803
00:47:27,720 –> 00:47:31,440
prophet is not without honor,
but in his own country, and

804
00:47:31,440 –> 00:47:35,520
among his own kin and in his own
house.

805
00:47:36,040 –> 00:47:39,200
And Jesus could only say that
because his own family didn’t

806
00:47:39,200 –> 00:47:41,400
believe that he was truly the
Son of God.

807
00:47:42,600 –> 00:47:46,720
And if we doubt that at this
point, then the nail in the

808
00:47:46,720 –> 00:47:50,800
coffin is John Chapter 7 verse 5
which says simply neither did

809
00:47:50,800 –> 00:47:56,040
his brethren believe in him.
James did not believe that Jesus

810
00:47:56,040 –> 00:47:59,680
was who he said he was.
All throughout Jesus ministry

811
00:47:59,840 –> 00:48:05,000
James did not believe.
And then Jesus dies and people

812
00:48:05,000 –> 00:48:06,920
are saying he’s been resurrected
from the dead.

813
00:48:07,800 –> 00:48:10,920
And Paul records this in First
Corinthians chapter 15 and those

814
00:48:10,920 –> 00:48:13,240
famous verses verses five to
seven.

815
00:48:13,240 –> 00:48:17,080
He says that Jesus was seen of
of Cephas who was Peter then of

816
00:48:17,080 –> 00:48:22,000
the 12 after that he was seen of
above 500 brethren at once, of

817
00:48:22,000 –> 00:48:25,040
whom the greater part remain
unto this present, but some are

818
00:48:25,040 –> 00:48:28,840
falling asleep.
And after that he was seen of

819
00:48:29,360 –> 00:48:32,600
James and then of all the
apostles.

820
00:48:33,840 –> 00:48:37,120
Now I would ask you, what can
explain the conversion of this

821
00:48:37,120 –> 00:48:39,840
man who is a historical figure
outside the Bible.

822
00:48:39,840 –> 00:48:45,200
James the just, the half brother
of Jesus, a skeptic.

823
00:48:45,280 –> 00:48:48,400
Jesus has been crucified.
What could convince this man to

824
00:48:48,400 –> 00:48:51,560
believe if Jesus wasn’t
resurrected from the dead?

825
00:48:52,240 –> 00:48:55,280
But Paul says that Jesus made a
special visit to James.

826
00:48:55,280 –> 00:48:57,320
He appeared unto him
specifically.

827
00:48:59,560 –> 00:49:02,640
I’d say there’s no good
explanation other than that that

828
00:49:02,640 –> 00:49:05,680
Jesus really was raised from the
dead.

829
00:49:06,520 –> 00:49:08,960
The historian Josephus, who
lived just after the time of the

830
00:49:08,960 –> 00:49:14,760
apostles, wrote about James.
He talks about the high priest

831
00:49:14,760 –> 00:49:17,760
at the time and the fact that he
was away at this time, And

832
00:49:17,760 –> 00:49:19,040
that’s the context of this
quote.

833
00:49:19,320 –> 00:49:22,880
Festus was now dead and Albinus
was but upon the road.

834
00:49:22,880 –> 00:49:26,760
So he that is the acting High
priest, the Nanus assembled the

835
00:49:26,760 –> 00:49:30,840
Sanhedrin of judges and brought
before them the brother of

836
00:49:30,840 –> 00:49:34,440
Jesus, who was called Christ,
whose name was James, and some

837
00:49:34,440 –> 00:49:37,400
of his companions.
And when he had formed an

838
00:49:37,400 –> 00:49:40,840
accusation against them as
Breakers of the law, he

839
00:49:40,840 –> 00:49:45,320
delivered them to be stoned.
Now, of course, the Bible tells

840
00:49:45,320 –> 00:49:47,720
us that James James was a
faithful man.

841
00:49:47,720 –> 00:49:51,360
Of course we have the The
Epistle of James within the the

842
00:49:51,360 –> 00:49:54,440
New Testament Canon.
He was the leader of the

843
00:49:54,440 –> 00:49:59,360
Jerusalem Ecclesia, it would
seem an all but name, and

844
00:49:59,360 –> 00:50:01,840
historians outside the Bible
tells us he was put to death.

845
00:50:01,840 –> 00:50:05,240
That historian Josephus over and
above or Eusebius rather over

846
00:50:05,240 –> 00:50:08,760
and above.
Josephus tells us that James was

847
00:50:08,760 –> 00:50:15,040
killed by the angry Jewish
leaders because he refused to

848
00:50:15,040 –> 00:50:18,160
refute what he had been saying
all along, That Jesus was the

849
00:50:18,160 –> 00:50:20,880
Son of God and that he had been
raised from the dead and he

850
00:50:20,880 –> 00:50:25,760
would lose his life because he
refused to renounce that Jesus,

851
00:50:25,880 –> 00:50:28,240
Jesus of Nazareth, that he was
the son of God.

852
00:50:28,840 –> 00:50:32,600
He would die for it.
How can we explain James the

853
00:50:32,600 –> 00:50:38,520
just and his conversion if Jesus
wasn’t raised from the dead now?

854
00:50:38,520 –> 00:50:44,520
Also, the writers of the Gospels
agree that the first people who

855
00:50:44,520 –> 00:50:49,120
discovered that the tomb of
Jesus was empty were women.

856
00:50:51,080 –> 00:50:55,320
Now, this might not seem like an
important detail to you, but you

857
00:50:55,320 –> 00:50:57,160
have to understand the culture
at the time.

858
00:50:58,560 –> 00:51:02,760
Because if this was, again, if
this was a fictional story and

859
00:51:02,760 –> 00:51:05,240
the writers were making it up,
but they wanted us to believe,

860
00:51:05,760 –> 00:51:09,440
the very last thing they would
do is have this detail in the

861
00:51:09,440 –> 00:51:12,360
story.
Women being the first people who

862
00:51:12,360 –> 00:51:15,560
discovered the body.
Because the Jewish mindset was

863
00:51:15,560 –> 00:51:18,040
pretty antiquated.
It was pretty draconian.

864
00:51:18,680 –> 00:51:20,880
They didn’t have a lot of
respect for the intelligence of

865
00:51:20,880 –> 00:51:24,640
women.
This is what it has to say about

866
00:51:24,640 –> 00:51:27,440
the right of a woman to testify
in a trial in the in the

867
00:51:27,440 –> 00:51:31,120
Jerusalem Talmud.
It’s talking about in this case,

868
00:51:31,320 –> 00:51:33,400
and I apologize.
The translation in English isn’t

869
00:51:33,400 –> 00:51:37,480
great, but it’s talking about
the if a thief, a known thief

870
00:51:37,480 –> 00:51:40,760
was to test to try to testify as
a witness in a trial, any

871
00:51:40,760 –> 00:51:44,680
evidence which a woman gives is
not valid to offer.

872
00:51:44,760 –> 00:51:47,600
Also, they that is a thief are
not valid to offer.

873
00:51:47,760 –> 00:51:50,120
This is equivalent to saying
that one who is rabbinically

874
00:51:50,120 –> 00:51:53,640
accounted a robber is qualified
to give the same evidence as a

875
00:51:53,640 –> 00:51:55,920
woman, which is to say none at
all.

876
00:51:56,400 –> 00:51:59,800
Thieves were not allowed to be
witnesses in trials, and neither

877
00:51:59,800 –> 00:52:03,960
were women.
It was against Jewish law.

878
00:52:05,160 –> 00:52:08,120
Another place in the Talmud says
let the law be burned rather

879
00:52:08,120 –> 00:52:11,200
than entrusted to a woman.
Women were not to be educated,

880
00:52:11,200 –> 00:52:14,400
they were not to be trusted with
any kind of knowledge like this

881
00:52:14,600 –> 00:52:17,920
in Jewish society at this time,
if we want to know why, let’s

882
00:52:17,920 –> 00:52:21,200
just turn to Josephus and let
him explain why he thinks that

883
00:52:21,200 –> 00:52:23,840
should be.
He says, let not the testimony

884
00:52:23,840 –> 00:52:26,680
of women be admitted on account
of the levity and boldness of

885
00:52:26,680 –> 00:52:30,400
their sex, nor let servants be
admitted to give testimony on

886
00:52:30,400 –> 00:52:33,720
account of the Igno ability of
their soul, since it is probable

887
00:52:33,720 –> 00:52:36,480
that they may not speak truth
either out of hope or gain or

888
00:52:36,480 –> 00:52:39,280
fear of punishment.
See, the general mindset at the

889
00:52:39,280 –> 00:52:42,360
time is that women are silly
creatures not to be trusted.

890
00:52:42,360 –> 00:52:43,880
They’ll believe anything they
hear.

891
00:52:44,400 –> 00:52:48,360
So the very last thing that
somebody writing a fictional

892
00:52:48,360 –> 00:52:50,960
account in the Gospels of the
discovery of the empty tomb

893
00:52:51,240 –> 00:52:54,840
would would say is that the very
first witnesses of the empty

894
00:52:54,840 –> 00:52:59,600
tomb were women.
And yet that’s what happened.

895
00:53:00,200 –> 00:53:06,200
So that’s what they wrote.
And generations later, that same

896
00:53:06,200 –> 00:53:09,440
story that the Jews told the
centurions to tell everybody

897
00:53:09,440 –> 00:53:13,560
that the disciples had stole the
body is what the Jews were still

898
00:53:13,560 –> 00:53:17,040
saying.
Here’s Justin Martyr, one of the

899
00:53:17,040 –> 00:53:19,720
earliest Christian apologist.
A Christian apologist is

900
00:53:19,720 –> 00:53:24,880
somebody who defends the
Christian faith and he says

901
00:53:27,640 –> 00:53:30,800
sometime around 108 AD.
So after the time of of the

902
00:53:30,800 –> 00:53:34,160
apostles, about a generation
later, the resurrection of

903
00:53:34,160 –> 00:53:38,920
Christ did not convert the Jews,
but through the whole world they

904
00:53:38,920 –> 00:53:42,440
have sent men to accuse Christ.
And though all the men of your

905
00:53:42,440 –> 00:53:45,720
nation knew the incidence in the
life of Jonah, and though Christ

906
00:53:45,720 –> 00:53:50,160
said amongst you that he would
give the sign of Jonah, yet you

907
00:53:50,160 –> 00:53:53,600
not only have not repented after
you learned that he rose from

908
00:53:53,600 –> 00:53:56,080
the dead.
But, as I said before, you have

909
00:53:56,080 –> 00:53:59,720
sent chosen and ordained men
through all the world to

910
00:53:59,720 –> 00:54:03,240
proclaim that a godless and
lawless heresy had sprung from

911
00:54:03,240 –> 00:54:07,720
one Jesus, a Galilean deceiver
whom we crucified.

912
00:54:07,960 –> 00:54:11,080
But his disciples stole him by
night from the tomb where he was

913
00:54:11,080 –> 00:54:14,760
laid when unfastened from the
cross, and now deceive men by

914
00:54:14,760 –> 00:54:18,640
asserting that he has risen from
the dead and ascended to heaven.

915
00:54:19,360 –> 00:54:22,840
And a generation later, this was
still the only and the best

916
00:54:22,840 –> 00:54:26,200
story they had.
They couldn’t dispute the fact

917
00:54:26,200 –> 00:54:29,960
that the tomb was empty, so they
had to tell this story that the

918
00:54:29,960 –> 00:54:34,240
disciples stole the body.
And even a generation or two

919
00:54:34,240 –> 00:54:37,880
after him, another Christian,
Tertullian, is saying this

920
00:54:37,880 –> 00:54:40,880
sarcastically, speaking for
sarcastically from the tone of

921
00:54:40,880 –> 00:54:44,640
voice of a non believer at the
time.

922
00:54:45,200 –> 00:54:48,200
This is he whom his disciples
secretly stole away, that it

923
00:54:48,200 –> 00:54:50,640
might be said he had risen
again, or the gardener

924
00:54:50,640 –> 00:54:53,760
abstracted that his lettuces
might come to no harm from the

925
00:54:53,760 –> 00:54:59,640
crowds of visitants.
This was the message of the

926
00:54:59,640 –> 00:55:02,320
Jewish leaders who were not
Christians who despised

927
00:55:02,320 –> 00:55:04,600
Christianity.
Generations later, after the

928
00:55:04,600 –> 00:55:08,760
fact, this was still the best
story that they had to explain

929
00:55:08,760 –> 00:55:12,880
away the resurrection that the
disciples had stole the body,

930
00:55:14,760 –> 00:55:18,320
and it’s all they had.
And as I’ve submitted to you, I

931
00:55:18,320 –> 00:55:20,240
don’t think that theory holds up
either.

932
00:55:20,920 –> 00:55:23,800
As much as anything is a
historical fact, is it?

933
00:55:23,800 –> 00:55:28,280
It is a historical fact that the
tomb of Jesus was empty and more

934
00:55:28,280 –> 00:55:30,720
than that, that he really was
raised from the dead.

935
00:55:31,960 –> 00:55:35,400
And back in the 1930s, a man
named Albert Henry Ross set out

936
00:55:35,400 –> 00:55:38,000
to write a book.
He was a journalist with some

937
00:55:38,000 –> 00:55:43,000
training in in as a as a lawyer
and he set out to write a book

938
00:55:43,000 –> 00:55:46,400
that he was going to use as a
criticism of the New Testament.

939
00:55:46,400 –> 00:55:49,560
This was going to be a critical
in depth examination of of the

940
00:55:49,560 –> 00:55:53,600
four gospel accounts,
specifically detailing the the

941
00:55:53,600 –> 00:55:57,320
trial and crucifixion story of
Jesus.

942
00:55:57,800 –> 00:56:00,360
He was a skeptic.
He had been a Christian, gone to

943
00:56:00,360 –> 00:56:03,320
a Christian Church when he had
grown up, but as an adult he’d

944
00:56:03,320 –> 00:56:05,960
stopped going, didn’t believe it
anymore, but was very interested

945
00:56:05,960 –> 00:56:08,640
in the stories.
He set out to look at all the

946
00:56:08,640 –> 00:56:12,280
details of Jewish law and the
culture at the time, and to look

947
00:56:12,280 –> 00:56:15,320
in depth at the original
languages and the Gospels to see

948
00:56:15,320 –> 00:56:16,760
if the details of the story
lined up.

949
00:56:16,760 –> 00:56:20,720
But his intent was to pick it
apart piece by piece, and at the

950
00:56:20,720 –> 00:56:23,160
end he wrote a book called Who
Moved the Stone?

951
00:56:25,960 –> 00:56:30,240
And he changed his mind because
his book was the opposite of

952
00:56:30,240 –> 00:56:33,280
what he intended it to be.
It’s today one of the most

953
00:56:33,280 –> 00:56:35,360
famous Christian apologetic
works.

954
00:56:35,880 –> 00:56:39,560
It goes piece by piece through
the trial and crucifixion of

955
00:56:39,560 –> 00:56:43,080
Jesus, examining every part in
critical detail.

956
00:56:43,560 –> 00:56:48,960
And the conclusion is, from
everything that I can tell, this

957
00:56:48,960 –> 00:56:53,640
really did happen.
Here’s a quote from towards the

958
00:56:53,640 –> 00:56:59,760
end of the book.
This is what he has to say, he

959
00:56:59,760 –> 00:57:01,800
wrote under the pen name Frank
Morrison.

960
00:57:03,400 –> 00:57:06,400
He said if it could be shown
that there was a single

961
00:57:06,400 –> 00:57:10,160
document, if of admittedly early
date, dealing with the

962
00:57:10,160 –> 00:57:14,080
crucifixion and burial of Jesus,
in which it was even remotely

963
00:57:14,080 –> 00:57:16,840
hinted that such was the case,
that is to say that the

964
00:57:16,840 –> 00:57:18,880
disciples had stole the body of
Jesus.

965
00:57:19,600 –> 00:57:23,600
I for one, should attach to that
hint very considerable weight.

966
00:57:25,400 –> 00:57:28,240
Yet in all the varied literature
from that far off time, written

967
00:57:28,240 –> 00:57:31,120
under different skies by men of
varying temperaments possessed

968
00:57:31,120 –> 00:57:34,240
of obviously divergent theories
of the true course of those

969
00:57:34,240 –> 00:57:38,440
memorable events, there has come
down to us no hint or suggestion

970
00:57:38,600 –> 00:57:40,880
that the facts about the grave
were other than those

971
00:57:40,880 –> 00:57:45,120
substantially recorded in the
Gospel According to Mark.

972
00:57:46,440 –> 00:57:50,080
However disconcerting the fact
may be, the literary verdict is

973
00:57:50,080 –> 00:57:53,120
unanimous and must at least be
given its due weight by the

974
00:57:53,160 –> 00:57:57,040
impartial mind.
Now we showed a quote from an

975
00:57:57,040 –> 00:58:00,040
atheist who changed his mind
last night and he said all my

976
00:58:00,040 –> 00:58:04,840
life I followed the evidence
wherever it leads, and now I

977
00:58:04,840 –> 00:58:09,080
followed it to believe in a God.
And here is a man who is a

978
00:58:09,080 –> 00:58:14,600
skeptic who didn’t believe, but
he followed the evidence and it

979
00:58:14,600 –> 00:58:17,600
led him to believe.
When he looked at every detail

980
00:58:17,600 –> 00:58:20,680
and compared the gospel accounts
to each other, he said this is a

981
00:58:20,760 –> 00:58:25,280
historical fact that at a point
in history a man really was

982
00:58:25,280 –> 00:58:28,600
raised from the dead.
And you have to ask the question

983
00:58:28,600 –> 00:58:30,800
too.
If again this was a made-up

984
00:58:30,800 –> 00:58:37,240
story, why would they have it in
Jerusalem where Jesus was most

985
00:58:37,240 –> 00:58:40,760
strongly opposed?
Why several weeks later we’ll

986
00:58:40,760 –> 00:58:44,160
read about in Acts chapter 2,
Would Jerusalem be the place

987
00:58:44,360 –> 00:58:47,160
where the apostles would go out
and and filled with the Holy

988
00:58:47,160 –> 00:58:49,960
Spirit, preached that the the
Lord was risen.

989
00:58:51,640 –> 00:58:55,560
Jerusalem was a place where
anybody between dinner and

990
00:58:55,560 –> 00:58:58,240
bedtime could walk outside the
city walls and look for

991
00:58:58,240 –> 00:59:00,920
themselves to see if the tomb
really was empty.

992
00:59:02,560 –> 00:59:05,680
If this was all made-up, why not
spread this message starting

993
00:59:05,680 –> 00:59:08,840
somewhere else, like Galilee,
where Jesus had family where he

994
00:59:08,840 –> 00:59:11,640
whereas all his enemies weren’t,
because all his enemies were

995
00:59:11,640 –> 00:59:16,760
right there in Jerusalem.
Yet the Christian religion, now

996
00:59:16,760 –> 00:59:20,560
spreading like wildfire, had its
heart in Jerusalem, the very

997
00:59:20,560 –> 00:59:24,520
place where anybody could have
walked outside the gates just a

998
00:59:24,520 –> 00:59:26,360
short distance to visit the
tomb.

999
00:59:28,480 –> 00:59:31,160
And as much as anything is a
historical fact.

1000
00:59:32,160 –> 00:59:35,000
The resurrection of Jesus is
historical fact.

1001
00:59:35,000 –> 00:59:38,080
And if Jesus really was raised
from the dead, that’s proof,

1002
00:59:38,080 –> 00:59:40,200
said Paul, that we can and will
be too.

1003
00:59:41,880 –> 00:59:44,160
And that’s proof too that
everything he said was true,

1004
00:59:44,160 –> 00:59:45,760
that he truly was the Son of
God.

1005
00:59:45,760 –> 00:59:49,200
That the Bible that we have
before us is the message of God.

1006
00:59:49,760 –> 00:59:52,040
If that’s really true, then
shouldn’t we be taking this

1007
00:59:52,040 –> 00:59:55,240
extremely seriously?
Isn’t this a matter of life and

1008
00:59:55,240 –> 00:59:57,480
death?
Isn’t this book more important

1009
00:59:57,640 –> 01:00:16,560
than anything else in this life?
Thank you for listening to the

1010
01:00:16,560 –> 01:00:18,160
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Podcast.

1011
01:00:18,960 –> 01:00:21,400
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1012
01:00:21,400 –> 01:00:23,800
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1013
01:00:23,800 –> 01:00:25,520
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1014
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1015
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01:00:35,760 –> 01:00:38,280
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01:00:38,280 –> 01:00:42,160
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1028
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