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Session 7: Jesus on the Witness Stand II

Review: Last time we discussed what Jesus said and presumably thought about Himself. Did He speak of Himself as the Messiah, the Son of God, equal to the Father? Why do you think some people think he did not?

Opening Question: Have you ever believed something for which you knew other people would think you crazy? What was it? What happened?

All rise, the 1st Vatra Court of Grass Lake is now in session.

Prosecution: If it is indeed the Truth that Jesus of Nazareth actually believed himself to be the only-begotten Son of this hypothetical God the Father, is this not now surely the strongest evidence against him? Is this not a sure sign of mental illness in the extreme? Megalomania? Delusions of Grandeur? Complete disassociation from reality?

Defense: Your honors, the question as to whether Jesus Christ was insane, either clinically or legally, is a valid one. It can be answered in the same manner one would answer this question in any court of law or hospital. Did Jesus exhibit any signs of mental illness associated with His identity claims? Based on all that we know of His behavior, can we consider Him insane? We hold that the evidence will show that the answer to both questions is No!

Based on your common sense notions of mental health, what would you consider to be sure signs of a mental illness? (Emotional extremes, illogical thinking, speaking to beings that are not there, going into fits, withdrawal from human life, believing you are someone you are not)

Did you see the movie, “A Beautiful Mind?” In this movie we see very clearly the effects of paranoid schizophrenia on a person. Do the Gospels suggest Jesus had any of these symptoms? (He spoke eloquently, forcibly, and with clarity of thought; His emotions were as healthy as could be, and stable; He could function in society and had rational things to say about it; He spoke to God in prayer and sometimes God answered back—and everyone could hear it!)

Consider the public opinion of the people in Jesus’ time:

John 10: 19Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. 20And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?” 21Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

John 14: Jesus said, 11“Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.”

The difference between a delusional person and the real person is that the real person can back up their claims with real evidence and support. For Christ that evidence was the miracles He performed. His arguments were cohesive and rational.

Exhibit for the Prosecution: Jesus did not fit the God Profile!

Prosecution: Even if Jesus appears to be a paragon of mental stability, He still just a man, not God. He was not really Omnipotent, Omniscient, or eternal. This is shown by the Gospels themselves. Consider the following passages:

He is not Omnipotent or all powerful:

Mark 7: 24From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.

Matthew 13: 58Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

He is not all Good

Mark 10: 17Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.

He is not Omniscient, or all knowing:

Mark 13: 32“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

John 14: If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.

He is not eternal, but created:

Colossians 1: 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Each group should take one of these passages and look it up for its original context.

Does the passage seem to suggest what the Prosecution is saying?

Does the passage suggest something different. How so?

How do you think the passage might be explained without denying the divine nature of Christ?

Report your findings back to the court and discuss further.

Here is some commentary on each passage for discussion.

In Mark 7:24 Jesus’ power is not in question, but rather the ability of others to hide him. It is through the people’s inability to hide Him that Jesus is able to work an even greater miracle, healing the daughter of the Canaanite Woman (Mark 7:25-30)

In Matthew 13 we have an example of Jesus limiting Himself in His power. Because the people do not believe in Him he did not do many works. It does not say he could not do many works, but really that He would not.

In Mark 10 Jesus is not denying that He is God. Rather He is asking the person if he really knows what he is saying when he calls Jesus the Good Teacher. Is he just brown-nosing or does he really believe that Jesus is all knowing and all good?—by this Jesus tests the man’s faith.

In Mark 13 we again see Him humbling Himself in His Humanity. This is part of the mystery of the Incarnation, that God emptied Himself to become human. This “emptying” involves the self-limiting of His powers for the sake of His mission. If He uses all His powers He runs the risk of limiting our human freedom to respond to Him. He cares more about that than His own power. If He let Himself tell them when the end of the world would be, it would take a lot of motivation out of people to be vigilant. In addition, the very nature of the “end of time” defies human reason, and may not be explicable in human terms. Nonetheless, this is perhaps the most difficult of passages.

In John 14, by saying that the Father is greater this does not imply that that makes Him less God. If I say my father is greater than I it does not make me less a human being or member of the family but it is a sign of due respect and honor. In fact, what is so great is that Jesus is about to return to His Father in heaven, taking His humanity with Him so that all humanity might be united to God in heaven through Him, which is a greater life.

In Colossians 1, if we read the complete text, we find that firstborn over all creation does not mean Jesus is created but the creator: 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

After each group reports back to the court, and the passages are discussed, allows the defense to enter into evidence its own selection of verses.

Defense: Your honors, with all due respect, these verses are taken out of context and do not at all deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, even though there are those who have historically taught this.

Discuss and conclude with deliberations.

Defense’s Rebuttal:

Defense: There are also many passages that clearly point to Jesus as divine in origin and sharing all the powers of God, without having to take them out of context. Here are some in response to each of those points made:

He is Omniscient, all knowing:

John 16: 29His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! 30“Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.”

John 13: 1Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.

He is Omnipresent, everywhere present:

Matthew 28: 20 And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 18:20 20“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

He is Omnipotent, all powerful:

Matthew 28: 18 “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

Mark 2: 6And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7“Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9“Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 10“But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11“I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all…
He is eternal and uncreated:

John 1: 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God.

Hebrews 13:8: 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Read Philippians 2:5-8 which speak of Jesus’ emptying and humbling Himself to become Human. What might be some of the motivations for God to do this? Then read verses 9-11. What happens as a result of Jesus’ mission?

Some verses at first look do seem to suggest that Christ was less than God. Do you think that these understood in a way that does not contradict the verses submitted by the Defense?

What other teachings about God might make it hard to believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate?

The Fingerprint Evidence: Does Jesus match God’s fingerprints in the Old Testament?

Prosecution: Even if Jesus meets the profile of an all-good, all-knowing, all-powerful God, he does not match the image of the Old Testament God but represents a departure from the Jewish tradition. They are, in a certain sense, two altogether different Gods! We find no evidence for a Christ or Messiah that is like Jesus.

Defense: Your honors, we can use the same principles as crime scene investigators to determine if what the prosecution is true. If Jesus claims to be the same God and Messiah as described in the Old Testament, He should have left the equivalent of “fingerprints” that would be able to identify Him later. The thing about fingerprints is that no two are exactly alike. A person’s prints should remain the same and be able to matched only to his own. There does exist in the Old Testament something parallel to fingerprint evidence: that is, prophecies!

What are prophets and prophecies? What distinguishes a false prophet from a true one?

How do you think the writings of the Prophets can serve as evidence for Christ?

How many prophecies of the Old Testament do you think relate to the Messiah?

The Prophecies of the Old Testament provide some of the most amazing evidence for the claims of Jesus Christ.

Take for example Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 (pass out on sheet). Have groups read these and answer these questions:

How many details do you find that describe Jesus Christ?

How easy would it be for just anybody to fulfill those details?

How convincing is prophetic evidence? What are its strengths and weaknesses?

Prosecution: We object to this evidence on several grounds your honors:

Coincidence: Jesus may have fulfilled some of these prophecies, but it was only coincidental. (The Probability argument is so improbable as to be ridiculous)

Altered Gospel: Clearly the gospel writers fabricated details in order to fit their belief that Christ was the Messiah and make it appear so. (But remember that eyewitnesses of these events, both for and against Christ, lived at the time and could have refuted such lies. The Jewish authorities would have loved such an opportunity, but they never had one.)

Intentional Fulfillment: Jesus himself engineered things to appear as prophecy fulfillment. (This could be true of some, such as Palm Sunday, but how could Christ engineer His own place and time of birth, or the details of His death?)

Context Argument: The Prophets were not really speaking about a future Messiah and have been taken far out of context. (Prophecies can have meanings which are apparent at the time they are written yet also refer to future events, because of their nature. In just about every case the context does not negate the Messianic meaning but enhances it.)

Defense: Take a simple test. Write a list of 20 specific characteristics of a person, and give that list to another person. These might include physical descriptions, personal background, family histories, life experiences, and so forth that are very specific. See if they can identify that person easily with a little research and asking people. What would you imagine would happen if you had a list of 50 specific traits? 100? Over 100?

In the case of the Messiah, we have hundreds of references to over a hundred very specific traits that would need to be fulfilled. In each case these can be found fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, and nobody else in the entire history of humanity. Nobody!

The probability that Christ could have fulfilled these very specific requirements by chance, by intention, by falsification, or misinterpretation is negligible. It is even less likely than two completely different people leaving identical and matching fingerprints. The evidence points to one conclusion: Jesus of Nazareth is the predicted and prophesied Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God!

Isaiah 53: A Prophecy of the Messiah fulfilled written centuries before Christ

Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9 And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors

Psalm 22:1-19: Prophecy of the Crucifixion

1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,
And from the words of My groaning?
2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
And in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But You are holy,
Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in You;
They trusted, and You delivered them.
5 They cried to You, and were delivered;
They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.
6 But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
7 All those who see Me ridicule Me;
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 “He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him;
Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
9 But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast upon You from birth.
From My mother’s womb
You have been My God.
11 Be not far from Me,
For trouble is near;
For there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded Me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
13 They gape at Me with their mouths,
Like a raging and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
And all My bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It has melted within Me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And My tongue clings to My jaws;
You have brought Me to the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet;
17 I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
18 They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots…

Compare this Psalm to:

Matthew 27:35, 42-46

Do you think prophetic writings should be considered as evidence for Christ?

Why do you think some people might resist or reject this kind of evidence?

How has studying prophecy affected your opinion on the matter?