I wasn’t sure what to write about today and then I glanced at my phone and saw the following verse on it from one of my bible apps. “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:32. I think that goes along with what I’ve been reading and talking about this week, so let’s talk some truth.
The truth is that I don’t know if everyone who reads my blog believes in God. If you do, great! If you don’t, thank you for taking the time to read, with what I hope is an open mind, and if you are wondering, I pray that God uses something I write to speak to your heart.
Truth is that our faith, and the public expression of it, makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Truth is that a lot of people would like to convince you that Jesus Christ wasn’t real, he isn’t the son of God and you believe in a grand delusion. Truth is that what you see as signs of God working in your life, often times other people will call confirmation bias.
But here’s more truth.
1. Historians, both atheists and theists alike, virtually unanimously agree that Jesus was a person of history. There are far too many sources, outside of the gospels that speak to his life, his existence and mission 2000 years ago. So yes, that person who we believe in, he actually walked this earth, and gave us a set of ethical standards that have been unmatched by anyone after or before him. So if you don’t believe in God yet, know that you can absolutely believe that a man named Jesus of Nazareth really did live here on earth, and it has been historically proven.
2. Jesus absolutely was crucified by Roman. Again, this is a fact that is virtually undisputed based on a significant number of historical documents, again, separate from the gospels, written by historians and writers unsympathetic to the Christian cause. And despite what some people will try to tell you, he didn’t just swoon, he died. Again, his death by crucifixion is perhaps the most certain claim about Jesus in all of history. Which means that absolutely a man named Jesus Christ gave his life “claiming to be the son of God” as atonement for our sins. I think the only thing that really remains to be proven is, is the claim that he is the son of God.
3. And if the crucifixion has been recorded historically, then you can also be sure that the empty tomb was a big freaking deal three days after Jesus died. Rest assured that if the body of Jesus could have been produced by the Romans and Jewish Pharisees, if would have been. Let’s also consider the fact that the empty tomb was discovered by women. In Jesus’ day, the word or testimony of a woman was considered highly unreliable and often dismissed. If you were going to come up with a lie as monumental as the risen Lord, I think you’d want to find the most credible people you could to back you up. Not to mention the hundreds of eye witness accounts of Jesus appearing after his burial.
Now I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure that if I under went the type of pain and suffering endured by the real man, Jesus of Nazareth, even if I didn’t die, I would not be strolling around three days later looking so gloriously beautiful that people, at first, wouldn’t be able to believe it’s really me. (Remember when your parents used to get dressed up for a night out or a party and your mom completely transformed herself into a new person. I think it must have been a little like that.) So you know what that tells me? If Jesus said he would rise again and he did (Truth) then the other things he said about himself, you know, all that stuff about him being the Son of God, that must be true too. Haven’t you found that to be true in your personal experiences with people? Aren’t there are some people you can count on to be truthful and honest, and others you know to habitually embellish or distort facts?
It’s hard these days, 2000 years after the life and death of Jesus. There are people all around us trying to convince us to think about ourselves and live for the moment, to leave the past in the past. But if you are reading this, I highly doubt that that kind of living really makes you feel free. And if today is the day that you need confirmation that what you believe in is true (because we all have those days) then I hope I have given you something to help you today.
If you are a skeptic, I challenge you to really look into the “truth” of Jesus’ life and ministry. If you’ve come this far, I think that God is calling for you to come farther and be one of his “chosen”. I think that he wants you to know the truth, so that the truth can set you free.
The bible says seek and ye shall find, ask and ye shall receive. I highly recommend the book Man, Myth, Messiah by Rice Broocks.
As always, God bless
Meredith
finchmeredith1 