Evidence for Jesus?

Luke 24:37-43, John 20:24-28,30-31

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Not too long ago, Peace Devotions received some comments which we could call not very friendly, but very much welcome. And so if you sent in any of those comments, thank you. We’ll try to deal with some of those in the days ahead.

The one that I want to deal with today is the comment that had to do with the existence of Jesus. The comment was this.

Frankly, you don’t even have any evidence for Jesus.

There’s no evidence for the existence of Jesus? What would you say? We might be tempted to say, well, the Bible says that he existed. The problem with that, of course, is that these people, maybe yourself included, if you’re one of these people, you don’t believe in the reliability of the Bible. You believe it’s perhaps just a book of fables and myths and fiction. So the question that could be asked is, are there any other sources out there, non-Christian sources, secular sources that deal with the existence of Jesus? And the answer is yes. There’s there’s plenty of sources out there, up to two dozen. But let me just mention several of them for us today.

You have the historian, the Jewish Roman historian by the name of Josephus. He talks about Jesus twice. You have the Roman historian Tacitus. He mentions Jesus. You have the historian, another Roman historian by the name of Suetonius, another one by the name of Thallus. You have a historian by the name of Lucian. He also engaged in satire when he talked about his history. You have a government authority by the name of Pliny the Younger. You have a man who, while he was in jail, wrote a letter to his son talking about the existence of Jesus. And this was the end of the first century.

And then also, I think what’s very important is you have the Jewish Talmud, Babylonian Talmud, which was written anywhere from 70 to the end of the second century AD. And this Talmud talks about Jesus as a sorcerer and was performing some sort of magic or miracles, leading Jewish people astray. He was put to death by hanging, and he was put to death on the Passover.

So you have these in all other kinds of non-Christian sources out there talking about the existence of Jesus. So all of these speak of his death, most of them by crucifixion, they mention that. They were trusted historians. They were those who were neutral towards Christianity. Most of them were, you could classify as enemies of Christianity. So you have all these sources saying the same thing that he existed. To put another way, if your enemies say you existed, you probably existed.

But then we come to another testimony, one that many people don’t want to accept at this point. And maybe you’re one of those and that’s okay. Ask you to consider this. And that’s the New Testament source. Actually, it’s not just one source. It’s 27 sources all in one volume we call the New Testament. And I believe that the New Testament is inspired and inerrant, and I’m not asking any unbelievers out there to me to accept that at this point, but I would challenge them with this question. Are these sources in any sense, to any degree, historically reliable? They claim to be written by those who were either eyewitnesses or those who had contact with the eyewitnesses, and they all say the same thing, just like the non-Christian sources say that he was living. He talked, he walked, he preached, he died. And so it’s worth considering whether or not these Christian sources are historically reliable.

So the question that should be asked is not did he exist? Because, you know, the verdict is very clear. Whether you’re talking about the New Testament sources or you’re talking about non-Christian sources, whether you’re talking about those who were followers of Jesus or those who were his enemies, those who believed in the miraculous, or those who thought Christianity was just a bunch of bunk. They all say the same thing. They all conclude that he really existed. And so the question is not did he exist? But the crucial question, the really crucial question is who is this man that existed?

I would like to deal with that at more length in another episode, but I would like to say one thing about that particular question right now for your thought. If you’re a Christian, to encourage you that these questions can be answered if you’re not a Christian, to consider these answers. When Jesus was crucified and he died. The last thing any of his disciples expected to find was Jesus alive again. Fully alive three days later. But then these reports started sneaking out that some people had seen him alive, and the disciples just wrote it off for the most part. But then all of a sudden on that Sunday, he appeared to ten of them. And here’s how one of the sources reports that event, and this report was written by a man named Luke, a doctor, a physician, who relied on those who were eyewitnesses at the time. This is what he wrote.

They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. (Luke 24:37-43)

Now they weren’t all present. One of them that was not present at the time was one of the disciples called Thomas. And so here we read in another account of a man who was an eyewitness. He said,

Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:24-28)

And then John the writer concludes that chapter by saying,

Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)

So there you go. The evidence is put forth by Christ Himself. But regarding his existence, there’s really no doubt even the non-Christian scholars of the day, history scholars of today all acknowledged that he really existed. And the real crucial question is who is this man that existed? The Son of God, and through him and through Christ, through faith in him. We have life in his name.

My name is David Thompson. I’m the director for The Center for Apologetics and Worldviews. Thank you for joining us.