More Sure Of This Than "death and taxes"
Written by Administrator Saturday, 14 April 2007 09:14
Following up on the last few messages in our series on Tough Questions – Honest Answers, let’s take a look at several factors regarding the life of Jesus.
A couple of weeks ago, we asked, “Is the Person of Jesus a Myth?” There are some who would debate whether or not Jesus ever existed. We examined the matter utilizing three sources: 1) The Testimony of Secular Documents, 2) The Testimony of Jewish Documents, and 3) The Testimony of Christian Documents.
Here is what we discovered. There are more than 19 secular documents that affirm the existence of Jesus including the writings of Tacitus, Lucian, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, Thallus, and Phlegon, just to name a few. From Tacitus alone (the man many consider the “greatest historian” of ancient Rome) we find mention of the name of Christ, that he was put to death by Pilate, that the time of that death was in the reign of Tiberius, that Christianity had spread to Rome, and that something unusual had ignited this “flame” of faith. Was that the resurrection? Tacitus does not define what that was.
Among the Jewish documents the works of Josephus provide outstanding testimony to the life of Jesus. He refers to Jesus as being a wise man in words and deeds … as having drawn a wide following of both Jews and Gentiles … as being condemned by the Jews and judged by Pilate … and as having faithful followers who worshipped Him.
God’s Word, both Gospels and Epistles, stand as monumental and reliable resources for verifying the life of Jesus. Here are but two simple declarations. The apostle John witnesses to the reality of the person of Jesus saying that “we have heard … we have seen with our eyes … we have looked upon … and our hands have handled” Him (1 John 1:1). Another apostle, Peter, writes, “We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).
But Christians also embrace the truth that Jesus not only existed, but He was truly God. Several factors support this understanding of the person of Christ. The evidence demonstrated that …
1. Jesus is unique in His Character – He was sinless and righteous.
2. Jesus is unique in His Teaching – He spoke with the authority of heaven.
3. Jesus is unique in His Power – He healed diseases, renewed bodies, fed multitudes, controlled nature, and raised the dead.
4. Jesus is unique in His Claims – He claimed that He had the right to forgive sins, that He was equal with God, and that He would judge all people.
5. Jesus is unique in His Death and Resurrection – His life was not taken from Him, He gave it. And He not only surrendered Himself to die on the cross, but He rose from the dead.
The apostle Paul asserted that Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4). The One whom we worship and serve is God in flesh – Jesus Christ. Of that we can be more sure on this April 15th than we can of “death and taxes”!
-- Sparky