Sermon 1
Title: The Embarrassing Reality
Introduction
“While she was enjoying a transatlantic ocean trip, Billie Burke, the famous actress, noticed that
a gentleman at the next table was suffering from a bad cold. "Are you uncomfortable?" she asked
sympathetically. The man nodded. "I'll tell you just what to do for it," she offered. "Go back to your
stateroom and drink lots of orange juice. Take two aspirins. Cover yourself with all the blankets you can
find. Sweat the cold out. I know just what I'm talking about. I'm Billie Burke from Hollywood." The man
smiled warmly and introduced himself in return. "Thanks," he said, "I'm Dr. Mayo from the Mayo Clinic.
"1 As young adults have you had moments in which you recall that which was embarrassing? Or have you
heard a story that was so crazy from your friend that you knew it had to be true? What if I told you the
bible is full of embarrassing moments, Today we will examine those embarrassing moments,
In his 1991 book A Marginal Jew, John P. Meier first coined the term “The criterion of
embarrassment.” The Criterion of embarrassment is one of several valuable tools used in the realm of
New Testament research. The point of the criterion is that it would have been inconceivable for the early
church to create material that only embarrassed its creator or weakened its position amongst early
opponents and potential converts. 2 One would think that embarrassing material coming especially from
Jesus and or his disciples would be suppressed, or changed. The criterion of4divergent patterns4argues
that a story that is maintained in light of difficulty is highly likely to be true/Authentic. For example, texts
that are embarrassing to the disciples because of their inadequacy according to Craig Evans, “This
criterion is easily misunderstood. All it means is that material that potentially would have created
awkwardness or embarrassment for the early church is not likely something that a Christian invented
1 James S Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited. (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1988). 21
2 John P Meier, A Marginal Jew. (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1991),168
sometime after Easter. ‘Embarrassing’ sayings and actions are those that are known to reach back to the
ministry of Jesus, and therefore, like it or not, they cannot be deleted from the Jesus data bank.”3
The Crucifixion of Jesus
Luke 23:-32-34” Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be
executed.4334When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the
criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.4344Jesus said,4“Father,4forgive them, for they do
not know what they are doing. And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.”44
If a group of Jewish fishermen, tax collectors, and sinners, those of the Jewish underclass were to
ever create a new religion and movement, the last thing they would do is have their spiritual leader die on
the cross. The Crucifixion of Jesus when viewed through the light of the Old Testament makes it clear that
that any person who is hung from a tree is cursed according to Deuteronomy 21:23 23 “You must not leave
the body hanging on the pole overnight.4Be sure to bury4it that same day, because anyone who is hung on
a pole is under God’s curse.4You must not desecrate4the land the4Lord4your God is giving you as an
inheritance.”5 Ben Witherington III,4states in the New Testament History: A Narrative Account4 as he
states “In early Judaism there was no expectation of a crucified messiah; in fact, one who was crucified
was assumed not to be the Anointed One of God, because crucifixion meant to be cursed by God.”6 The
leader of this ragtag bunch would not have been viewed as an admirable man, his claim of being the
messiah would have naturally fallen on deaf ears. For this reason, even the skeptical John Dominic
Crossan states, “That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be.”7
The crucifixion is an event that has been multiply attested. Of course, it appears in all four Gospels, and
details in each demonstrate that these include independent content. This passes the4criterion of
3 Craig A Evans,4Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels.4(Downers Grove, IL: IVP 2006),49
4 Lk 23:32-34 (NIV)
5 Deut. 21:23 (NIV)
6 Ben Witherington III,4New Testament History: A Narrative Account4(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), 155
7, John Dominic Crossan,4Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography.4(San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins, 1991),145
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embarrassment. Crucifixion itself was and still is one of the most horrific ways to die. was a horrific way
to die. The historian Josephus referred to crucifixion as “the most wretched of deaths”8 after witnessing it
first-hand. It is from the word crucifixion that we get, our modern word4excruciate4gets its roots from the
original Latin, which means “out of the Cross.” According to Cicero,4in Against Verres, it is “A most cruel
and disgusting punishment… To bind a Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him is an abomination, to kill
him is almost an act of murder: to4crucify4him is—What? There is no fitting word that can describe so
horrible a deed.”9 The details of the Crucifixion, pass the Criterion of embarrassment, the idea of the
Messiah the Son of God dying by crucifixion was completely antithetical to their idea of what the
Messiah would do and/or experience; the idea of the blessed anointed one also being the cursed one
would be seen as an oxymoron. This passes the4criterion of dissimilarity.4
The Empty Tomb
John 20:11-14 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look
into the tomb#12#and saw two angels in white,#seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head
and the other at the foot.13#They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my
Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”#14#At this, she turned around
and saw Jesus standing there,#but she did not realize that it was Jesus”10
Another instance of “The criterion of embarrassment, evident in scripture is the first eyewitnesses
of the resurrection are women, in John 11-14 we see the first eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus are
women, during first century Judaism the testimony of a woman did not hold the weight of the testimony
of a man. Josephus clearly writes regarding this as he says “Let not the testimony of women be admitted,
on account of the levity and boldness of their sex, nor let servants be admitted to give testimony on
account of the ignobility of their soul; since it is probable that they may not speak the truth, either out of
8 The Wars of the Jews, 7.203 Flavius Josephus translated by William Whiston
9 Cicero, Against Verres II.v.64. paragraph 165; II.v.66, paragraph 170.
10 Jn 20:11-14 11(NIV)
hope of gain or fear of punishment.”11 In fact, the testimony of a woman was not considered legally
binding. According to Millard Erickson “Women have at times been regarded as, at best, second-class
members of the human race. They have not been allowed to vote or to exercise other rights enjoyed by
men, and wives have in some cases been regarded as virtually the property of their husbands.”12 In the
Gospel accounts in the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) we clearly that women were the first to
witness the resurrection of Jesus. The role that women played in the support of Jesus and spreading of the
gospel is striking, in Christian Theology 3rd edition Millard Erickson states “The faithfulness of the
women around Jesus in the time of crisis is striking. We see them at the cross (Luke 23:49); they sought
to anoint Jesus’s body (Luke 23:55–56); they discovered the empty tomb, heard the message of the two
angels, and told the news to the apostles (Luke 24:1–11).”13 If one wanted to invent a story that would
cause men to support and convert during the 1st and 2nd centuries one would ensure that women would
certainly not be used as the first witnesses.
Sermon 2
Title: Knowing the Truth
Introduction
11 Josephus, Flavius. The Works of Josephus: With a Life Written by Himself. United States: Oakley, Mason, 1870),174
12 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 498.
13 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 501.
One day a man named Truth and a man named Lie stood by a river just outside of town.
They were twin brothers. Lie challenged Truth to a race, claiming he could swim across the river
faster than Truth. Lie laid out the rules to the challenge stating that they both must remove all
their clothes and at the count of 3, dive in to the freezing cold water swim to the other side and
back. Lie counted to 3, but when Truth jumped in, Lie did not. As Truth swam across the river,
Lie put on Truth’s clothes and walked back in to town dressed as Truth. He proudly paraded
around town pretending to be Truth. Truth made it back to shore, but his clothes were gone and
he was left naked with only Lie’s clothes to wear. Refusing to dress himself as Lie, Truth walked
back to town naked. People stared and glared as naked Truth walked through town. He tried to
explain what happened and that he was in fact Truth, but because he was naked and
uncomfortable to look at, people mocked and shunned him; refusing to believe he was really
Truth. The people in town chose to believe Lie because he was dressed appropriately and easier
to look at. From that day until this, people have come to believe a lie rather than believe a naked
truth.14 As young adults what is your basis for determining truth? There has been a large push to
discredit scripture, today we will examine what is scripture we hold to and how did we obtain it.
What is truth
John 8 states “And ye Shall know the Truth, and the truth shall make you free.”15What is
truth? In a world full of fake news, misinformation understating, what is true is getting harder
and harder We see advancements within the field of Artificial intelligence to the point where it
can mimic the voices of others and now the actions of real human beings. Then how is truth
determined? What is the naked truth concerning scripture?
14 None, Harvey4 Mackay. “The Importance of the Truth.” Coeur d’Alene Press. Last modified October 15, 2023. Accessed
December 1, 2023. https://cdapress.com/news/2023/oct/15/importance-truth?n=%40.
15 Jn 8:31(KJV)
The truth of scripture is revealed within its revelation. Revelation, according to Elmer Towns, is,
“The act of God whereby He gives knowledge of Himself which man could not otherwise
know.”16 It is through the prompting of God via his word that brings us an understanding of who
God is.
There are two types of Revelations:
1) General revelation is available to everyone, the entirety of mankind. In which God’s
essence is communicated via an understanding of His creative and sustaining power
while not directly communicating the truths of atonement and salvation.
2) Special revelation, is the specific revelation of truth regarding the will of God specifically
in regard to salvation and redemption. Scripture, gives a great example of special
revelation, “Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through
the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son” (Hebrews
1:1-2, NLT)17.
It is through these two types of revelation that God miraculously led the authors of scripture
to record his message for all mankind. According to Dr Erwin Lutzer of Moody Bible Institute,
“The authors of Scripture received special revelation in theophanies, dreams, angels, and, in
some instances, by personally witnessing the recorded events. All those who wrote the Scripture
did so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so that we might have available a precise, written
revelation which we believe tells us all God wants us to know about Him and His4purposes.”18
Given that scripture was given via revelation such as recorded events, dreams, and eyewitness
accounts, how was the bible we have today assembled?
16 Elmer Towns, Theology for Today. Essay. In Theology for Today. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2008), 30
17Heb 1:1-2 (NLT)
18 Lutzer, Erwin. “The Difference between General and Special4Revelations.” The Difference Between General And
Special Revelations | Articles | Moody Church Media. Accessed December 2, 2023.
https://www.moodymedia.org/articles/difference-between-general-and-special-revelations.
The Canonization of the Bible
Wayne Grudem in Systematic Theology stated: The New Testament writings contain the
final, authoritative, and sufficient interpretation of Christ’s work of redemption. The
apostles and their close companions report Christ’s words and deeds and interpret them
with absolute divine authority. When they have finished their writing, there is no more to
be added with the same absolute divine authority. Thus, once the writings of the New
Testament apostles and their authorized companions are completed, we have in written
form the final record of everything that God wants us to know about the life, death, and
resurrection of Christ, and its meaning for the lives of believers for all time. Since this is
God’s greatest revelation for mankind, no more is to be expected once this is complete.
The canon is now closed.19
The Bible is comprised of 66 books, It is divided into two testaments, the 0ld and New
Testament. The Old Testament has 39 books, of these 39 books, there are 17 historical books, 5
books of Hebrew poetry, and 17 prophetic books. The New Testament consists of 5 historical
books and has 21 books of doctrine or teaching and concludes with the apocalyptic book of
Revelation. Millard Erickson states “Theology is biblical. It takes as the primary source of its
content the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments”20 So now, the question is
whether or not the Bible as it exists today is in d a good account of what God has said and done.
The answer to this question will be broken into two sections:
The foundation of the Old Testament is the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch consists of the
first five books of the bible. These books were composed by Moses at the very start of the nation
of Israel. When reviewing the evidence for the Pentateuch it becomes clear in the historical
evidence and long-standing traditions of Israel that these were the governing documents of the
nation.
According to Dr Charles Dr. Ryrie lists these tests: First “There was the test of the
authority of the writer. Concerning the New Testament, a book had to be written or backed by an
19 Wayne A. Grudem,4 Systematic Theology, Second Edition: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (United Kingdom:4Zondervan
Academic,42020), 64
20 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 8.
apostle in order to be recognized”21 It was a requirement that an apostolic signature or apostolic
authorization be identified. Peter, backed the writings of Mark, Second, “The content should
commend itself to the reader as being different from an ordinary book in communicating the
revelation of God.”22 The books are required to be inspired and authoritative in nature. Finally,
“The verdict of the churches as to the canonical nature of the books was important.”23 The
evidence of the early adoption of scripture is key, as there here was cohesion of what was
considered inspired scripture among the early churches.
We can trust the scriptures as this was not arbitrarily given, we can see the divine hand of God
moving in the creation of scriptures as 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed4and is
useful for teaching,4rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God
may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.24
21 Ryrie, C. C. (1972). A survey of Bible doctrine. Chicago, IL: Moody Press. P29
22 ibid
23 ibid
24 2Tim3:16-17
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