Transcription
I believe in Jesus. I believe in him, and there's a lot of people that don't, and that's he gives you the right to do that. But I just want you to know that faith does have purpose and value, and it can be used intellectually. And people say, "Yes, what's the difference? You know, what, the Bible's just another book." No, first off, that's wrong. The Bible's not a book. Bible, six or six books, forty different people wrote it over 1500 years. There's never been a book like that in history, ever. Does that make it the word of God? No. It just means it's worth considering because there's never been a book like this. Gives you some reason to consider it over the others.
Well, how about history? For hundreds of years, archeology has used the Old Testament and New to find buildings, to find people, to find civilizations, to find kings that didn't exist or they didn't think they did. And suddenly the Bible said they're there, and they dug it up, and there it was. Does that make it the word of God? No. It means it's historically accurate. Real people really existed and really wrote down what they saw. It's worth considering.
And then they said, "We're going to have God show up." And lots of people said that. Lots of religions say it. "Don't worry, we'll prove it as a rational God would do. I will do prophecies. I will show that I'm not trapped in linear time. That I can see beyond where you are. I will give prophecies to tell you what the guy when I show up." And God appears on Earth to reveal himself. I'll show you what he's going to look like. Over 300 prophecies. And then a man showed up one day named Jesus, and he said, "I'm that guy." And he fulfilled all 300 prophecies. That's impossible.
People could say, "Well, yes, they just wrote it afterwards and filled it all that." But we know that the first Greek translation of the Old Testament was done 250 years before Jesus was born. So how could they possibly know that he'd be born in Bethlehem? How could they possibly know he was going to be crucified when crucifixions didn't even exist as a capital punishment yet? How could they know that he'd be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver? Be 250 years before there was a Jesus. Does it make it the word of God? No. But it's...
And then Jesus said he would fulfill these things and did miraculous things to prove, "I'm not just a guy talking like everybody else. Look what I've done." And some people believed that, some didn't. That's how humans are. And then he said this, "I'm going to prove it to you. I'm gonna die and I'm gonna come back to life." Nobody's ever done that. And he died. And all those who were with him three years ran in fear, as would all of us. And they ran away. And they said, "I guess if we were wrong."
And then something happened. Something happened that made all these guys come back and be willing to be martyred for this belief system, except for one, of course. He was John was sent off. But everybody died a martyr's death. What was it for? Because they thought they're going to get rich? There was no riches here. There was no riches. The Roman government hated them. They wanted them destroyed. They'd use them as as people that could be eaten alive by animals for sport and entertainment. You're kicked out of your culture. The Jews weren't going to take you in. So there was no value there. There was nothing good here. There was nothing here to gain. And they all still died for what? Because they found a new religion? No. For one reason. They said this, "I saw him die and a song come back."