BS8B - CHANGED SKEPTICS
There were men during the time of Christ’s ministry who were watching all that was happening and were skeptical --- skeptical that this man Jesus was who he claimed to be.
His teaching didn’t convince them. His sinless life didn’t convince them. His miracles didn’t convince them.
One of these skeptics was Christ’s own brother James. He and his other siblings were actually embarrassed by their brother and thought he was out of his mind!
Mark 3:21
Yet, the historian Josephus wrote that James became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He was later stoned to death for belief in his brother. So, what changed his mind? The Apostle Paul tells us. Paul gives a list of all whom Jesus appeared to, and on that list is James.
1 Corinthians 15:7
The resurrected Jesus appeared to him! No other explanation is given. James the skeptic became James the believer and became a faithful witness to Jesus until his death.
Then there was Saul of Tarsus, who became the Apostle Paul. He was not only a skeptic but an active persecutor of anyone following Jesus. He was right there in the crowd when they stoned Stephen for accusing the Jewish leaders of having stubborn hearts -- and minds that were deaf to the truth.
Acts 7:54-58 / 8:1A / 22:20
Saul led house to house raids on the believers determined to stamp out this new movement for good.
Acts 8:3
Then, on a trip to Damascus, with the intent of arresting any followers of Jesus, Saul had an encounter that changed his life. Let’s read his own account.
Acts 22:1-16
Within a few days after the resurrected Jesus had appeared to him-- this skeptic and persecutor of Jesus and his followers – was himself baptized as a follower of Jesus and became God’s mighty witness to the Gentiles—or non-Jews--- around the world.
Acts 9:10-19
Skeptic Saul became believer Paul, and like James, he would lose his life for Jesus in Rome.
A SOCIAL EARTHQUAKE
We’ve been talking about the circumstantial evidence that points to the truth that Jesus really did rise from the dead. In the last two studies we talked about the transformation of the fearful apostles into men of courage. They were willing to die for Jesus --- and most of them did. We also pointed out the conversion of skeptics such as Christ’s half-brother James and Saul of Tarsus who became the Apostle Paul.
But history records that a literal social earthquake was happening amongst the Jews. Within only a few weeks of Jesus’ crucifixion and rising from the dead there were over 10,000 Jews who were following him. That might not seem so amazing by today’s standards where people are easily blown from one belief to the other based on little more evidence then that they read or heard something. But when we look at the first followers of Jesus being primarily Jews we have to realize that this was a very big social shift.
There is a reason the Jewish nation and culture are still here today – even after hundreds of years as captives in places like --- Babylon, Assyria, and Egypt. The reason is because they held fast to their cultural structures and religiously passed them along to their children.
Joshua 1:7-8 / 8:35 / 22:5 / 23:6 / Hebrews 2:1-3
Throughout the centuries Jewish children watched as their parents took animals to the priests to offer sacrifices for their sins and partake in the established festivals.
Nehemiah 12:43 / Luke 2:41-42
Parents made sure their children read and studied the Law of Moses and encouraged them to obey it.
Deuteronomy 4:9 / 11:18-22 / 31:12-13
Every Saturday, Jewish families kept the Sabbath so that they could earn their right standing with God and be guaranteed salvation.
Exodus 20:8 / Isaiah 56:2 / 58:13
“Here O Israel, the Lord our God is one!” You could hear this proclamation of the one true God in prayers all over the world.
Deuteronomy 6:4
It would have been heresy for a Jew to say that someone could be God and man at the same time.
Matthew 26:63-66 / John 10:30-33
It’s hard to just brush off the fact that thousands of Jews were willing to give up these deeply ingrained social structures that they believed had been given to them by God himself. What could have changed to make thousands willing to take a huge risk –
the risk of being ostracized by their families and fellow Jews? And furthermore, they were risking that their very souls could be damned to hell if they were wrong!
No one gives up cherished beliefs UNLESS they are convinced that better ones or truer ones take their place. And this is exactly what happened as one Jew shared with another about Jesus.
Hebrews 8:6-13
They had heard Jesus teach and marveled at the authority he had spoken with – it was so unlike the Jewish leaders.
Matthew 7:28-29
They had witnessed Jesus’ life –his humble, gentle ways, his love for all people, and his practical help that made their lives better.
Matthew 9:8, 26 / John 9:30-34
With their own eyes they had seen Jesus do miracle after miracle --- and the people healed were still living in their midst as testimony to it.
They had watched the jealous and hateful behavior of their Jewish leaders that got their way in having Jesus killed.
Matthew 12:14 / 26:3-4 / 27:1 / Luke 6:11 / 19:47 / John 11:45-48
And now, many had seen Jesus after rising from the dead, or had believed the testimony of those that did.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8
And so, for these early Jewish followers, the animal sacrifices stopped. They now saw Jesus as the final sacrifice for their sins.
Hebrews 7:23-28
Their thinking shifted regarding the law of Moses ---trying hard to obey it was no longer the basis of their being accepted by God. God was going to actually put his laws within us – in our hearts and minds – and give us the power of Christ’s own Spirit to indwell our hearts so that HE could fulfill God’s law perfectly in us.
Hebrews 8:10-11
Jesus had already fulfilled the law perfectly and HE was now the basis of their being right with God.
Matthew 5:17 / Romans 5:17-19 / 1 Corinthians 1:30
The 1500-year tradition of keeping the Sabbath abruptly changed. These early believers began to worship together on Sunday.
Acts 20:7 / 1 Corinthians 16:2
Why? Because that was the day that Jesus rose from the dead. John referred to Sunday as “the Lord’s Day”.
Revelation 1:10
Within weeks of the resurrection these Jews were worshipping Jesus as God.
Matthew 28:9 / Luke 24:50-53 / Revelation 5:8-14
When a new convert was baptized it was in the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. They knew Jesus as a man and now they also knew him as God.
Matthew 28:19
And when the believers came together to celebrate what they called Communion it wasn’t a time to celebrate how great Jesus was, his miracles or his teachings.
No, they celebrated the fact that he was crucified in a public execution.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
And why would they do that? They did so because they were convinced that Christ’s death had been followed by his triumph over death.
Colossians 2:15
The fact that Jesus rose from the dead meant the beginning of their own new life with God and for them (and now for us) that was great cause for celebration!
Next Study: BS8C- A Social Earthquake