Many people have asked the
question, “What makes Christianity different from other world religions?” Meaning, what makes that belief system
different from other belief systems?
People in this part of the world believe this and people in that part of
the world believe that and it has been that way for thousands of years. So what makes Christianity any truer than
other religions? The answer is the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Other religions have their
supernatural events, their legends, and their stories, so why would the
resurrection of Jesus be any different?
Moreover, since the release of movies like Zeitgeist in 2007, it’s been
proven that Jesus’ resurrection is a myth created by borrowing from other
ancient religions, right? Yet, I still
answer the question, “What makes Christianity different from other world
religions” with Jesus’ resurrection.
Why?
We are going to start a series
concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and this series is going to take
us through the season of lent and end the day after Easter Sunday 2019. The reason for this is because Spiritual
Formation is the process of us being shaped into the image of Christ (Gal.
4:19). This process relies on us having
a relationship with the resurrected Christ, and in fact, the whole Christian religion
is predicated on His resurrection.
Easter Sunday has a special meaning
for me because it was on Easter Sunday 2001 at a small church in Great Falls,
Montana that I first understood the Gospel message. And it was from there that I began to look at
the question, ‘did Jesus of Nazareth rise from the dead?’ For several years I had considered myself an
atheist or an agnostic, but I clearly remember going to church when I was young
and hearing the preacher say, “If Jesus is found still in the grave, then that
is the end of Christianity.” I think he
was right, because if He didn’t rise from the dead, then all the New Testament
(NT) texts that talk about his resurrection are at best myths and at worst
lies. If they are lies, then they are
not worth believing or telling others about, and if they’re myths, then they
are on par with other stories from world religions. Therefore, throughout this series, we’ll
explore this very topic. Did the gospel
writers invent hopeful myths? Did they
develop lies to gain power and wealth?
Did they borrow the legend from older stories? What is the context of Jesus’ resurrection
and does it fit into history? Who was
Jesus of Nazareth and are there other sources of His life outside of the New
Testament? Join me.
The Stage is set:
Some 330 years before the birth of
Jesus of Nazareth, Alexander the Great sought to conquer the world. Part of that included capturing the Levant
and Jerusalem, but before Alexander could rule over his kingdom, he died. Consequently, his generals fought for control
of the occupied lands and this resulted in Judea being ruled over by both the
Seleucids and the Ptolemaic. When the
Seleucid king Antiochus IV (c. 215-164 BC) outlawed Judaism and desecrated the
Temple in Jerusalem in about 167 BC, an old priest named Mattathias and his
sons began what is known as the Maccabean Revolt (c. 167-160 BC). Their successes were short-lived when in 63
BC, Roman General Pompey conquered Jerusalem and captured the Temple
Mount. Rome now controlled Judea and
maintained its control through military force.
That is the world that Jesus of
Nazareth was born into. When His story
begins, the Gospel writers also mention rulers like Herod, who is identified as
the King of Judea (Luke 1:5). This would
be Herod the Great (c. 47-4 BC), who under Caesar Octavius was appointed to
this position. This is attested to in
both Antiquities of the Jews and The Jewish Wars, by the Jewish and Roman
historian Flavius Josephus. Before Jesus
was born, the NT tells us that Augustus (c. 63 BC – 14 AD) was Caesar. He was the first to rule during Imperial
Rome, from 27 BC until his death. None
of this information is religious history, it’s part of Roman and world history,
all of which can be verified from secular sources.
Before Jesus’ ministry, the NT again identifies several
political and religious rulers:
“Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was
tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of
Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, in the high
priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas…” (Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible, Luke 3:1-2) .
Something notable about this reference is the fact that the
Passion narratives of all four Biblical Gospels indicate that Pontius Pilate,
Herod the tetrarch, and the high priests Annas and Caiaphas all played
significant roles in Jesus’ death.
Tiberius Caesar (c. 42 BC-AD 37) began his rule as co-regent in AD 13
and succeeded his step-father the following year. Pontius Pilate (c. 12 BC-AD 38) was the fifth
prefect of Judea, appointed by Tiberius in AD 26/7, where he served as governor
until 36/7. Herod, the tetrarch, is also
known as Herod Antipas (c. 4 BC-AD 39), and his dynastic title Herod, as he is
referred to by in the NT, is attested to in the works of Josephus. The Jewish high priest Annas was appointed by
the Roman governor Quirinius in AD 7 but was removed from office by the Judea
procurator Gratus in 15. The Jews didn’t
like pagan Romans interfering with their religion, primarily since the high
priest was to be in office for the rest of his life; therefore, it is likely
that among the Jews, Annas was still seen as the high priest. Lastly Caiaphas, who held the office from AD
18 – 36. Therefore, these political and
religious historical figures were in place before and during the lifetime of
Jesus of Nazareth. His life, ministry,
execution, and resurrection are set within the rules or influences of these figures. This is important because it grounds Jesus in
history. The Gospels and the rest of the
NT do not present Jesus as a figure from ‘once upon a time’ or ‘a long time ago
in a galaxy far, far away.’ This will be
shown to be important as we continue this look into the historicity of Jesus’
resurrection.
Written by Pastor Ozzy
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