Did Jesus really exist?
by
Randy A. Croft
BigFoot
In the summer of 1924, Kelso, Washington. According to the Sunday Oregonian on July 13, five miners encountered the ``mountain devils’’ in the wilds of Mount St. Helens. One of the men, Fred Beck, shot one of the creatures and watched its body fall over a precipice and into a canyon.
That night the ``devils’’ reportedly used large rocks to bombard the log cabin where the men were sleeping, knocking chunks out of the structure and rendering one of the miners unconscious.
According to the story, ``The animals were said to have the appearance of huge gorillas. They
are covered with long, black hair. Their ears are about four inches long and stick straight up.
They have four toes, short and stubby. The tracks are 13 to 14 inches long."
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Don’t tell that, though, to Linda Lindell of Silver Lake, Washington. Linda is a volunteer interpreter at the Mt. St. Helens Volcanic Monument. About 15 years ago, Lindell was hunting in the vicinity of Mount St. Helens when she caught a whiff of ``an ungodly- like smell.’’
``Oh, it gave me the chills,’’ said Lindell, ``Once I got a smell of that odor, you’ve never seen a woman run
so fast. He must have been only 30 yards from me.’’
Come on, Linda.
``Honest’’ she added. ``It scared me half to death. People think you’re stupid if you say you had an encounter with Bigfoot, but there’s just too much evidence. I can just smell it now . . . it was like rotting meat. ``This Bigfoot, it’s definitely around. And it’s around to stay.’’
In Portland, Oregon, the Western Bigfoot Society holds monthly meetings in the basement of a used bookstore. Last Thursday night of every month.
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Newspaper about the Bigfoot Research Project (BFP) in Hood River, Oregon. They even had an 800# and a full time staff of four to help sort out the reports. They had access to the most advanced surveillance technology available -- motion sensor cameras, infrared cameras, top-of-line video cameras, ground sensor units, starlight scopes, five vehicles, and a futuristic computer system.’’
They would get about 2,000 calls a month from people who say -- or think -- they had an encounter with Bigfoot. The director said very few were credible, about 4-5 a month. I want to see the thing, if it exists captured.
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What do you think? Do you believe in Bigfoot? Are they as real as UFO’s, Unicorns, lepricans? How do you know?
What about the Loch Ness Monster with a reported 3,000 sightings. Loch Ness is the largest fresh water lake in Scotland. 1987 a sonar scan sweep--19 boats traveled the lake inhabited by the famed water dinosaur...Catch anything that made a sound. Found several large targets that couldn’t be explained, including one very large object at a very deep part of the lake. Unexplainable. Hoax? History?
Loch Ness area rakes in over $30 million a year from tourists i.e full blown submarine rides at $100 hour.
How do you know if Bigfoot exists? UFO’s? Loch Ness Monster? I don’t have the answer to these questions, only opinions--but I do have some information about Jesus...Did Jesus really live 2,000 years ago. Is there any evidence of him outside of the Bible, or was he a here fabricated by some writers, like Robin Hood?
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This is an important question, because it tells us whether Christianity is based on real people, real places, real events, or one of only personal opinion, and subjective feeling. Can one examine the records and find out more about Jesus, or is it just a self-made religion.
The Bible says clearly that Jesus came lived, died, rose again. I Tim 3:16 "He appeared in a body, was proved right by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory."
I Cor 15:17-19 "If Christ has not been raised, then your faith has nothing to it; you are still guilty of your sins. And those in Christ who have already died are lost. If our hope in Christ is for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone else in the world."
But no matter what the Bible says, some people won’t believe it, so today we’ll look outside of the bible and see the evidence that a man named Jesus actually lived in Palestine during the first century A.D.
Today it is rare to find any credible historian who denies the validity that an influential man named Jesus existed.
1. ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
a. Used over 20,000 words to describe Jesus
b. More than Aristotle, Cicero, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, or Napoleon.
II. THE No-biblical evidence for the HISTORICAL JESUS
1. Fullest--most interesting...PLINY THE YOUNGER (Governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor, ca. 112 A.D.)
Wrote to the Roman Emperor Trajan about the rapid spread of Christianity in his province. It became a problem for his. The pagan temples were being shut down. The temple prostitutes were losing customers. So Pliny took the matter in his own hands and started to kill off Christians--men, women, boys and girls. There were so many being put to death that he wondered if he should continue killing anyone who was discovered to be a Christian, or if he should just kill certain ones. He explained that he had made the Christians bow down to the statues of Trajan (Romans worshiped the emperor). He goes on to say that he also "made them curse Christ, which a genuine Christian cannot be induced to do." In the same letter he says of the people who were being tried.
"They affirmed, however, that the whole of their guilt, or their error was that they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verse a hymn to Christ as to a god, and bound themselves to a solemn oath, not to do any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft, adultery, never to falsify their word, not to deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up." (Letter 10.96).
That’s why he wrote the letter to the emperor...they didn’t do anything really wrong, except not worship the emperor. Should he keep persecuting Christians for it.
2. CORNELIUS TACITUS (greatest Roman historian of his time, ca. 112 A.D.--same time as Pliny)
He tells how Christians were made scapegoats by Nero for setting Rome on fire.
"The name Christian comes to them from Christ, who was executed in the reign of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate; and the pernicious cult, suppressed for a while, broke out afresh and spread not only through Judea, the source of the disease, but in Rome itself, where all the horrible and shameful things in the world collect and find a home."
He also refers to Christianity in his lost book Histories (which was referred to by a later writer) and gave a remarkable piece of information in it. He said that the Roman general Titus hoped that by destroying the Temple at Jerusalem in AD 70 to end both Judaism and Christianity, on the theory that if you cut the root, the plant will soon wither!
3. SEUTONIUS (Court official and annalist under Emperor Hadrian, 69-120 A.D.)
a. "As the Jews were making constant disturbance at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome."
b. Luke makes reference to this same expulsion in Ac 18:1-2 "Claudius ordered all the Jews to leave Rome."
--These first three I just mentioned were all in official positions, all wrote about events just 30 years before they were born. Their positions gave them access to the best historical information.
4. In British Museum--a remarkable letter from MARA-SERAPION to his son (written in 70AD shortly after Jerusalem was destroyed) He refers to the death of Socrates, Pythagoras, and Jesus.
b. "What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise king? It was just after that their kingdom was abolished. God justly avenged these three wise men."
5. THALLUS--History (a Samaritan historian, ca. 52 A.D.) Writings are referred to by other writers.
a. Wrote attempting to give a natural explanation for the darkness which occurred at the crucifixion of Jesus.
b. Thallus tried to explain that the darkness was an eclipse of the sun, which would have been impossible with a full moon as it was at Passover when Jesus died.
1) He did not deny the existence of Jesus. but only tried to explain away the strange circumstances surrounding His death. Interesting that the circumstances of the death of Jesus were well known in Rome--enough to be included in his history of the world.
B. AMONG "JEWISH" SOURCES
1. THE TALMUD
a. Consists of two separate books dealing with Jewish law, written during the period from 100 A.D. to 500 A.D.
b. Speaks frequently of Jesus of Nazareth...
1) In unfriendly terms, of course
2) But never disputing his status as a historical figure
2. FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS
a. A Jewish general turned Roman historian, born 37 A.D. He set out to re-establish Jewish reputation in the minds of the Romans. You would think he would ignore what happened with Jesus, but he didn’t.
b. Makes several references to Jesus in his Antiquities Of The Jews (AD 93).
c. "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 the 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 had condemned him to the cross at the instigation of our own leaders, those who had loved him from the first did not forsake him. For he appeared to them alive again on the third day, as the holy prophets had foretold and said many other wonderful things about him. And the race of Christians, so named from him, has not died out at this day" Antiquities 18.33.
Archeological Finding:
Many scholars estimate that there were about 100,000 Christians by the end of the first century. This was phenomenal growth, especially since there was such persecution and ridicule towards Christians in the Roman Empire. The graphic below is a "graffiti" from the first century. It reads: "Alexamennos worships his god..." Above the inscription is a rough picture of a man on a cross, bearing an ass’s head, a reference clearly mean to ridicule an early Christian named Alexamenos.
These things alone show evidence that Jesus existed.
The Next Question
However, we can’t stop there, because the bible says that if he just lived and didn’t rise again from the grave, the Christian faith is useless. Give up believing in a dead man. But if he did live (which I have shown) and did rise from the dead, then it has implications for me and you. Then he backed up what he said. When he said he was the way, the truth, and the life--then he meant it. When he said to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind--he meant it. When he said that by trusting in him--we’ll have eternal life, and if we reject him--we won’t--he meant it. When he said that he will be with us to the end of the age and help change our lives for the better--this next week--he meant it. If he is alive, then your life--this week matters. How you live this next week matters. The struggles you face matter. The choices you and I make, matter.
So let’s ask for a minute--did He really rise from the dead?
Consider the following evidence that Josh McDowell and others have effectively offered--
A. The Tomb was Empty
1. One of the strongest proofs that the tomb was empty was that after Jesus was resurrected, the disciples didn’t go off to some far off land to spread the gospel, they went right into Jerusalem--the last place on earth they should go if Jesus was still dead. If the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, where Jesus was placed, was not empty, any Jewish or Roman leader could say "Nope. You Christians are wrong. His tomb is around the corner. His body is rotting in it. We’ll go get the body right now and prove it." But no one could come up with the body. It was gone. They were unable to even produce a false body to put the story to rest. All they needed was a body, and Christianity would have died on the spot.
2. In Matthew 27, Pilate made Jesus’ tomb as secure as possible. He posted a Roman seal on the stone and put a guard of 4-16 fighting soldiers. Anybody who tried to break the Roman Seal was to be executed by crucifixion upside down. Some say the disciples stole the body--no way--they were scared stiff when Jesus was betrayed by Judas that they all ran off. Also, in The Justinian Code, a Roman guard received the death penalty for abandoning his post. They were to protect Jesus’ tomb at the cost of their very lives. In the bible, the guards fled. One scholar who has studied the military discipline of the Romans, wrote that fear of punishment "produced flawless attention to duty, especially in the night watches." No way these Roman killing machines would let a motley crew of untrained disciples to steal anything under their noses.
B. Jesus appeared to many
1. Women first (considered unreliable evidence)(John 20).
2. Group of cowards (disciples hiding-- John 20). They were scared. Door was dead bolted shut. But the bible says that Jesus appeared alive to them in that dark upper room. And their lives changed forever. One moment they were running scared, denying Christ in public, afraid for their lives. The next moment they become bold and courageous. They go to the seaports, the courtyards, the prisons, the palaces, the synagogues, and to death. Nothing could stop them. Not the government, not the religious establishment. Not death itself. Do you think that if the resurrection was just a myth--these disciples would knowingly risk property, family, and life itself to preach what they knew to be a lie. Few people will willingly die for a known lie. Watergate showed that it’s hard for people to keep secrets very long of things they know to be untrue. It breaks down.
3. Over 500 at one time I Cor 15:3-6 "I passed on to you what I received of which this was most important: that Christ died for our sins, as the scriptures say; that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day as the Scriptures say; and that he was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles. After that Jesus was seen by more than five hundred of the believers at the same time. Most of them are still living, but some have died."
"We are witnesses of these things.." (Acts 2:22).
"...what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you". (1 John 1:3).
Harvard Law Professor Simon Greenleaf, who helped make Harvard Law School one of the top in the nation, once said that according to the laws of legal evidence used in courts of law there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history.
It’s true Jesus lived long ago, but his influence continues to this day. His influence has opened of more hospitals, started more social and relief agencies, organized more orphanages, and launched more universities, than any other person in history. He lives today and continues to change people’s lives for the better. Hundreds of Millions of people from all backgrounds, nationalities, and professions have turned their lives over to Christ and have been able to say that they have come to know him and that He has changed and elevated their lives. Why do so many people have the wrong idea, that Christianity is about sitting in a church pew, wearing three piece suits, and criticizing people who think differently. That’s not it at all. It’s about a whole new life. A new way of thinking and living. Because he lives today--we live differently today.
While working on my fence one day with my neighbor, he asked me if I always wanted to be a pastor. No, not really. I thought I might take business, law, or accounting. Why the switch, he asked? I explained--my father died in high school. He had a conversion experience before he died. I started asking deep philosophical questions that many teenagers aren’t really into asking. What is the purpose of life? What happens when we die? Is there truly a God? What evidence is there for God’s existence? I began a searching and seeking after answers and was led to give my life to God. He helped me with some needed changes and I asked God to use me to be a full fledged missionary. I wanted to do more than believe in Christ--I wanted to live for him, and hopefully help bring others to him--as a calling.
Now--there are times you will face a lot of hardship in making changes in your life. I grew up with an extremely short temper and fierce competitive attitude. Those of you play softball--know that I don’t like to lose. Thursday--bumped a guy at second base--uncalled for--I was frustrated. Left it at that...Shortstop--thinking--ok Jesus is that the way to live for you. No. So I leaned over and apologized 2-3 times for bumping him, asked him if he’s ok, etc. I make mistakes. I fall so far short--but my choices are different in living for Christ, than just living for myself. I love God and want to please him. And many of you love God, too. What difference is it making in your life. Can you look back and see the changes for the better. It’s more than just believing. It’s living. How will your life reflect Jesus next week. Don’t give up when you fail. But know that he will help you live for him, too. He will make a huge difference in your life if you not only believe that he lived once, but if you commit to live for him daily.
ILLUS: Max Jukes, Jonathan Edwards, p 99. God’s Vitamin C.
I believe that Jesus truly existed long ago, and that he continues to live today. It’s not a leap of faith to believe this, but one based on reliable and plausible evidence.
Jesus lives today. He wants you to live for him in your choices, in your attitude, in my attitude, in our daily grind. Watch the difference that he will make over the long haul, and see for yourself that he lives today. You will see for yourself, beyond merely the written word, that he lives.
