Jesus Christ. There is more than enough historical evidence to more than prove that he really existed. The question is who was he? Some people think he was a good man. Some, a brilliant teacher, others, a prophet.
The dilemma
The fact is, none of these theories can be correct. You see, Jesus very
unambiguously claimed to be God. That is the reason that the Jewish leaders
wanted him dead. To claim yourself equal to God was an offense against
Jewish law which required the death penalty.
So one of three things must be true:
The evidence: the crucifixion
Jesus was crucified by a Roman Guard. These men were professionals.
Crucifixion was a common form of execution and the Romans knew how to
do it and do it well.
By the time it was over, Jesus had been beaten beyond recognition,
literally nailed to a cross, left to die, and then after he was dead, had
a spear shoved through his chest. So much for the "swoon theory".
The evidence: the body
Where did the body go? Why didn't anyone produce the body when the
disciples claimed Jesus rose from the dead? The Jewish or Roman leaders
could have easily done that and crushed the disciples right away. But
they didn't. Why not? Did the disciples, twelve uneducated regular guys
steal a body right from under the noses of a Roman Guard? Yeah right.
The evidence: the sightings
Jesus was seen by hundreds of people after his death. These people were
not just the disciples, whom perhaps didn't want to accept Jesus' death.
While the disciples were preaching the risen Christ they referred to these
witnesses many of whom were still alive at the time. It would be an easy
task to verify with any of these witnesses the veracity of the disciples
story. The disciples were never challenged on this matter. Why?
The evidence: the disciples
After Jesus was gone, the disciples who were regular guys suddenly became
fearless preachers on Jesus' behalf. Peter denied Jesus three
times on the day he was killed. But now he was willing to die for Jesus and
in fact he eventually did. What happened?
Why were these guys willing to die for Jesus after he was gone?
The only reason that makes sense is they knew that Jesus really did rise
from the dead like he said he would. Otherwise they wouldn't be willing to
die for what they knew was a lie. Would you? I wouldn't.
The conclusion
So what's the deal? There is enough evidence to believe Jesus really existed
and the authorities of the time were helpless to stop the new Christian
movement due to a lack of evidence. Evidence that should have been easy for
them to acquire.
There is enough evidence for me to believe that Jesus really is God and He really did rise from the dead which proves He is God. At the end of the day, it still comes down to faith. I choose to believe that Jesus is God.
The Message:
Here is the rest of the message Jesus came
to deliver. We all have done things, even the very best of us, that are
wrong and separate us from our perfectly holy God. There is absolutely
nothing we can do to make up for that. God loves us too much to leave things
that way. So He paid the penalty for our wrongs by dying for us in our
place. Believe in that and all your wrongs are forgiven. That's it. It's
that simple. Your eternal destiny will be settled.
You can then begin to live your life for God rather than just yourself.
I sincerely hope you choose to trust Jesus for your
eternal salvation. It is truly the only decision you will make in your
entire life that will have eternal ramifications.
If you have questions, please contact me here.