This House believes that Jesus of the Bible is Messiah

Before beginning, I would like to clarify as well as apologize for not stating the scope of this debate clearly in round 1. I shall approach this debate from a theological perspective; as such the existence of God as well as the validity of the Bible will be presupposed. As aforementioned, I will be making my case through 5 points. Firstly, Jesus' claims and self-image of Himself. Jesus clearly believed that He was the Messiah and the Son of God, and this can be seen in his claims as well as His self-image. To begin with, Jesus' relationship with His 12 disciples. If the 12 disciples represent the renewed Israel, then Jesus is not part of the redeemed group but rather the one that is forming the group, an important clue in assessing His self-image. Also, Jesus made the truly radical claim that it is not what enters a person that defiles him but rather what comes out of his heart. This statement was unprecedented at that time, and sets apart major portions of the OT book Leviticus, which has meticulous rules regarding purity. Also, Jesus used the term "Abba" when relating with God. The word "Abba" connotes intimacy between a child and his father. But Jesus used it on God, and He was the only one to do so at that time. In addition, Jesus made several claims about himself. For example, He called Himself the "Son of Man" several times, and this is a reference to Daniel 7, a messianic prophecy. Also, when responding to John"s disciples" queries about whether He was the Messiah, Jesus replied, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. " This is an allusion to another messianic prophecy in Isaiah 61. Moreover, when Peter told Jesus that He was the "Christ, the Son of the Living God" instead of ducking the issue Jesus replied "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood ,but by my Father in heaven. " Clearly Jesus believed himself to be the Messiah, the Son of God! Secondly, the life and works of Jesus Christ. Jesus' life and works bear testimony to the fact that He is the Messiah. His life is in sharp contrast to the false messiahs, and is a positive demonstration of what one would expect Messiah to do. Jesus worked many miracles of healing, bringing wholeness into people's lives, forgiving sin and restoring relationships. Also, Jesus proclaimed forgiveness. In Mark 2:1-2, Jesus tells a paralyzed man, "My son, your sins are forgiven. " Some scribes sitting there caught the obvious intent of Jesus' words and reasoned: Why does this man speak in this way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone? Jesus challenged them: Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven"; or to say, "Arise, and take up your pallet and walk"? But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and then Jesus healed the paralytic. The implication was obvious. No one forgives sin but God. Anyone could say he is able to forgive sin; but Jesus proved He had the authority to forgive sin when He healed the paralytic. Jesus was clearly claiming deity for Himself. And of course, most importantly, Jesus' death and subsequent resurrection, which I will expound upon in the next point. Thirdly, the death and subsequent resurrection of Jesus. This is possibly the most crucial piece of evidence in the case of Jesus as Messiah. An assortment of theories has been given to explain away the resurrection as non-historical or non-supernatural. Yet these explanations have not been successful. The possibilities just do not make sense- did the Roman authorities steal the body from the tomb? Then why did they not simply produce it when word started being spread that Jesus was risen? Did the disciples steal the body? But if so, then how did their attitudes change to drastically- from the defeatist mindset that had hoped for Jesus to restore Israel to their willingness to endure persecution to the point of death for a lie, if, hypothetically, they had stolen the body? The "Swoon Theory", as advocated in The Passover Plot by Hugh Schonfield states that Jesus did not die, He simply fainted on the cross. However, if that were the case, then how did Jesus escape from a tomb with a huge stone in front of it and a contingent of Roman soldiers guarding it. Moreover, the Journal of the American Medical Association states "Modern medical interpretation of the historical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead when taken down from the cross. (. http://jama.jamanetwork.com...) Clearly Jesus was dead even before the spear was thrust into His side! Yet according to the Swoon Theory the resuscitated Jesus somehow escaped and managed to convince hundreds of sceptical eyewitnesses that He had conquered death forever. In addition, secular historians such as Tacitus and Josephus documented the crucifixion of Jesus. Clearly, the theories regarding Jesus" death, whether non-historical or non-supernatural hold no water. Fourthly, the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in the course of his life. This is yet another important evidence in the case for Jesus as Messiah. Prophecies Jesus fulfilled: Old Testament Prophecy / NT Fulfillment: Messiah to be born in Bethlehem Micah 5:2/ Matt 2:1 Messiah to be born by a virgin Isaiah 7:14/ Matt 1:22-23, Luke 1:26-31 Messiah to be a descendant of Abraham Gen 22:18 / Matt 1:1, Rom 9:5 Messiah from the tribe of Judah Gen 49:10, / Luke 3:33 Messiah heir to King David's throne 2 Sam 7:12-13 / Luke 1:32-33 Messiah to be called Immanuel Isaiah 7:14 / Matt 1:23 A messenger to precede Messiah Isaiah 40:3-5/ Luke 3: 3-6 Messiah to be rejected by his own people Psalm 69:8 / John 1:11 Messiah would be declared Son of God Psalm 2:7 / Matt 3:16-17 Messiah would be called a Nazarene Isaiah 11:1 / Matt 2:23 Messiah's price money would be used to buy a potter's field Zechariah 11:12-13, / Matt 27: 9-10 Messiah would be betrayed Psalm 41:9 /Matt 26:14-16 Messiah would be hated without cause Psalm 35:19 / John 15:24-25 Messiah would be given vinegar to drink Psalm 69:21/ Matt 27:34 Soldiers would gamble for Messiah's garments Psalm 22:18/ Luke 23:24 Messiah's bones would not be broken Exodus 12:46/ John 19: 33-36 Messiah would resurrect from the dead Psalm 16:10, Psalm 49: 15,/ Matt 28:2-7 Messiah would ascend to heaven Psalm 24:7-10/ Mark 16:19 Messiah would be a sacrifice for sin Isaiah 53:5-12 / Romans 5:6-8 This list is definitely not exhaustive. Some Bible scholars suggest there are more than 300 prophetic Scriptures completed in the life of Jesus. Using the principle of probability, the odds of one man in how many men, the world over, fulfilling even 8 of 300 prophecies is 1 in 2.8 x 10 to the power of 28. In other words, when simplified to 1 in 10 to the power of 28, it would be 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 when written out. Reference is is . http://sciencespeaks.dstoner.net... . Clearly, Jesus must be the Messiah! Finally, the transformative power Jesus has in the lives of those who believe in Him as Saviour, Messiah and Lord. While I understand that this is highly empirical and as such subjective, I do believe that Jesus has the power to transform the lives of those believe and trust in Him as Lord, Messiah and Saviour. Because he provides atonement from sin and reconciliation with God, Jesus provides true peace, healing and direction in His followers" lives. Apart from faith in him, there is no basis for true peace or direction. Between the objective evidence and the subjective verification experieced by the followers of Jesus, I strongly believe that there is a case for Jesus as Messiah.