Like this:

One question many non-believers ask of Christians is ‘how can you prove that Jesus Christ existed, and was not simply legend?’  Many Christians are stumped by this question, responding that they simply know it to be true by faith, since their belief is based on ‘legend’ rather than understanding.  “Could it simply be a legend, or a myth passed down from generation to generation in order to give a hope to humanity that we do not simply wither and die, much like a flower or the fading blades of grass in autumn?”  one might ask.  As I always have said, do not fear questioning, because in searching for truth, our faith is strengthened in understanding, rather than left vulnerable, and this question is no exception. 

To anyone who might believe that Christ was simply a legend passed down generationally, all they need to do is check history.  It is said that in terms of reliability, any writing done within 200 years of a historical event is considered close enough to be considered extremely reliable evidence.  There are numerous writings from both believers and non-believers that attest to the fact that Jesus Christ lived.  Whether or not He was who He claimed to be is left for later discussion, but we have solid historical evidence that this person did in fact live, and that He lived in or around Nazareth.

First we have the Epistles of Paul, whose writings were done, or at least done in part, approximately 40 years after the death of Jesus Christ.  In the Gospel of Luke, which shares many historical similarities with the other Gospels,  Paul’s writings were not simply historical legend passed down to him, but were accounts of what he  witnessed first hand while traveling with Jesus Christ.  If this information is not considered the ultimate in reliability, how is it that we can accept anything told to us, on any subject, as historical?  Why is it that we can talk to a 90-year-old survivor of the Titanic, or the only living veteran of WWI, in order  to gain useful information about something they witnessed in history, and this is accepted as fact.  Yet simply because Jesus Christ’s message was spiritual, and His resurrection is not something humanity perceives as possible, the historically accurate and reliable information is put under question.

 The disciples were not the only people who spoke of Jesus Christ walking the earth during this period. Flavius Josephus (AD37-c.100) was a famous Jewish writer and historian, who wrote about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70  AD.  In his many works he provided critical information about the first Jewish-Roman War, and his writings were an important literary source for understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls. He spoke very specifically about the Pharisees, the rise of Herod the Great, Jewish High Priests of the time, the zealots, Pontius Pilate, John the Baptist, and Jesus.  His work was so specific that it not only mentioned people of the time, but specific political issues and geographical locations.  After reading the writings of Josephus, an archaeologist from Hebrew University, by the name of Ehud Netzer, discovered the location of Herod’s Tomb.  After searching for approximately 35 years, he discovered the tomb above aqueducts and pools, at a flattened desert site, halfway up the hill to the Herodium, 12 kilometers south of Jerusalem.  This is exactly where Jospehus’s writings claimed it would be found!

On the specific subject of Christ, Josephus writes ‘Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure.  He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles.  He was (the) Christ.  And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him.  And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”  The only other mention of Christ in any of Jospehus’ extensive historical writings was in the same book, The Antiquities of the Jews.  In the first paragraph of book 20, chapter 9 Josephus writes about the execution of a man who traditional scholars believe to be ‘James the Just’.  It reads: ‘so he assembled the Sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned;”

It is important to remember that Josephus was a Jew, not a Christian, and he was a historical writer, not a religious or biblical writer.  His accounts of Jesus Christ are noted in the same manner that every other aspect of his factual accounts are.  He was simply stating factual people, places, and events during his place and time in history..  If all of his other accounts have been affirmed, including an archeologist uncovering a tomb based on Josephus’ writings, why would we believe that the information pertaining to Jesus Christ might have been a lie thrown in the mix?  So it is clear that a very good man, by the name of Jesus, did in fact live during the period in question in the region of Jerusalem.  Once this has been accepted we are left with the question of if He was in fact the Son of God, who came to save the world.  If Jesus lived, and portrayed Himself to be the Son of God, and was not, then He was not a good man at all, but a liar and a blasphemer.  This goes in direct opposition to all His teachings on honesty, truth, and honoring the Father, so that would not make sense.  He gained nothing from this world, only offering Himself and a way to God. He asked for no money, no honor and fame, simply using His ministry as a means of sowing seeds of faith and understanding to a world lost without Him.

The strangest thing about belief system is that for those who wish to believe, they do not require much factual information, whereas for those who choose not to believe, no amount of factual information will suffice.  But the test of any information’s accuracy can be found in whether it works.  An example of this would be the Weight Watchers weight loss program.  We can factually read on the food groups, the combining of food groups, carbohydrates, total caloric intake, proteins, and the need for each serving of any food group to be classified with a point system value.  But the true validity of the Weight Watchers program does not rest in the concept, it relies on the results to affirm how valid the program is.  Weight Watchers has endured through many decades because when it is put to the test, and the diet is followed, it works. When a person stops using the principles taught through Weight Watchers they start to gain weight again.  So it is the results of the information gained, when put to the test, that determines its reliability. 

Short of Jesus coming to every town, in every generation, to ‘prove’ that He exists over and over, He has done the job He set out to accomplish.  He was crucified for our sins, died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead.  He showed Himself to his disciples, and others, to affirm that He had in fact overcome death.  He gave certain people, in the disciples, believers, and historians, the ability to write what it was that His Father wished for us to know.  This information was put to pen, in the form of our Bible.  When we read the Bible, and take in the Gospels, which are the accounts of those who actually saw and walked with Christ, a change comes over us.  We are never the same.  We do not have to work at it, and in fact Christ tells us specifically that we cannot find him through works.  In being open to receiving the Word of God, the Holy Spirit comes to us, counseling and transforming us in ways we could never have imagined.  It no longer becomes a belief based in a desire to overcome death; it becomes a love affair where our every desire is to conform to the image of the One who came to teach us and to give us hope.

Without behavior modification, what other book can simply make a person more compassionate?  What reading can change us into people who do not wish to judge others, and who wish to serve? What reading can take everything flawed in our humanity, and soften us to conform to all that is good, and pure?  Humanity, by nature, is selfish.  Without Christ we are no better than animals searching for survival and pleasure upon this Earth.  It is the Word of God alone that has the power to take us to a place where survival and pleasure in this world is no longer our goal.  We seek to share joy, compassion, kindness, servitude, and above everything, love.  Instead of feeling hatred for those who offend and persecute us, we feel nothing but hope and a desire for them to come to know what we have found.  It is the change it makes in people that makes all of this truth.  I know this, because it has happened to me.  I knew of Christ my whole life, and worked very hard at being a good Christian.  It worked in some areas of my life, but it was always a constant battle where I had to constantly be reminded of what I was called to be.  Then, when my eyes and ears were opened to the Word of God through my dearest friend, and I made the decision to read the gospels (the stories and accounts of those who walked with my Lord), my life changed.  This dear friend had no need to mentor me and teach me, for the Lord was teaching me.  I had no need to write out lists of ways that I could be a better person, because what I read was so provoking that it naturally made me want to reflect the image of the One I was reading about.

And so I say, to anyone who might question the history of Jesus Christ, or the accuracy of what He claimed to be, just pick up His Book.  Start with the first Gospel of Matthew, and read what He did, what He does, and how He wishes to work in you.  It is then that you will come to see exactly how true it is that Jesus Christ not only lived, but continues to live in all of those who believe.  Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 29

11 The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.”
And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”
12 Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.”
   And he says, “I am not literate.”
13 Therefore the Lord said:
      “ Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
      And honor Me with their lips,
      But have removed their hearts far from Me,
      And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men
Revelation 10

 9So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.” 10I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. 11Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”

 

John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:14 – “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 5:18 – “For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”

John 8:24 – “I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins.”

 John 8:58 – “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.’”

Exodus 3:14 – “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’; and He said, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

John 10:30-33 – “I and the Father are one.”  31 The Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  32 Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”  33 The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”

John 20:28 – “Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

Col. 2:9 – “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”

Phil. 2:5-8 – “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Heb. 1:8 – “But of the Son He says, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.”

Advertisement