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.