Who Do You Say That I Am?

Most people who do not believe in such things ask for evidence. While Christianity is based on historical facts, the question that carries more importance is "would this change your life if evidence can be given?"

His undeniable, historical existence

Non-Christian historians write about Jesus

• Josephus, who was a first century Jewish historian, wrote several things concerning Jesus in his book The Antiquities. In summary, we learn from Josephus that he knew Jesus was the brother of James and was a wise teacher who had established a lasting following, despite the fact that He had been crucified under Pilate at the instigation of some of the Jewish leaders.

• The Talmud was an important collection of writings by Jewish rabbis. These writings reference Jesus and some of his actions. These passages in the Talmud do not deny that Jesus performed miracles, but calls them “magic.” These references support the Biblical claims that Jesus was a healer and a miracle-worker but, again, calls them either sorcery or magic.

• Tacitus, a Roman historian, despised Christians, but understood that Christians received their name from Christ who by Tacitus' own writings had been crucified.

• Pliny the Younger, also a Roman, who was governor of Bithynia in second century Turkey, references Christ and His followers. He also refers to their “oaths” to avoid all criminal activity.

The reliability and historical accuracy of the Bible

To do this we will look into two areas: manuscript evidence and archaeology…

Manuscript Evidence

Historical Accuracy

• The proof of the existence of the person of Jesus (as seen above).

• In 1945 a receptacle for bones (called ossuaries) were found with four crosses on them along with a prayer to Jesus and a second inscription which was a prayer for resurrection of the person within this receptacle.

• The “Pavement” was the place where Jesus was tried by Pilate (also called “Gabbatha”) in John 19:13. This was discovered recently in Jerusalem.

• The “Pool of Bethesda” was a big point of criticism for Atheists for a long time until it was uncovered in 1888!

• The man who tried Jesus, Pilate, was thought (along with Jesus) to be a creation of the Bible. However in 1961 an important stone slab was discovered. Archeologists working at the Herodian theater found a plaque inscribed with the Latin words, Tiberium . . . (Pon)tius Pilatus . . .(prae)fectus Juda(ea)e. According to experts, the complete inscription would have read, “Pontius Pilate, the Prefect of Judea, has dedicated to the people of Caesarea a temple in honor of Tiberius.”

Jesus' tomb was found to be empty on the third day.

• There are those who suggest that the resurrection is only a legend developed by Jesus' followers. This assertion is absurd because a legend of this magnitude would have been impossible to create. Consider the following: the number of people that saw Jesus after His resurrection (over 500), the hostile response that such a belief would receive and the fact that those who once doubted and disregarded Jesus are now risking their lives by proclaiming His resurrection. Furthermore, the books of the New Testament were written early enough that eyewitnesses could have contradicted them.

• Even those who were opponents of Christianity believed the tomb was empty. The proof of the resurrection is in the empty tomb. All the opponents had to do was produce the body of Christ to end Christianity, but no body was "found". The tomb was also sealed and guarded by the Romans to prevent the followers of Jesus from stealing the body. It would have been near impossible for the disciples to overcome the guards. Even if they did, it would have obviously been a well-publicized event. No such account exists.

The empty tomb demonstrates that Jesus was resurrected from the dead

• Any thinking person should be minimally asking what happened to the body of Jesus? Did the disciples steal the body? For the disciples to steal the body, they would have had to overcome guards who were stationed there specifically to prevent its theft. They would also have needed a great amount of courage, which is something they apparently lacked as they fled the night that Jesus was arrested. The fact that following the resurrection these men suffered rejection and persecution in life and were then killed for their faith in Jesus strongly suggests that they believed it really happened. Why would they give their lives for what they knew was a lie?

• Were the disciples deceived by hallucinations or religious hysteria? This would be possible if only one or two persons were involved, but Jesus was seen alive after His death by groups of people who touched, ate, and conversed with Him. These people also risked death for holding to this belief, but they remained certain and steadfast, not typical of people who suffer from hysteria or hallucinations.

• Did the Jewish leaders take it? If the Jewish leaders had taken the body of Jesus, they would have certainly produced it in order to refute the idea that He had been raised from the dead. They never did, because they didn't have the body.

• Did Jesus really die? Even skeptics disregard this theory called the "swoon" theory, which suggests that Jesus was only unconscious and awoke later. First, if we understand the severity of the beatings that Christ received before His crucifixion and the horror of crucifixion itself, it becomes impossible to expect that any man could survive this kind of punishment. Second, if He simply “swooned” His followers would have known that He did not really "resurrect" (as Jesus continually said He would) from the dead and conquer death, but that it was simply deception. They certainly wouldn't have given their lives for what they knew was a deception and lie.

Jesus actually rose from the dead

Jesus: Lord, liar, or lunatic?

Jesus is God

Many people today don't understand that Jesus claimed to be God. They're content to think (or believe what others say) of Him as little more than a great moral teacher, but even His enemies understood His claims to deity. That's why they tried to stone Him to death for blasphemy (John 5:18; 10:33) and eventually had Him crucified (John 19:7).

C.S. Lewis observed, “You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about Him being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” (Mere Christianity {New York: Macmillan, 1952}, pp. 40-41).

Jesus is the only Savior

According to Scripture, everyone is guilty of sin; “There is no man who does not sin” (1 Kings 8:46). “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And we are incapable of changing our sinful condition. Jeremiah 13:23 says, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to evil.”

That doesn't mean we're incapable of performing acts of human kindness. We might even be involved in various religious or humanitarian activities, but we're utterly incapable of understanding, loving, or pleasing God on our own. The Bible says, "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one." (Romans 3:10-12)

God's holiness and justice demand that all sin be punished by death: “The soul who sins will die” (Ezekiel 18:4). That's hard for us to understand, because we tend to evaluate sin on a relative scale, assuming some sins are less serious than others are. However, the Bible teaches that all acts of sin are the result of sinful thinking and evil desires. That's why simply changing our patterns of behavior can't solve our sin problem or eliminate its consequences. We need to be changed inwardly so our thinking and desires are holy.

Jesus is the only One who can forgive us and transform us. The only One who can deliver us from the power and penalty of sin: “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Even though God's justice demands death for sin, His love has provided a Savior, who paid the penalty and died for sinners: “Christ…died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God…” (1 Peter 3:18).

Christ's death satisfied the demands of God's justice, thereby enabling Him to forgive and save those who place their faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26). John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” He alone is “our great God and Savior” (Titus 2:13).

If you are ready to meet the One True God, here is what you need to do. Believe on Jesus (belief is more than intellectual agreement but is TRUST)… “if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord (Master)," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9). Repent (or turn away) from your sin and turn to God through Jesus Christ: In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead" (Acts 17:30-31). Receive Jesus into your life by prayer, as your personal Savior and Lord:

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, (John 1:12). Don't put it off, do it today, … “behold now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).