Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You (2 page)

Chapter One — Who Is This Man?

The city was buzzing. This was not the eager anticipation of an upcoming special event attended by a few ticket holders. This was the electricity that comes from a tragedy that affects everyone in the country. Think Kennedy assassination. Think 9/11. Think stock market crash of 2007.

Jesus Christ was dead. Everyone in Jerusalem knew He had been horrifically beaten and executed. They witnessed the trial with their own eyes and saw Him writhing on a Cross. Eyewitnesses watched Him die.

His naked body was removed from the Cross and placed in a tomb, but three days later His corpse was missing. Rumors raged. There was only one conversation that preoccupied everyone in Jerusalem, “Where is the body of Jesus the Christ?”

The Most Famous Man in Israel

Jesus of Nazareth was undeniably the most famous man of His day. If there had been gossip tabloids in
a.d
. 33, pictures of Jesus Christ would have been splattered on every cover.

> There He goes again!

> Jesus rebukes the Pharisees. To their faces!

> No more sick people in Israel. What will Jesus do now?

> Jesus Christ receives death threats.

He came out of nowhere, yet in three years He became the talk of the town. Why? What made Jesus the most popular man in Israel?

Illnesses Obliterated

Imagine a man who could heal people. Not a flaky televangelist charlatan, but an actual miracle worker. Now imagine this man traveled throughout the country healing every single sick person who was brought to Him.

Hospitals would be emptied. Handicap parking signs would be removed. Your loved one would be restored to complete and total health.

That was Jesus, the miracle worker from Galilee who healed those with faith or without faith. He healed everyone. Totally. Freely. Instantaneously.

While the sun was setting,
all those
who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on
each one of them
,
He was
healing them
(Luke 4:40).

During the three years of Jesus’ ministry, illness was effectively wiped out in Israel. No blindness. No deafness. No cancer. No kidney disease. No intellectual disability. No shingles. No blocked arteries. No muscular dystrophy. No Parkinson’s disease. No cerebral palsy.

Gone. All disease was obliterated.

If you or a family member had not been healed by Jesus, you certainly knew someone who had. Nobody’s life was unaffected by Jesus Christ. Everyone in Israel wanted to know, “Who exactly is this man?”

What He Taught

Not only was Jesus a genuine miracle worker, He was a teacher who said things that shocked those who came to hear Him preach. Jesus said things that were scandalous.

Here is the scene: Jesus was in a house teaching as crowds from all over Israel gathered. The home was filled to capacity. In the meantime, friends of a paralyzed man carried their crippled friend on a mat to place him in front of Jesus in hopes that He would heal their loved one. As they approached the house, the crowds were so thick they couldn’t get to the man who was the focus of everyone’s attention. Another plan was required.

The friends climbed to the roof of the home, removed the shingles and lowered their paralyzed friend on his mat in front of Jesus. What Jesus said next was scandalous. “Friend, your sins are forgiven you” (Luke 5:20).

Only God can forgive sins. Who did this man think He was? God?

How He Taught

Jesus said and did things that were shocking, but He also spoke and behaved in a way that was different than other preachers and teachers.

When Jesus had finished these words, the
crowds were amazed
at His teaching; for He was teaching them as
one having authority
,
and not as their scribes (Matt. 7:28–29).

When little children were brought to Him for a blessing, Jesus sat them on His knee. This was not the behavior of the other religious leaders in Israel. The Pharisees and Sadducees wore splendid robes and would never stoop to hug children and babies. Jesus did. Who is this man?

The Last Week of His Life

After three years of preaching, teaching, and healing, Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem on Monday to celebrate the Passover. Without a single tweet, the entire city knew Jesus was coming to town.

Throngs gathered as Jesus entered the city on a donkey. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets and spread their coats on the road as an act of homage. Palm branches were cut from trees and placed at the feet of the mule.

When He had entered Jerusalem,
all the city
was stirred, saying,
“Who is this?”
(Matt. 21:10).

Just four days later, the same crowds who gathered to welcome Him with chants of “Hosanna” gathered in front of Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, chanting, “Crucify Him. Crucify Him.” Pilate honored their request and had Jesus whipped, mangled, and crucified. The man who entered Jerusalem triumphantly on Monday was disfigured and dead on Friday.

Three Days Later

On Sunday morning, rumors were swirling. The body of Jesus was missing from His tomb. What happened to Him? Was His body stolen? Who did it? Was His death a hoax? Did He rise from the dead the way He had raised others?

The city was buzzing, “Who is this man?”

Chapter Two — The Big Question

How could adoring fans go from chanting, “Hosanna in the highest” to “Crucify Him” in a matter of days? How could one man move people from praising Him to petitioning His death sentence in the course of 96 hours?

The pendulum swung based on one question, “Who is this man?”

Jesus’ Last Name Is Not Christ

Christ is His title. It means “anointed one” or “messiah.” The question that swung the pendulum from adoration to rage was, “Is Jesus the Christ?”

The Old Testament had prophesied a messiah for centuries and the Jewish people had been anxiously waiting for the fulfillment of these promises. Most anticipated a political leader who would overthrow the oppressive Romans, but Jesus rejected their advances to make Him an earthly king. He was after something bigger, something spiritual and eternal.

Despite His crystal clear preaching and all of the miracles that Jesus performed, the Jews were confused. If Jesus is the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament prophecies, why doesn’t He act like a military general or political deliverer? Is this miracle worker from Nazareth the promised Messiah or not?

Question #1

When Jesus was arrested, thanks to Judas Iscariot, He was brought before the high priest of Israel for trial. False witnesses were called while Jesus remained silent. Finally, the high priest asked Him the million-shekel question, “Are You the Christ?” (Mark 14:61).

When Jesus answered, “I am,” the high priest tore his clothes (an old-fashioned way of saying, “I am not happy”) and condemned Him to death. Lacking the power to carry out the execution, the religious leaders sent Jesus to the Roman governor for a second trial.

Question #2

As the Jewish leaders presented their case to Pontius Pilate, they altered their accusation against Jesus to make it less religious and more secular, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.”

So Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

Once again, Jesus answered plainly, “Yes, it is as you say” (Luke 23:2–3).

Question #3

As Jesus was hanging on His Cross between two criminals, one of them mocked, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39).

Even the criminals knew the tabloid headline, “Is Jesus the Messiah?”

How Could They Blow It?

Even Jesus’ disciples were confused when He was crucified. Jesus told them plainly He was going to lay down His life as a ransom for sinners (Matt. 16:21), but they were still bewildered when Jesus’ dead body was laid in a tomb, lifeless, bruised, pale, and cold. How could men who spent three years with Jesus be baffled about who He was and what He came to do?

With hindsight, it is easy to judge people for being confused about Jesus. Knowing the whole story allows us to wonder, “How could they not know that Jesus was the fulfillment of hundreds of Old Testament prophecies?”

Perhaps they would have known that Jesus was indeed the Messiah who came to be the Savior of the world if they had just known their Old Testament better.

The Road to Emmaus

Jesus died on the Cross on Friday at 3 p.m. The city of Jerusalem fell silent for the Saturday Sabbath. The town was especially quiet as it was the Passover Sabbath. When Sunday morning (the first day of the Jewish week) arrived, the city was not the only thing that came to life.

Jesus Christ raised Himself from the dead. His tomb was empty. His body was missing and confusion was rampant. Luke picks up the story.

And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about
seven miles
from Jerusalem.
And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place.
While they were talking and discussing,
Jesus Himself
approached and began traveling with them.
But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.

And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?”

And they stood still, looking sad.
One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “
Are You the only one
visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?”

And He said to them,
“What things?”

And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a
prophet
mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people,
and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and
crucified Him
.
But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.
But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning,
and
did not find His body
, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive.
Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.”

And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
Was it not necessary for the
Christ to suffer
these things and to enter into His glory?”

Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them
the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures
(Luke 24:13–27).

What does this mean? It means that Jesus Christ, who lived from approximately
a.d
. 0 to 33 was spoken about in each and every book of the Old Testament written centuries before He was born. In other words, Jesus used the Old Testament Scriptures to prove that He was indeed the promised Savior of the world.

The Bible Is Axiomatic

You can know that the Bible is true because it is axiomatic, self proving.

If I said, “I think the authors of the Declaration of Independence were brilliant,” would it be fair to study the Declaration to see if it is a brilliant document? Similarly, if I said, “I think the Bible is so brilliant, it must be supernatural,” would it be fair to look inside of it to see if it is brilliant and supernatural?

To prove that the president lives in the White House only requires us to look inside the windows of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Likewise, it is entirely legitimate to prove that God “lives” in the Bible by looking into the book itself. When we peer into the contents of Scripture, we see such brilliance, it proves definitively that God wrote a book and Jesus is the leading character.

While you and I cannot recreate the steps taken from Jerusalem to Emmaus, we can have the same experience of the two men who walked seven miles with Jesus. We can examine the Old Testament Scriptures to see if Jesus Christ is indeed the truth.

If it is true that one book was written over fifteen hundred years by 40 authors about one man, that would be impressive. If that book made hundreds of predictions about that man which were fulfilled to the letter, that would be supernatural. That is exactly what the Bible is: a book about one man, supernaturally fulfilling hundreds of prophecies. That man is Jesus Christ.

Arguing over Carpet Color

If you have ever watched congressional sessions on CSPAN, you know that men rarely agree on anything. Couples get divorced because they cannot live in peace. Churches split over which carpet to use in the lobby.

Because the Bible was written over the course of fifteen hundred years by 40 different men, we should see complete chaos and disagreement. Instead, we see a theme that is consistent and unmistakable. That theme is Jesus.

Jesus walked seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus explaining to two men that the Old Testament was written about Him. Jesus opened up the Scriptures to prove that He was the One they were writing about.

Prepare to take the same walk. Prepare to see Jesus revealed in the Old Testament. Prepare to take a whirlwind tour through the Bible and see the perfect, brilliant harmony that proves, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Jesus is indeed, the Truth.