Jesus lived, Merry Christmas!
Christmas is right around the corner! We as Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ as God coming, crashing into our world, in history and clothed in flesh.
There is a growing objection to Christmas that goes something like this: “We don’t even know if Jesus was a real person. He may have been a myth made up by the Church.” The good news is this is a question we can answer without too much difficulty, since our faith is a historical one, rooted in God’s work within time and space. According to historians, whether Jesus existed is not even under question. Here is a summary of why:
1) We have the four gospel writers and other New Testament sources attesting to Jesus’s life. Even if one does not believe in biblical inspiration, these are undoubtedly historical documents. Luke, in particular, writes as one compiling testimonies and sources to put together a reliable biography of Jesus’ life:
“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:1-4).
Many of the New Testament authors knew Jesus intimately. Paul of Tarsus knew Jesus’s brother James and the apostle Peter personally. For most historical figures, we do not have anything even close to this type of documentation.
2) We have Josephus, the most important Jewish historian of Jesus’s time, who was not a Christian, referencing Jesus. Here is one such reference:
The Jewish high priest “had a man named James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ, and certain others” killed. - Josephus (AD 37-100)
Josephus has no interest in defending the existence of Jesus. He simply assumes it.
3) We have Roman authors of Jesus’s time referring to Him. At the time these are written, there is a general disdain for Christianity. It would be centuries before Rome took a favorable look at the Christian faith. Their references to Jesus simply assume He lived. Here is one such reference from Tacitus:
“Christus, the founder of the name, had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate.” - Tacitus (AD 56-120)
4) We have references to Jesus in the Talmud. Though the Talmud was finalized later than Jesus’s lifetime, the references are generally antagonistic and in no way intended to confirm Jesus’s existence. Never is there any argument that Jesus did not actually live or was a myth made up by His disciples. Here is a particularly important one:
“Jesus the Nazarene is going out to be stoned because he practiced sorcery, incited people to idol worship, and led the Jewish people astray.” - Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a:20
This reference is of interest as Jesus is accused of sorcery, indirectly attesting to His miracles. It also refers to Jesus as being stoned rather than crucified. Inconsistencies such as this far from disproving someone’s existence, remove suspicions of collaboration.
5) No legitimate historian, Christian or otherwise, doubts His existence. Though this is not evidence, it does speak for itself. It has been said that we have more evidence of Jesus than any historical figure of antiquity. If one were to doubt His existence, we might as well doubt the existence of anyone who lived before our lifetime. One historian of Jesus, who is himself an agnostic, states:
“This is not even an issue for scholars of antiquity. It is not an issue. There is no scholar in any college or university in the western world who teaches classics, ancient history, New Testament, early Christianity, any related field who doubts Jesus existed.” - Bart Ehrman
Jesus lived. Now the question is “who is He?” Is He the incarnate Son of God? Did He die for our sins? Did He rise from the dead? As Christians, we believe yes, He is the Son of God and Savior. God broke through history. He entered our world, with all its brokenness, sin and suffering. He did it to save sinners like us. Merry Christmas indeed!
Rick Harrington is a pastor at First Baptist Church - Haverhill in Massachusetts. He is the author of the books "How to Find a Church: Seven Steps to Becoming Part of a Spiritual Family" and "The Weight of Preaching: Heralding the Gospel of Grace". You can follow his writing on his blog The Lamp Post.
