Jesus Christ Superstar

How do you know Jesus is who He claims to be? He did something amazing to prove it. Billy Graham explains in this 1971 message from Chicago. Watch more #MondayNightClassics weekly at 8 p.m. Eastern.

From our archives, the Billy Graham classics.
Now, today I want you to turn with me to Luke’s Gospel.
The 11th chapter, the 11th chapter of Luke’s Gospel, beginning with verse 29 beginning with verse 29.
I hope you have your Bibles. How many have a Bible today? Lift them up.
Look at the Bible. Thousands of Bibles everywhere.
Now, the 29th chapter or the 11th chapter and the 29th verse of Luke’s Gospel and when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say this is an evil generation.
They seek a sign and there shall no sign be given it.
But the sign of Jonah, the prophet for as Jonah was a signed onto ninevah.
So shall also the son of man be to this generation.
The queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold are greater than Solomon is here.
The men of ninevah shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it for.
They repented at the preaching of Jonah. I am behold a greater than Jonah is here.
Now, ancient Israel wanted Jesus to do something sensational to prove that he was really the Son of God.
But Jesus is saying in this passage, you’re seeking for a sign.
All right, I’ll give you a son. I am the sign.
And Jesus was saying that the people of Jonah’s Day listen to the message of God and repent it and they’re going to rise up into the judgment as witnesses against the people of jesus’ day that rejected him.
He said, the queen of the South recognize the wisdom of Solomon.
But he said, in me, you have a greater wisdom than all the wisdom of Solomon.
He said, you’re blind, you cannot see the truth, you’re deaf and you cannot give the truth.
He said, I’m the truth. I’m the light of the world. I’m the sign.
Now, when you face Jesus, what is your reaction when you’re confronted with Jesus Christ?
What is your reaction?
The reaction of the scribes in the Pharisees was one of hostility.
The people of Nineveh day were humbled and repented when they faced and confronted God.
And the question that we all ask today is this question, what think ye of Christ?
There’s a rock opera at the moment called Jesus Christ, the superstar all over the country.
Thousands of young people are talking about Christ. They can’t escape him.
There’s a Broadway play right now entitled Gods Spell a musical version of ST Matthew’s Gospel.
There’s a new movie right now called Brother John, in which Sidney Poitier plays Jesus Christ in the form of an Alabama Black man.
The front cover of life magazine a few weeks ago ran Jesus Christ superstar.
And this rock opera from England was confronting young people with one question, who is Jesus Christ?
An 87 minute long electronic probe into the life of Jesus who is Jesus.
And the opera concludes with the voice of Judas coming back from the dead and still questioning who Jesus is.
Don’t get me wrong. Says Judas in the opera, I only want to know.
And then the haunting chorus follows Jesus Christ superstar. Do you think you are what they say?
You are Jesus Christ? Do you think you are what they say you are?
Well, we know some things about him. We know he was a man.
Jesus was completely human. He was representative of man because the Bible says he was identified, he was numbered with the transgressors.
We know that he was hungry. We know he got thirsty, we know he got tired.
We know that he had the joys of friendship.
We know that he wept at the tomb of a dead loved one.
We know that he had all the characteristics of a man.
And yet very interestingly, the Bible says that he never committed a sin.
In fact, he stood in front of the people of his generation.
And he said, I’ve never committed a sin.
He said, if any of you, my neighbors ever seen me commit a sin? They couldn’t say a thing.
Now, wouldn’t that be something for a man to come along?
33 years of age and say, who of you have ever seen me commit a sin?
Well, I’ll tell you if I said that all my team would jump straight up and say I have my wife’s here.
All of us are sinners.
But Jesus was tempted in every point like as we are, he went through every temptation you’ve ever been through.
There isn’t a trial or a testing or a temptation that Jesus has not been through before you and he resisted them and overcame them all, everyone.
He was a man just like you. But he was more than that.
He claimed to be the unique, only begotten incarnate, Son of God.
In fact, he claimed preexistence.
The scripture says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God before time began, he existed.
He said before Abraham was I am I am in eternal existence.
No wonder they got angry. No wonder they threw stones at him.
No wonder they tried to kill him and no wonder they eventually did crucify him.
He stood and said, I am God was he was he who he claimed to be the son of the living God.
One day, he asked his disciples who do men say that I am.
And Peter answered and said, well, some of them say you’re John, the Baptist come back or you’re a Jeremiah or you’re Elijah?
He said, I’m really not interested in what the people say. I’m interested. Peter in what you say.
What do you say? Peter said thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.
And Jesus said, Peter, you’ve done well, you’ve passed your examination.
But Peter, those are not your thoughts. Those thoughts came from God. It has been revealed to you by God.
Jesus Christ claimed to be the son of the living God and you know, at his incarnation or his birth, that was not his birth or that wasn’t the beginning.
That wasn’t the origin of Jesus. That was the beginning.
That was the beginning of his incarnation because he has always existed from everlasting to everlasting. He is God.
The Bible says, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
In other words, the logos, the word of God, the eternal God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ and lived like a man among us.
That’s what the Bible teaches.
And when you come to Jesus Christ, you have to accept that he wasn’t just another revolutionary.
He wasn’t just another hippie. He was not just another great man.
He was God in the flesh and all the ethics that he taught.
Never a man speak like that man.
When you get hit on one side, he says, turn the other cheek.
He never said what to do after that.
But he did say forgive seven to times seven. Count that up.
How about the little irritations from your wife or your husband?
70 times seven, you forgive my wife once said that the secret of a happy marriage is too good for givers and that’s what it is.
Two good, forgive us people that can forgive each other.
Jesus taught that we had to forgive. He taught a revolution in the way we are to live.
He taught us that it wasn’t just our outward actions that God judges, but it’s the inward thoughts and intents.
He said, Moses said that in the 10 commandments, thou shalt not commit adultery.
But I tell you that if you even look on a woman to lust after you’ve already committed it, he said, Moses said, thou shalt not murder.
But I tell you if you have hate in your heart against your brother without cause you’re already guilty.
He lifted man’s ethics to the highest plane and demanded that we live that kind of a life.
And then look at the death, he died.
Did ever a man die like Jesus, the lightning flashed and the thunder roared and the earth began to shake.
And even the soldiers confessed that this must be the son of God.
Anyone that can see Jesus on that cross and not be touched has a heart of stone.
They first took off his clothes, then they took long leather thongs with steel pellets or lead pellets on the end and beat him across the back until he could hardly stand up.
Then they put a crown of thorns on his brow and his face was bleeding and they laughed at him and they spit on him and they mocked him.
And with one snap of his finger, 72,000 angels had already drawn their swords ready to come to his rescue and wiped this planet out of existence in the universe.
And Jesus said no to this end was I born and he dragged and lifted and hauled that cross.
And don’t you black people ever forget one thing.
The man that helped Jesus carry that cross was a black man and don’t ever forget another thing Jesus belongs to Africa as much as he does to Europe and Asia, he was born in that part of the world that touches Africa and Asia and Europe and Jesus was not a white man like me, nor was he as black as some of you.
We don’t know what the color of his skin, but it must have been a dark color like the people of his day because he was a man like them.
Don’t ever say it’s a white man’s religion or a black man’s religion. It’s a world religion.
He belongs to the world when he died on that cross and they nailed him.
They put the nails in his hands and you know what he said, forgive them.
They know not what they do, forgive them. Could you forgive somebody that’s putting nails in your hands?
And you know, you didn’t deserve it?
He didn’t squirm, he didn’t yell, he didn’t scream, he just took it and said, Lord, forgive him.
They don’t know what they’re doing.
That’s how he confronted the violence of his day.
And then on the cross, he said, my God, why has thou forsaken me?
And then he dropped his head and said, it’s finished. What did he mean?
He meant your plan of salvation was finished.
God can now forgive you of all your sins because Jesus had finished God’s plan for your salvation.
Because you see God knows every one of you by name. He has the hand of your head number.
God looks upon you as though you were the only person in the whole universe.
He sees you and you alone and on that cross, Jesus had the capacity to think of you and he loved you enough to stay on the cross.
Was there ever such a love as that when he could have been rescued and taken back to heaven and to sit on his throne.
But he didn’t. He said no, I’m doing it for the joy that is set before me because he saw that he would be raised from the dead.
He saw that there would be a gathering in the generations to come of a people for his name that would make up his body.
He saw the day when we will reign with him in his kingdom.
Yes, they laid him away in a tomb and that’s where Jesus Christ superstar leaves him.
But out in Kansas City, some people got hold of the rock opera and they carried it right on to the next step, the resurrection.
And if you don’t have the resurrection, you don’t have any gospel.
Jesus Christ is alive.
And when they went out to the tomb that morning, they heard the greatest news the world has ever known.
He is not here. He is risen. He is alive today.
And the thing that inspired the disciples to turn the world upside down in their day was the resurrection.
They went everywhere declaring that Jesus is alive.
If Jesus claimed to be God knowing He wasn’t God, then he’s a liar.
And we will have to say Jesus, you’re a liar, you’re a fraud and a hoax.
And you’re the biggest fraud in the history of the human race.
Or if Jesus thought he was God and did not know that ever, then he desperately needed mental help.
He needed several psychiatrists.
The third alternative is that he was who he claims to be God in the flesh.
I believe that the evidence is overwhelming that he is who he claims to be the son of the living God, but I cannot prove it scientifically.
But I can prove it by the lives that he transforms every day.
I can prove it because in my heart, I don’t say, I think, I hope I say, I know.
And you know, there’s another element in our lives that we don’t think much about.
And that’s the element of faith. You think of the faith that you have to have every day.
You have to have faith that your wife didn’t put poison in your coffee this morning.
You have to have faith in her.
She might have felt like it, but she didn’t.
You have to have faith in the bank.
When you write a check and sign it and you have money in the bank, you have to have faith that the bank is going to pay it.
You have to have faith in the government when you pull out a dollar bill and I know it’s shrinking, but you have faith that back of it is a dollar that people will accept it as money.
Everything we do is by faith.
Now, for example, when I come up on a hill and I live in the mountains of North Carolina and we have a lot of hills.
I don’t stop my car before I get to the crest of the hill and get out and walk over and see if somebody is coming up the other side, on the wrong side.
I have faith to believe that the drivers are going to stay on their side, faith, faith, faith, everything.
When you sat in that chair, had you ever sat in that chair before?
I bet you didn’t pick it up and examine it and put your hands on it to see if it would hold you by faith.
You just sat down in it.
You had faith that people wouldn’t build a chair that wouldn’t hold you.
Everything we do is by faith. All right. Take the same faith.
Put it in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. And you will know who Jesus is.
You accept him by faith and he comes into your life and into your heart.
And you know that he’s who he claims to be on that Damascus road that I referred to a moment ago.
The Apostle Paul said, who are thou Lord?
And then Paul asked him another question.
Paul said, what do you want me to do? Lord?
And Jesus said, a rise and go, I’m asking you today to arise and come to him.
Now, some of you can ridicule, some of you can reject him.
Some can just put it off and say, I’m going to wait till another time or you can accept it as your Lord and your savior and your master and the son of God.
And he will come into your heart and forgive your sin and change your life.
Jesus Christ, superstar Judas don’t get me wrong.
I only want to know he said, and then the haunting chorus, Jesus Christ superstar.
Do you think you are what they say you are? Yes and more.
10,000 times more than two men in England ever put in those lyrics is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And you are asked today to receive him.
In fact, if you are going to go to heaven, the Bible teaches you have to receive him.
If you’re going to have your sins forgiven, you have to receive him.
And I’m going to ask you to do it today.
And I’m going to ask you to do it publicly. How do you do it?
I’m going to ask hundreds of you to get up out of your seat right now and come and stand in front of this platform quietly and reverently and say, I want Christ in my heart, I want him to forgive my sin.
I want to know I’m going to heaven. I want him to change my life.
I receive Him as my Lord and Savior. If you’re with friends or relatives or in a delegation, they’ll wait.
If you’ve come in a bus, they’ll wait. Why do I ask you to come forward?
Because every person Jesus ever called in the new testimony called publicly, you come publicly and openly and declare yourself.
You may be Protestant, you may be Catholic, you may be Jewish, you may be orthodox or you may not have any religion, but God has spoken to you today and you know that you need Christ.
You come and make sure right now we’re going to wait and I’m going to ask that no one leave the service, please.
Not at this holy moment. I know you want to go because of the crowd, but don’t leave.
Just get up and come right now quickly from everywhere.
Hundreds of you, we’re going to wait from all over the stadium.
As God is speaking, you may be in the choir and this may be your last moment with God.
You may never have another hour like this.
You come as hundreds are responding to mister Graham’s invitation to make a public commitment to Jesus Christ.
You can make that same commitment, right?
Where you are, just pick up the phone and call the number you see on your screen.
Special friends are waiting to talk with you and pray with you about this most important decision.
You’re watching the Billy Graham classics.
Please call the phone number on the screen right now for spiritual help and guidance you that are watching by television.
There are hundreds of people coming here at mccormick Place in Chicago to make their commitment to Jesus Christ to accept him as their Lord, their savior, as their master, as the son of the living God.
I’m going to ask you to make that same commitment where you are at home.
I’m praying that you’ll make that decision. God help you to do it.
And I hope that you’ll go to church next Sunday. God bless you.
If you just prayed that prayer with my father or if you have any questions about a relationship with Jesus Christ, I would just call that number that is on the screen.
There’ll be someone there to talk with you, pray with you and answer those questions and remember God loves you.
If you would like to commit your life to Jesus Christ, please call us right now.
Toll free at 18777724559. That’s 1877772 45 59. Or you can write to us at Billy Graham.
One Billy Graham Parkway Department C Charlotte, North Carolina 28201.
Or you can contact us on the web 24 7 at peace with God dot TV.
We’ll get the same helps to you that we give to everyone who responds at the invitation on behalf of Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham evangelistic Association.
Thank you for watching and thank you for your prayers. Name.
My only one hope. Yeah.
Brand new witness the story that and give your life to Christ and see what.
Yeah. Ok, Billy Grimm library.
We still have a window of opportunity to reach a lost and dying world with the truth of God’s love.
It’s not too late. We’ve got an opportunity to tell others about Jesus Christ.
What are you gonna do with it?