During His lifetime His life constantly provoked the question “Who is Jesus?” Two thousand years after the birth of Jesus people still face this basic question. This question has been echoed down the corridors of history to the present generation. Even now people are divided on the identity of Jesus. If Jesus is who He claims to be, then He is the only hope for mankind and to neglect him or ignore him would be sheer folly. But if He is a liar or a deceiver then He is the greatest deceiver ever born and He should be totally rejected or ignored.
Is He the true God? Or is He a prophet? Or is He just a good moral teacher? Or is He the creation of the imagination of some one? These questions had been in popularity since the birth of Jesus. A man who said the sort of things that He said would not be just a great moral teacher. If He is not God then there can be only two other options-He is either a lunatic or the greatest liar. Let us together examine His claims and decide who He is or was.
Jesus
claimed that He is the Son of God and also said that He is equal with
God-John10: 30 “I
and my father are one”. In the following paragraphs I will try to
prove intellectually that Jesus, as He claimed, is the Son of God who is equal
to God Himself. I request you to evaluate the evidence to the best of your
knowledge, without any prejudice, and decide whether or not Jesus is the true
God.
H.G.Wells,
a noted historian when asked, who had left the most permanent impression on
history, replied that if one judged a person’s greatness by historical
standards, Jesus would stands first. Almost 2000 years ago, Jesus entered the
human race through a small community called the Jews. He was a member of a poor
family, a minority group, and resided in one in the smallest countries in the
world. He only lived for about 33 years of which only 3 years were used for
public ministry. Yet people all over the world still remember Him. Why? Because
He is the most important person ever born on this planet. Even atheists are
forced to agree to that.
He
came into the world dividing time and history into two parts labeled AD and BC.
He never wrote a book, yet more books have been written about Him than any one
else. The nearest thing we have is His biography-the gospels. It is translated
in whole or in part to more than 1500 language. He never led an army, but
millions had laid down their lives for His cause.
The
spread of Christianity is another witness to His importance. Jesus had only a
small number of disciples. But they went into the world and turned it upside
down. These disciples changed the world like never before. They went into
unexplored parts of the world to civilize and Christianize the people who lived
not much better than animals. They planted many Churches. Now He more than
1,900,000,000 followers who call themselves Christians. This is 780,000,000 more
than the nearest rival. (Source: The World Almanac, 1999)
Jesus was the most unique man in history. His birth was unique. He was born of a virgin (Matthew 1:25) as the result of prophecy made thousands of yeas ago (Isaiah7: 14). His life was unique. He lived like no other man. He never sinned in his life. He lived the most pure and holy life possible. His death was unique. He died according to many prophecies, which were made hundreds of years before his birth. But the most amazing thing is that He conquered death and rose again on the third day as it was predicted years ago. His miracles were also unique and were even mentioned by the Ist century historian, Flavius Josephus. These include raising the dead, healing the sick, and controlling the nature and many more. He was the greatest teacher, the greatest leader, the greatest philosopher, the greatest healer, and the greatest friend. In short He was the greatest man.
Jesus
lived and died as prophesied hundreds of years before His birth. All His life
was according to scriptures (1Corinthains 15:3). There are more than 300
prophecies concerning Him in the Old Testament. Using the Science of
Probability, we find the chances of just 48 of these prophecies being fulfilled
in one person to be only 1 in10157. But there are 60 major prophecies
and 270 ramification. To complicate it further all of them were made at least
400 years before His birth. Some of which were made even thousands of years
before his birth. Therefore, there is no way that all these prophecies could be
fulfilled in this one person coincidentally. So we are left with only one
option-Jesus is the Saviour God promised to mankind in the Holy Scriptures.
I will use the help of three evidences to prove the resurrection of Christ. But first I will prove that He really died after the crucifixion. There is a theory called ‘swoon theory’ which says that Jesus did not die, but only fainted. But Bible says that He really died. History supports this claim-Tacitus, the Roman historian quotes “The originator of that name, Christus, had been executed when Tiberuis was emperor by order of the procurator Pontius Pilatus.”(Annals XV,44) [Note- Christus is a variant spelling of Christ]. The Bible says that the Roman soldiers did not break Jesus’ legs because they saw that He was already dead (John 19:33). Pontius Pilate ordered a centurion to verify the death of Jesus (Mark 15:43-45). He couldn’t make a mistake because he would have to pay for it with his life. A Roman soldier plunged a spear into Jesus side and blood poured out (John 19:30). Medical experts say that if He were not already dead, this would have killed Him. Others say that pouring out of blood and water was the proof that Jesus was already dead.
Now
let’s take a hard look at the following evidence that gives us reasons to
believe that Jesus rose from the dead.
(1) An Empty Tomb. The body of Jesus was wrapped in a linen cloth and it was placed in a tomb cut out of solid rock. A very large stone weighing about 2 tons was rolled against the entrance. A Roman watch of strictly disciplined men stood guard at the tomb according to the instructions of the authorities (Matthew 27:66). They obviously wanted the body to stay behind the stone barrier. Yet the tomb is empty till today. The body is not in the tomb because Jesus rose from the dead.
(2)
Appearances of Jesus. Jesus appeared to his disciples and many others for 40
days after His resurrection. More than 500 people saw the resurrected Christ at
the same time during this period (I Corinthians15: 6). History also supports
this fact. The historian Josephus wrote “For Jesus appeared to them the third
day alive again, as the holy prophets had predicted” These appearances can
only be possible if He rose from the dead. This evidence strongly points towards
the resurrection of Jesus.
(3)
Transformation of People. Christ transformed people in history and still is
transforming people today. This is only possible if he is alive. He transformed
his disciples. They all fled out the time of His capture. But after a few days
they became men who were ready to die for Him. Only one of the disciples died a
natural death. Others were stoned, crucified killed by sword etc. Only the
conviction that Jesus conquered death could transform them. The disciple saw the
risen Jesus. If they had not seen Him, they would never have given their lives
for what they knew was a lie. And such lives of conviction led many such
Christians to do the same in times of persecution in history.
I
hope that I have given you enough reasons to see that Jesus is not just an
ordinary man, but the Son of God-the true God. All the evidences that I have
included here points to this very fact. To believe in the deity of Christ is not
only a matter of faith but also a matter of deepest intellectual convection and
reasoning. Still it
is quite natural to ask why should one put his faith in Jesus. The Bible says
that “For
all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”
(Romans 3:23) and
“The wages of sin is death”
(Romans 6:23). But Bible also says there is a way out. “For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
(John 3:16). If you are ready to
believe in God only begotten Son Jesus Christ and receive eternal life all you
have to do is this-admit the fact that- (1) You are a sinner (2) Jesus took your punishment
(death) on Himself when He died on the cross. (3) He was buried and rose again
on the third day. You can do this now. Just say a small prayer in your own words
inviting Jesus into your life. If you
have done so you can be guaranteed that you are a citizen of Heaven and an owner
of everlasting life by the infallible word of God, the Bible. If you have done
this get a Bible and start reading it. I suggest you start from the book of
John.