Lesson 8: Why does the Bible end?
Welcome to the final lesson of our Bible 101 class. You are now a scholar worthy to be named among the Bereans (those whom Paul complimented on their zealous pursuit of Scripture reading to see if all he told them was indeed true). The final question at this time remains: why does the Bible end? Why are there no more prophecies?
The OT had a pause of about 400 years, yet since the last book of the Bible was written, we have had a pause of almost 2,000 years.
At this time it is important to remember that, according to Christian theology, the coming, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ were the culmination of all the OT writings. After this was accomplished, and after the deaths of the apostles, those who were eyewitnesses to the events of Jesus’ life, and the deaths of those whom the apostles taught, there was no more inspired writing. To this end, it is time to examine the crux of the matter, the one hotly debated issue that causes the case of Christianity to rise of fall: the resurrection. (1)
Why is the Resurrection important?
"All but four of the major world religions are based on mere philosophical propositions. Of the four that are based on personalities rather than a philosophical system, only Christianity claims an empty tomb for it's founder.
Abraham, the founder of Judaism, died about 1900 BC but no resurrection was ever claimed for him.
The original accounts of Buddha never ascribe to him any such thing as resurrection; in fact, in the earliest accounts of his death, we read that when Buddha died it was "with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever remains behind." There is no trace in the Pali scriptures or commentaries (or so far as I know in any Pali book) of Sakya Muni having existed after his death or appearing to his disciples.
Mohammed died, June 8th 632AD at the age of 61, in the city of Medina where his tomb is visited annually by thousands of devout Muslims. All the millions of Jews, Muslims and Buddhists agree that their founders have never come up out of the dust of the earth in resurrection." (Josh McDowell, "Evidence that demands a verdict")
As we can see, the resurrection singles out Jesus as unique among the founders of all the major world religions. In addition, it validates Jesus' own claims to be the Son of God and have the power over death itself. As we discovered in the previous lesson, the believing Jews of the time were fully expecting a Messiah, yet in their minds it was to be a worldly King who would rid them of their Roman oppressors, by force if needed, and resume the reigns of Kings David and Solomon. Remembering that Jesus did not come in this manner, and that His mission was not the ousting of the political regime, but the conquering of death itself, as well as the rebuilding of the relationship between God and His people, it is easily understood why (a) the Jews of the time were not all able to recognize Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah and (b) why only Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection could totally fulfill the Messianic Prophesies of the OT. Had Jesus died, yet remained in the grave, He would have been nothing more than another prophet who did well for the masses.
