Why

1. Why • Jesus? Eternally Inevitably Prophetically

2. “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg – or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice…

3. “Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.” C.S. Lewis

4. “ 21 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. 22For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect – if that were possible. 23So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.” Mark 13:21-23 (NIV)

5. THREE THINGS are important for us to understand…

6. Jesus claimed to be the Messiah

7. “The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I who speak to you am he.’ ” John 4:25-26 (NIV)

8. “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” John 5:46 (NIV)

9. Jesus claimed to be the Messiah • Jesus fulfilled all the Messianic prophecies

10. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Luke 24:27 (NIV)

11. “He said to them, 'This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.' Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,” Luke 24:44-46 (NIV)

12. The probability that Jesus could have fulfilled 8 prophecies would be… 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000!

13. Psalm 22 – 11 separate things about Jesus’ crucifixion. Isaiah 53 – 12 specific things about Jesus’ life.

14. Jesus claimed to be the Messiah • Jesus fulfilled all the Messianic prophecies • Jesus’ disciples taught that He fulfilled OT prophecies

15. “God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah.” Acts 3:18 (NLT)

16. “As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, ‘This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.’ ” Acts 17:2-3 (NLT)

17. “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NLT)

18. “He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.” Acts 10:43 (NLT)

19. “He said to them, ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

20. “He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’ ” Luke 24:44-47 (NIV)

21. “He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!’ ” Luke 24:25 (NIV)

22. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 (NIV)

24. Why • Jesus? Continues next week...