Genesis Apologetics K8 Student Zone-What if it is True (6-8 grade)

Well, hello and welcome to The Zone. I'm your host, Big Wave Dave. Today, we are going to talk about something very important, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But first, I have a question for you. What is your favorite pet? Now, for a whole bunch of you, it's your dog, of course.

I mean, after all, dogs are so cool. But maybe you're a cat person.

They're playful and cuddly and all that. Or maybe you really like fish, like these ones here.

Some of you might like rabbits. Or even chickens. A lot of people love horses.

Maybe you're into exotic birds. Or reptiles is your thing.

Or maybe you have one of these in your backyard. Yikes! Although I love all these guys, my favorite pet is not an animal.

It's an acronym that helps me remember something really important. If someone were to ask you, how do you know that the resurrection of Jesus Christ really happened, what would you say?

Well, that's where acronyms like PET can come in really handy. Let's get started. The P stands for prophecies.

The Bible contains over 300 references and prophecies about Jesus, and they were all written at least 400 years before he was born.

Let's take a closer look. This passage from the book of Micah predicts that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.

And of course, that's what happened. Isaiah said that Jesus would heal blind and deaf people, and he did.

A lot of them. Some prophecies are about the night that Jesus was arrested.

For example, Zechariah predicted that Jesus would be forsaken by his disciples.

And that is exactly what happened. When Jesus was arrested, his disciples took off.

Zechariah also said that Jesus would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, and that later that money would be thrown into the temple, and then used to buy a plot of land called the potter's field.

Every one of these prophecies came true. Now, what's all that about? Let's take a closer look.

Judas, one of Jesus' followers, decided to betray him. Now, since Jesus was so popular, the religious leaders knew that they would have to arrest him at night.

So they paid Judas 30 pieces of silver to lead them to where Jesus was staying.

Now, after Jesus was arrested, Judas felt awful, and he tried to return the money, but the religious leaders would not take it back.

So Judas took the money and threw it into the temple, and then he went and hanged himself.

Is that awful or what? So anyhow, the religious leaders decided to buy a plot of land called potter's field as a burial place for foreigners.

A lot of the prophecies have to do with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Now, what's interesting to note is how specific these prophecies are. They contain a lot of details, yet they were written hundreds of years before Jesus was crucified.

All of these prophecies were literally fulfilled. The most important prophecy of all is that Jesus would rise from the dead, and he did.

Okay, so we've talked about prophecies. Let's look at the next letter. The E stands for eyewitnesses.

After Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to his disciples and then to over 500 people.

The apostle Peter said, For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our

Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. In other words, we didn't make this stuff up.

We saw Jesus. Later, when Peter was talking to thousands of Jews, he said the same thing.

We saw Jesus. He is alive. The apostle

John said, Not only did we see Jesus with our own eyes, we touched him with our own hands.

The apostle Paul said, that after Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to Peter and then the 12 disciples, and then to more than 500 people at the same time.

Now this was a very bold claim. After all, when Paul wrote this letter, a lot of those 500 people were still alive.

So it would be very easy to check and see if it was true. All right, so we talked about prophecies and eyewitnesses.

Let's talk about something that is often overlooked. T stands for transformation of the disciples.

So when Jesus was arrested, his disciples fled. And then when Jesus was crucified, his disciples went and hid in a locked room.

And I'm sure they were wondering, are we next? But something happened. Something happened that transformed them from frightened little kittens to those that would boldly proclaim the gospel.

When Jesus was arrested, Peter followed at a distance, kind of keep a low profile and try not to be noticed.

When a servant girl asked him if he was a follower of Jesus, Peter said, well, I don't even know

Jesus. And he did that three times. However, after Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to Peter, he went from being a frightened wimp to someone who would not back down.

So later in the book of Acts, we find out that Peter and John were arrested for talking about Jesus. And the authorities said, hey, knock it off.

Listen to what Peter said. Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God.

For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. Wow. What a change.

At first, Jesus' half -brother James was embarrassed by him. I mean, after all,

Jesus was going around telling people he was God. But after Jesus died, rose, and appeared to James, he went from being an embarrassed brother to someone who wholly proclaimed the gospel wherever he went.

James went on serving the Lord and preaching the gospel until he was killed. And who could forget the

Apostle Paul? Now, before Jesus appeared to him, he went by Saul of Tarsus. And what he was doing is going from town to town, arresting

Christians and throwing them in jail. Now, Paul was on his way to Damascus to arrest more

Christians when Jesus appeared to him. This encounter with Jesus changed everything.

Saul changed his name to Paul, and he went all over the place telling people about Jesus and starting up new churches.

Now, Paul faced many challenges. Here's a few examples. He received 40 lashes, which means he was whipped by the

Jews. He was beaten with rods on three separate occasions. He was stoned and left for dead.

He was shipwrecked three times. He spent a night and a day in the open sea. He lived in constant danger, and he often went without sleep, food, or clothing.

Despite all these challenges, Paul started many churches and wrote about half of the books in the

New Testament. Paul went on serving Jesus until the day he died. What about the rest of the disciples?

All of the disciples, except John, gave their lives for Christ. And as you can see, they died horrible deaths, crucifixion, being stabbed by swords.

So what about John? Well, he was exiled for life to an island called Patmos. So these men suffered terribly for Jesus.

They went from being super chickens to superheroes. Why? What happened?

Well, the answer is simple. They saw our risen Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Here is what some legal experts have said about the evidence. Sir Lionel Lucu, the world's most successful attorney, said that the evidence is so overpowering, it leaves no room for doubt.

Chief Justice Darlene said that no intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in a verdict that the resurrection story is true.

So you may be wondering, if the evidence is so compelling, then why do some people still not believe?

Well, I've learned a long time ago, the problem is not with the evidence, it is with the heart.

Some people don't want to believe in God. If you know somebody like that, the best thing you can do is pray.

Pray that God will soften their hearts and open their eyes to the truth. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a historical fact.

And that means a couple things for us. When we go through tough times, dark times, we know that we have hope.

Because one day, Jesus Christ is coming back. And he's going to take all the people that love him to a very special place called heaven.

In heaven, there will be no more pain, death, or suffering. It's going to be amazing. So I hope and pray that if you have never asked

Jesus to be your Savior, do that today. Let's pray. Father God, thank you so much for your son,

Jesus. Jesus, thank you for all the things that you've done for us.

And just taking our punishment so that we can be with you someday. Holy Spirit, please fill us.

Please give us strength and courage that we may go out and tell people the good news.

We love you so much. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, well, that's all the time we have together.