How Do We Know?
- January 15, 2012
- Speaker: Pastor Aaron Smith
- Series: Self-Revelation
- Category: Topical
The season of Epiphany falls between the two great festivals of the Church: Christmas and Easter. At Christmas, we celebrate the Incarnation of our Lord: God became man in the person of Jesus Christ. At Easter, we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord: God the Father raised His Son Jesus Christ from the dead. The two biggest celebrations of the Church, of our faith. And to many, two unbelievable events. The question is: How can we believe this?
1 Corinthians 12:3 tells us that no one can say "Jesus is Lord" without the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that brings us to faith. It is the Holy Spirit that gifts us faith in Jesus, who He is and what He has done. "The Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith." By the Holy Spirit, we have come to say of the Incarnation and the Resurrection: "this is most certainly true."
And yet, is there empirical evidence for this? Yes, for God works in human history. That which we believe by God-given faith can be supported by God's working in history. Take, for example, the Old Testament reading today from the book of Numbers. Balaam, son of Beor, a non-Israelite sorcerer, is contracted by Balak, a non-Israelite king. Balaam is to curse Israel. In this course of this narrative, Balaam's donkey speaks actual works to Balaam! How unbelievable - a donkey speaking to a human being in human language! This was taken by many as a myth, legend, fanciful-tale in the Bible. Balaam was taken to be a made-up person, never to have existed. But in 1967, archeaological work was being done in the country of Jordan. There, 119 pieces of plaster were discovered. In time, the text of those piece of plaster gave this name, "Balaam, son of Beor."
God works in history. And the Biblical documents are given as primary source evidence. As we stand after the Incarnation and before the Resurrection, we will focus upon the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. What will follow the next two weeks is important evidence in history for what we believe, teach, and confess as Christians. I would like to mention three works that would be important in any Christian home and library. The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? by F.F. Bruce. This is a small book, under 130 pages, and has gone through many editions because it's a solid book. History, Law and Christianity by John Warwick Montgomery. This short book is just over 100 pages. On The New Testament by Mark Driscoll. While this book covers other topics as well, it is a short (just over 80 pages), easy, and good read - just ask our confirmation students who had to read it!
So, the first thing to tackle is this: when were the Gospels written? We start outside the Gospels with the book of Acts. While the Apostle Peter looms large in the early chapters, the Apostle Paul dominates the later chapters. In the last chapter, chapter 28, Paul is still alive. He is under house arrest in Rome, awaiting trials. If you've ever read Acts straight through, you get to the end and are looking for chapter 29 because you want to know what happens to Paul. But there is no chapter 29. Outside the biblical record, most historians believe Paul died in the Neronian Persecution that happened between 64 and 68 AD. This means that the book of Acts was written before then, since Paul is alive at the end of the book. Now, Acts is Part 2 of a 2 Volume work by Luke. Luke begins Acts in this way: "In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach..." What is that first book? Remember our Gospel reading from chapter 1 of the Gospel of Luke: "...It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught." The Gospel of Luke is Part 1 of the 2 Volume work. So, if Acts was written in the early 60s, then Luke could have been written around 55-60 AD. Now, we know that the Gospel of Luke was not the first Gospel written. Again, from our Gospel reading: "Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also..." Matthew and Mark were those previous Gospels. (Most are in agreement that the Gospel of John was the last Gospel written.) So Matthew and Mark predated Luke. Now, we know Jesus died about 33 AD and the Gospels were written in the 50s and 60s. So, the time from the events of Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection and the writings of those events was about 25 years. This is important! Why? Well, let's take an example from my life.
Let's look at a test case of 25 years from the Minnesota Twins: 1987 - 2012. Twenty-five years ago, the 1987 Minnesota Twins won the World Series. Now, that may be hard to believe for some of you. You might say to me, "Well, Pastor, that's hard to imagine since they lost 99 games this past year!" I know, I know. They couldn't pitch. Their defense was horrible. They spent more time in the trainer's room than on the bases. They were not good at all. So, yes, it is hard to imagine that they won the 1987 World Series. So, let me convince you. Here, I brought nice pin. This pin is a Minnesota Twins 1987 World Series pin. See, they won. And plus, if you look at the graphics on this pin, it does shout "1980s!" Next, I have this 1987 World Series DVD set. It has the games, it has the box scores, and neat information about the players and the games. But, you say to me, "Really? A pin?" "Come on, with the editing that is done today, who can trust that DVD set. You can do crazy things with video!" Oh, I see. Well, the World Series win was 25 years ago. We could just talk to Tom Kelly. He was the manager for the Twins. We could go and talk to him and ask him. We could talk to Dan Gladden, their starting left fielder. He currently does radio for the Twins broadcast; we could go and talk to him and ask him. Now, you might say, "They are biased! They played for them!" Great! Let's go ask Tim McCarver. He is unbiased, having announced the 1987 World Series on television. We could even ask Willie McGee, outfielder for the losing team - the St. Louis Cardinals.
Now, I was having a little fun with this example. But it shows the importance of the 25 year gap between the events and the writing of the events in the Gospels. Let's take some more serious examples. Our own President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. There are people in this room today who remember exactly where they were when they heard the news. They remember how they felt and what had happened. To get an understanding of what it would have been like at the time of writing of the Gospels, ask someone who was around for the assassination what they remember and what it was like to live through that. Here's another example: the Challenger Explosion in 1986. I remember where I was. I was in first grade, sitting in Mrs. Cathcart's class. We are heard about it because, as you might remember, there was a teacher on board so it was a very big deal in the schools. Of course, there is the recent 9/11/2001. My kids may one day ask me about that day and what it was like for me.
25 years between the events and the writings of those events.
We have the dates of the Gospels. Acts before 64-68 AD. Luke before Acts. Matthew and Mark before Luke. Then, we have our readings from today: Luke 1 and 1 John 1. There is eyewitness testimony to the content of the Gospels. A hearer of the Gospels could ask an eyewitness of the events. Now, there would be plenty of opposition to discredit any misrepresentation of the events. Remember the end of the Gospel of Matthew. The religious leaders asked the Romans to place guards at the sealed tomb of Jesus because they remembered Jesus said He would rise from the dead. And, of course, the Incarnate God rose from the dead three days later! The tomb was empty; Jesus has risen! The religious leaders again got in touch with the Romans to spread the lie that Jesus' body was stolen. With people like this around, they would be more than happy to discredit these Gospels!
So, do we have the original documents? Do we have the first copy of the Gospel of Luke or Mark? No. The original documents are called autographs. And we do not have them. The copies of the autographs are called manuscripts. And we do have many of them. Next week, we will look at the manuscripts, how they compare to other ancient documents, and the issue of errors in the texts.
