Who Jesus Is – Is Jesus Real?

Is Jesus real? Well now, we’ve already talked about a few eyewitnesses, even though they lived quite some time ago. Guys like Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James…

Before we move on, let’s take a little closer look at these guys. First of all, none of them, other than the apostle Paul were extremely educated. Most of them were just regular guys. Now, that’s not to say they were ignorant…just that they were ordinary people. No Phd’s…no Master’s degrees…just regular guys. None of these guys were of the upper social class.

If you need an educated guy to throw into the mix, then Paul is your man. He was about as educated as a fellow could be in those times. And if you’re looking for upper class, Paul would probably be your man there, too. At least, before the road to Damascus experience. He hung out with the elite of the day, at least in religious circles. In fact, he was one of the rising stars of the time. Until that incident on the Damascus road.

All of these guys, with the exception of John (actually, they tried to kill him, too, but nothing they did could kill him!) died a martyr’s death. That one simple fact reveals a lot about the reality of Jesus. To give you an example of what I mean, let’s compare Jesus to George Washington again…just for a moment.

Suppose, for just a minute, that a patriot soldier has been captured by a British patrol. And, let’s suppose, for just a minute, that the British commander has given the patriot soldier a choice:

Denounce ol’ George as a fraud and a fake and he’s free to go home to his family…

Or continue to hold fast to his belief that Mr. Washington is a great American hero and the father of a great new nation….and he will be hanged by the neck until his lifeless feet are dangling in the wind for the buzzards to dispose of in a manner befitting a traitor of the homeland…

Which would you choose?

Few would have the courage to hang for their beliefs, though some would undoubtedly do so…IF their faith in their rag-tag army commander was great enough. Keep in mind, that we’re talking about the run-of-the-mill, every day, common folks here…the kind of folks that make up an army of rebel freedom-fighters against the most powerful nation on earth at the time…England!

Remember, too, that all this rebel soldier has to do was SAY George is a fraud and a fake. He doesn’t necessarily have to BELIEVE it. He could deny George, gain his freedom and run home to fight another day. Most would take their freedom and be happy for it! But there are always a few die-hards… a few that will stand up for what they believe in and pay the ultimate penalty, which in this case is death.

But suppose this soldier knew something the rest of them didn’t know. What if this soldier personally knew George? And what if this soldier knew that George and all the legends and myths about him were fake? Just a bunch of made-up lies…that it was all just a charade to fool the British? Do you really think he would sacrifice his own life to protect the lies and fake stories going around about Mr. Washington?

It’s a hard thing for a man to die for the truth. It’s a lot harder…and quite foolish…to knowingly die for a lie. A good example that comes to mind is Peter. As Jesus was being beaten and taken toward his destiny on the cross, Peter denied him. Not once. Not twice. But three times. And Peter KNEW Jesus was real and believed that he was who he claimed to be…the Son of God (Matt. 14:22-32, Matt. 16:16)! But Pete wasn’t willing to die for his beliefs, or for his Savior…not yet.

But something happened. Peter, along with the other disciples saw Jesus die. Then they saw Jesus live again! In fact, there were over five hundred witnesses (besides the disciples) who saw the resurrected Jesus after the crucifixion (1 Cor. 15:6)…most of whom were still alive at the time of the writing of that same letter to the church in Corinth! And many of them died for the simple act of telling others of what they had witnessed!

First by the dozen…then by the hundreds…and eventually, even by the thousands, people died to protect and preserve the truths found in the Bible. Even today, in some countries, there are those who suffer and die for their beliefs. How many of these people would have given their lives for a book of fairy tales or made up stories? Who in their right mind would die for their belief in Old Mother Hubbard?

Something…or someONE gave these people a reason to believe there was truth in the events described in the gospels. Something or someone gave them a reason to believe there was truth in the person of Jesus Christ. They already knew he was a real person. They had seen him, talked with him, walked with him… They believed in the reality of the Man and his mission enough to lay down their own lives if necessary. And for many of them, it WOULD become necessary.

Was Jesus real? Aside from what you’ve just read, let’s consider another little tidbit. Have you ever stopped to think that each time you write a check you are acknowledging the reality of Jesus Christ? Even if you don’t believe he really existed! How so, you may ask? Check any encyclopedia you like and you’ll find that mankind’s entire system of keeping track of time changed with the life of Jesus Christ!

“It is interesting to note that the purpose of the BC / AD dating system was to make the birth of Jesus Christ the dividing point of world history. However, when the B.C. / A.D. system was being calculated, they actually made a mistake in pinpointing the year of Jesus’ birth. Scholars later discovered that Jesus was actually born in around 4-6 BC, not 1 AD. That is not the crucial issue. The birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ are the “turning points” in world history. It is fitting, therefore, that Jesus Christ is the separation of “old” and “new.” BC was “before Christ” and since His birth, we have been living “in the year of our Lord.””

This particular explanation was found at http://www.gotquestions.org/BC-AD.html . But go ahead and “Google” it for yourself. Check out every single reference you find. Some will tell you that there are now other terms, such as “before common era” and “after common era”…but nobody knows what the “common era” was or is supposed to be! While I didn’t take the time to check all 147 million sites that popped up, every single one that I DID look at pointed to the life of Jesus Christ as being the turning point in our dating system…from BC to AD.

What this tells me, personally, is that at some point in time the top scholars, politicians, scientists, theologians, teachers and whoever else got together and agreed that Jesus Christ was (or had been) a real person…and that his life had been so significant that it was worthy of dividing human history into two parts…the part before his life, and the part after his life. Surely they must have had some basis for making this decision!?!

On top of that, it was implemented around the world and was accepted, at least by the majority, of all mankind…and is still being used today without question or opposition. Am I to believe that such a massive undertaking was carried out for a myth or a fairy tale? What purpose would it have served to make such a massive change unless there was SOME TRUTH TO IT?

Call it what you will. Those guys lived a lot closer to his lifetime that I am currently living. Whatever evidence they had is good enough for me. Not that I need their evidence. I have my own…but that’s for next time…

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Who Jesus Is – Is Jesus Real?

Now we’ll tackle the question of whether or not Jesus was a real person. Of course, if you already have your mind made up one way or another, you will likely leave this site with the same opinion, but, at least you will leave it with a logical and objective presentation still in your mind.

How can we know whether or not Jesus was real? From a purely historical standpoint, we can know and accept the reality of Jesus the same way we know and accept the reality of anyone else…it’s a matter of historical record. I am aware that there are those who dispute the historical record, and that’s fine. If you’ll hang with me for a bit, we’ll see how it all ends…

How can we really know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that anyone was real? How can we know, for instance, that George Washington was a real person…and that he became the first president of the United States? Or that Christopher Columbus actually lived and sailed wooden ships across the ocean? Or that men with names like: Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Leonardo DaVinci, and Michelangelo actually existed?

It’s true that the works of some of then survive…but then how can we be sure those works are really theirs? After all, none of their contemporaries have survived either…

Were you there? I wasn’t. Can I “prove” they existed? No more or less than you can. How about something a little closer to home? I can assume that your great-great grandparents were real (though I never met them) because YOU are here. But how about the people they grew up with? What evidence is there that THEY existed?

Two thousand years from now…even with all our technological wonders…what evidence will there be that you and I existed? Nothing but whatever historical documents that may or may not still exist. And yet, here we are.

It’s interesting that most people are quite willing to accept that George Washington was real, and that he did, indeed, serve as the first president of the United States, but that a good number of those same people question the reality of Jesus. Is there any stronger evidence for the existence of George than there is for Jesus? Actually, no. That, however, is not “proof” in itself.

The life of George Washington was chronicled by those who witnessed his life. There are those in every generation that dedicate themselves to preserving the history and events of the day. George was no exception. Historians today learn about George by studying the records that were written at the time that he lived…records written by his peers and contemporaries. As the years pass, it becomes more and more difficult to find and preserve the original documents…

The same is true of Jesus. His life was also chronicled by those who shared that slender sliver of time. It can be said that there is far more evidence for the reality of Jesus than there is for George Washington. There are problems, however…

One such problem is that while George lived a couple of hundred years ago, Jesus lived a couple of thousand years ago. Far fewer original documents still exist, which a thinking person would expect. There are those who insist on “original” documents, rather than copies, but those folks would find fault with the originals as well, simply because they don’t care to acknowledge that Jesus was a real person. I’m sure there are as many reasons as there are skeptics.

Some of those who witnessed the life of Jesus recorded a part of their experience in “books” that became a part of the Bible. Others recorded their experiences in writings that did not become a part of the Bible. For some, the mere fact that those books are included in the Bible seems to exclude them from evidence, simply because they are in the Bible…which is nothing more than a collection of writings by various authors that were created over a period of time and put into a single volume.

It’s interesting that other books that are created by grouping collections of writings from various authors do not undergo the same scrutiny or criticism. If the Bible could be proven to be untrue, then such scrutiny and criticism might be deserved. However, to date, it has not been, nor can it be…any more than “The Life and Times of George Washington” (a hypothetical title, btw) can be proved or disproved. All the witnesses for both are long dead. All we have left is the written records that were left behind…

One on the most obvious differences between Jesus and George is this:

George was written about by those who lived in the same time period. Those who lived beside him and with him. A year before he was born, no one knew that George would be born in a year’s time. No one knew he would become the first president of the United States, or even that there would BE a United States.

Jesus on the other hand…

His birth was predicted (in detail) hundreds of years in advance by several different writers and prophets…and they were each correct down to the smallest detail. Who he was and who he would become were predicted as well…accurate, again, to the smallest detail. His life and how he would live were predicted and fulfilled.

In addition to that, now we can add in the eyewitnesses…the same kind of witnesses that George had. People that walked with him and talked with him…people that shared life with him and wrote down their experiences. Just like the counterparts of George Washington did. (It’s interesting that most people don’t dispute or question the accounts, the accuracy or the authenticity of George’s self-appointed “historians”!)

Then, of course, the death of Jesus was recorded by eyewitnesses. And just as the life of Jesus was predicted centuries before he was born, so was his death…and again…accurate to the tiniest detail.

Then, of course there’s the resurrection of Jesus…recorded by those persistent witnesses. No one has ever attempted to claim that George W. was resurrected. In fact, no one else in history has attempted to make that claim about anyone. But here, we have witnesses to the event! Maybe that’s why it’s so hard for some people to believe…because no one else has ever done it. And since no one else has ever done it, it must be impossible right?

I suppose it could be argued that we can’t validate the authenticity of the authors of the Bible…but neither can we do so with the authors about our first president. I suppose it would be really difficult, in fact, to validate the authenticity of anyone who has passed on from this world, because to the world, seeing is believing, and unless one is stuffed and mounted, the deceased are no longer seen. Doesn’t mean they weren’t authentic people, though…

Perhaps, the strongest evidence lies in things that are even more intangible. But we’ll save those for the next go round…

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Who Jesus Is…

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After an absence caused by a major technological malfunction (my hard drive crashed!) I’m back…

I’m hoping to make a couple of posts in the next couple of days, picking up where I left off on the subjects of “Who Jesus Is” and “Is Jesus Real?”

Still trying to work out a few kinks and restore some of my stuff, but I’m hoping!

In the meantime, if you would, I’d like to ask for your prayers. There is so much stuff bombarding my feeble little mind that it’s hard to sort it all out sometimes. Specifically, I’d like to ask you to pray for the time, the finances and other resources to be a little more consistent in posting! Secondly, that he will guide me in the things he would like me to share with you…and that he will assist me in sharing it in a way that makes sense to you! And finally, that it will be a blessing and an encouragement to you or someone that you share it with!

Many thanks and many blessings!

If you would like to help us financially without spending any extra money, please consider making your Amazon purchases from this site! Thanks and many blessings!