We all know the song “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so”. But, if we’re really being honest, how many people have actually spent time digging into the truth of WHY it’s true. We, as Americans, have all become so accustomed to regurgitate good Christian language and “truths” about Jesus. Here’s the problem, unless we actually know that truth and know why it’s true for us on an individual basis, it won’t change the way that we live.
We’re living in Malaysia right now and just one block from our home, there’s a Buddhist temple, Islamic mosque, Hindu temple, and Christian church. All residing on the same street. Everyone perfectly content with their religion, thinking that what they know is the truth.
So, I spent a lot of time researching these things. I asked hard questions about Christianity from an agnostic point of view because I was sick of knowing things about Jesus without knowing WHY He was the only true option.
Everything that I’ve found is historical evidence that, in the end, points me towards Jesus as our Lord and Risen Savior.
First of all, some people claim that Jesus wasn’t even a real man. The case for Jesus being, at the very least, a cool guy that walked the Earth, is very strong. Most historians have a hard time making a case for Jesus being a figure of people’s imagination. There’s too much historical evidence and too many historical documents with His name written all over them to prove that He was never alive.
In fact, the gospels are 4 different accounts of Jesus’ life, written by 4 different men, that are eerily similar. The likelihood of 4 random people writing stories that are almost identical is close to impossible. These 4 men had to have experienced, or at least been in very close proximity, to the situation in order to have such similar stories that line up so well. It would be like 4 people writing almost identical versions of Harry Potter without ever having heard of J.K. Rowling.
The disciples were also beaten, stoned, and thrown in jail for knowing Jesus. Soldiers tried to get them to confess against their faith, but they refused. No one chooses to go through that kind of suffering for something that they know is fake. It completely goes against our human nature. If they were the ones hiding Jesus’ body or proclaiming truths about Jesus that they knew to be fake, they would have quickly confessed.
Also, all 4 gospels claim that women were the ones that discovered Jesus’ empty grave. The writers of these texts would have no reason to record this in this way unless it was true. In that time, women were considered very unreliable and they wouldn’t have been the people chosen as recorded witnesses.
There are at least 9 historical sources inside AND outside of the Bible that confirm that Jesus was seen after the crucifixion. People outside of the Bible, with no motive for having recorded these things, mention Jesus, his crucifixion, and his resurrection in their writings. If it’s all fake, the Bible and multiple other historical sources have done a very good job of relating accurate, factual evidence with medical proof that wouldn’t have been available when these writings were recorded.
The first of these historical sources is recorded just 30 years after Jesus’ death. There is no other religion with information that is recorded as close to the date of actual event. In addition to that, the New Testament is the historical script with the most old copies. There are over 5,000 copies of the New Testament that have been found. The next historical text in line is the Iliad. That only has 9 copies.
Jesus had a huge mass of followers, and yet he was the least prideful human ever. He never did things to amplify his own glory. In our human nature, it would be very difficult for anyone to not find identity or security in the number of people they’re being followed by. While this isn’t a fact, I think it’s powerful evidence for just how holy Jesus was.
In addition to that, many of the prophecies that point to him being the Messiah were out of his control. The place that he was born, his heritage, and the amount of money he would’ve been sold for were all things that were prophesied over him. Even if, at some point, he had an inkling to try and fulfill all of the prophecies of the Messiah, it would have been impossible. Jesus fulfilled (at least) 61 specific prophecies. The likelihood of any one man fulfilling all of the prophecies are astronomical. It’s basically impossible. Seriously, look up the numbers. It’s insane.
Some people try to claim that Jesus never actually died. Jesus was killed by Roman soldiers. In that time, Roman soldiers were essentially professional killers. If they didn’t do their job well, they themselves would have died. I can only imagine that they would’ve been pretty diligent in their duties because they wouldn’t want to endure their punishment .
Just to prove that point, medical professionals have looked into the case for Jesus not dying. In the Bible, it records that when the spear was shoved into Jesus’ side, there was blood and water that flowed out. Water doesn’t typically flow out of someone’s body when they’re dead. This only happens when someone dies from asphyxiation, or the lack of oxygen. During Jesus’ death, His body would’ve been forced into an inhale position, causing him to push up on his feet (that had a nail stuck through them) every time He took a breath. The act of breathing quickly would’ve become so uncomfortable that He would have just quit, therefore dying by asphyxiation, resulting in blood and water flowing from his side.
People also try to make the argument that Jesus was never put in the grave or that He never rose again. Again, the Roman soldiers were very diligent in their work. If a rumor started going around that Jesus had somehow escaped from the grave, they would have quickly revealed the body, therefore saving their own lives.
Okay, and this is what really gets me. There is an earthquake that is recorded for April 3, 33 A.D. at the Dead Sea. This date is consistent with the fact that Jesus would have died on a Friday during the time of Passover. And there’s literal archeological evidence that an earthquake happened at that time.
On top of that, there was a solar eclipse recorded on March 19, 33 A.D. that went over Antarctica. There was another solar eclipse recorded in November 29 A.D. that passed right over Jerusalem. While neither of these line up perfectly with the Passover or with the earthquake, the incredible closeness of these events hypes me up. How often is it that there’s a huge earthquake and a total solar eclipse within a few weeks of each other. Not that often! And the idea that it was around the same time that Jesus died. It blows me away. Whether the Lord aligned the stars in the exact moment that He needed to for an eclipse or whether He planned the stars way in advance so that we could see it in the future, either way I think that’s super cool evidence.
So, maybe this information radically changes your view of who Jesus is. Maybe is doesn’t. Either way, it solidified my faith and gave me a steadfast foundation to stand on. While it’s great to stand on faith in the areas where questions aren’t able to be answered, I think it’s also important to search for the facts when they’re able to be found. If you don’t know the basis of your faith, search for it. There’s so many religions in the world and it you don’t know why what you believe is true, it’s pretty difficult to make any kind of case about why others should believe the same things.
C.S. Lewis once said, “If Christianity is false, that’s of zero importance. But if it’s true, there’s nothing of more importance in the entire universe.”
I’m hoping this influences your view of Christianity. If so, send me a message! I love to talk crazy theories and would love to talk more facts and ideas and theories with any of y’all!!
These facts were found at these sources:
The Case for Christ (book and movie)
https://y-jesus.com/wwrj/6-jesus-rise-dead/3/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/12/jesus-tomb-archaeology/?user.testname=none
http://www.christianevidence.net/2017/12/historical-evidence-darkness-earthquake.html?m=1
