Chicago, 1971
Billy Graham: America’s preacher. He was one of the most influential Americans in the twentieth century. He served as the personal spiritual counselor of every US President from Harry Truman to Barack Obama. Today, we’re going to look at one of Graham’s greatest speeches/sermons.
In June 1971, Rev. Graham held his 209th “crusade” in the city of Chicago. Over ten days, Graham held this large revival meeting at the city’s convention center—the McCormick Place. Tens of thousands of people attended his Crusade each day it went on. At this crusade, Graham gave one of his greatest speeches/sermons. His speech focused on a simple question: Who Is Jesus?
Who is Jesus?
At the beginning of his sermon, Graham recited the eleventh Chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Here are the Scripture verses that Graham quoted:
“When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” -Luke 11:29-33 (ESV)
After reading this passage, Graham mentioned how the people of Jesus’s day wanted a sign. They wanted a special sign from him to prove that he was the Son of God. But Jesus gave them a sign: himself.
Jesus is the truth; He is the light of the world; He is the Word made flesh; He is the Savior of the World; He is God!
Graham then turned to the current time (i.e. 1971). We in America have the same question that the Jews of Judea had two thousand years ago: Who is Jesus?
People then and today have different answers to the question “Who is Jesus?” Some say that he is a madman or a liar. Others said that he is a revolutionary or a hippie. A few even claim that he’s only a great teacher—like Gandhi or Plato. Spoiler art, those answers are all wrong.
Well, what do we know about Jesus? Well, he was a man. He lived in Galilee two thousand years ago. He walked, talked, and ate food just like the rest of us. But there’s something more to Jesus.
Graham’s answer to this simple question was three words long: Jesus is God! Jesus Christ claimed to be the Son of the living God. He has always existed and created the universe from nothing.
How do we know that Jesus was God? To start, he forgave sins. The prophets of the Old Testament didn’t do that. Only God forgives sins. That’s why the Pharisees wanted to put Jesus to death. They thought that Jesus was a blasphemer for claiming to be God.
Moreover, Jesus had authority of nature, disease, and evil spirits.
Despite being God, Jesus became a man. He was born of the Virginia Mary two thousand years ago in the town of Bethlehem. He lived and then died on the cross on Calvary. He did it for you, me, and the whole world. As St. Paul writes in Romans 6, the wages of sin is death. He shed his blood to die for sinners.
The beauty of Christ’s death is that it didn’t end in the tomb. He is alive! He conquered sin, death, and the devil by his death and resurrection from the dead on Easter morning.
As Graham points, we Christians trust and believe that Jesus rose from the dead. We live by faith in all that we do—including our religious faith. Certainly, the resurrection is the central claim of Christianity. It’s as simple as this fact: if Jesus rose from the dead, then Christianity is true.
To close his speech, Graham did an “altar call” at the end of the service. As a confessional Lutheran, I am not a big fan of this kind of decision-based theology. In spite of my critque, I know that Graham brought countless people to faith in Jesus Christ in June 1971 and throughout his 99 years on Earth. We should all give thanks to God for the work Billy Graham did in the United States and throughout the world.
Here is a YouTube video of Graham’s sermon at the 1971 Chicago Crusade: