You Can Know You Have Eternal Life
#70 King Jesus of Nazareth
King Jesus God, Myth, or Mere Man? (13)
Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? (6)
The Jews Conversion: Crucial Testimony of Jesus
Resurrection
by Jim Mettenbrink
[printable PDF of article]
[review previous
article][advance to next article]
This is the final article considering
evidence as proof of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
One other factor serves as corroborating evidence that
Jesus arose from the dead and thereby, giving mankind the anticipation
of life after death.
Through the 1500 years before Jesus
death, the Israelites (Jewish) national identity was preserved
by their unique socio-religious structure: (1) They sacrificed
animals for the atonement of sins. (2) They taught that
obedience to God was by following the covenant given by Moses
on Mount Sinai about 1400 BC. (3) The Sabbath (Saturday)
was a holy day where work for personal gain was prohibited and
violations were punished by death. (4) They believed God
was just one person. (5) The Jews of the first century
looked for a political Messiah to reestablish Israel as an independent
nation.
Yet, on Pentecost (a major Jewish
feast in Jerusalem), 50 days after Jesus died, 3000 Jews, who
had crucified Jesus, radically changed their lives, rejecting
the Jewish system and adapting what would be known as Christianity.
Within weeks at least 10000 people, including Jewish priests
also became Christians (Acts 2:41; 4:4; 5:14; 6:7). (1)
They no longer believed in animal sacrifices, but that Jesus
died for their sins. (2) They no longer believed the Mosaic
covenant (Old Testament) was valid, but that they were under
a new covenant (New Testament). (3) Sunday, the day Jesus
rose from the dead, was the day to meet rather than the Sabbath.
(4) Although God is one deity (divine essence), God is
three persons, Father, Word (called the Son Jesus
when He was manifested in the flesh [John 1:1, 14, 18]), and
Holy Spirit, all having the same divine essence. (5) The
Messiah died to save man and establish the spiritual kingdom
of heaven rather than an earthly kingdom.
What caused so many Jews, in such
a short period of time, to reject the Old Covenant and social
structure of their national identity to become Christians? The
only major event just prior to such a controversial revolution
was the claim that Jesus rose from the dead.
Jesus of Nazareth is the king of
His kingdom. What is the significance of His resurrection
for each one of us? What is the significance of His kingdom?
[review previous article][advance to next article] |