Every year, our culture stops to celebrate the Easter holiday. For many, the focus is religious or quasi religious and centers around the person of Jesus Christ. For others, the focus is more secular and is centered on colorful eggs, chocolate candy, and a pretext for gathering with loved ones. This year, with the COVID19 virus, the whole world is at a standstill and family gatherings could be a death sentence. Many are losing hope as this virus is taking the lives of those we love and our livelihoods as our economy crumbles. Maybe you are feeling despair because of the challenges this crisis has caused you. If so, then I would like to encourage you that because Easter isn’t merely a celebration of a fictitious event, but commemorates an actual historical event, that you can have a real hope that transcends your circumstances and has encouraged scores of believers across 2000 years who have suffered horrible persecutions, wars, famines, plagues, and homelessness.
The actual historical reason we celebrate Easter is because it is claimed that Jesus Christ, after being brutally crucified and buried for three days, physically and bodily rose from the dead. That’s a pretty incredible end to a remarkable life. And if true, then because he lives, so can we live eternally. But if it is false, then there are many believers such as myself who are hoping in vain.
Skeptics of the Christian faith often make four assertions about Jesus. These are:
- Jesus did not claim to be God.
- Jesus did not claim to be the only path to God and heaven.
- Jesus was crucified because of treason not because he claimed to be God.
- Jesus didn’t actually rise from the dead
If these assertions are true, then the claims of Christianity are pretty much baseless and any hope in the teachings of Jesus ill placed. Fortunately, we have a significant number of primary historical records written either by eyewitnesses or by close associates of eyewitnesses. These accounts record actual conversations that occurred between Jesus and those involved in his crucifixion along with others who spent over three years of their lives with him and recalled conversations they had with him and things that Jesus said about himself. These accounts contradict the four assertions above. The accounts that we have (in the thousands of ancient manuscript copies of the letters and gospels that collectively make up the New Testament) show that:
- Jesus did claim to be God.
- Jesus did claim to be the only path to God.
- Jesus was crucified for claiming to be God.
- Jesus actually physically and bodily rose from the dead and is living today.
Entire books have been written on this topic, but let me provide my readers with a few of the supporting passages in the historical texts from the New Testament.
False claim #1: Jesus did not claim to be God
In this exchange from the book of Matthew it was well understood by Caiaphas the High Priest (presiding over the illegal trial called to convict Christ) that Jesus was indeed claiming to be God almighty. This is after they had multiple false witnesses coming up with trumped up charges that failed the test of veracity. But there was one charge that stuck, and it came from the very words out of the mouth of Jesus! In the passage below, Caiaphas, using his authority as high priest, commanded Jesus to reply to one simple question: “Are you the Christ, the Son of God?” It was well understood by this Jewish audience what that meant. Jesus was claiming to be God. This was the crime of blasphemy and punishable under Jewish law by death. This was ultimately the charge by which Jesus was found guilty of the capital office of blasphemy.
But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.”Matthew 26:63-66 ESV
False claim #2: Jesus did not claim to be the only path to God and Heaven
In a conversation with a prominent Pharisee Jesus provides one of the clearest claims that he is the exclusive and only way to be redeemed to God and to have eternal life. We have all seen “those crazy Christians” holding signs at the football games reading “John 3:16” and scores have memorized that passage. But if you read that verse alone, you might mistakenly rationalize that Jesus was “a way” and not “the only way”. However, if you read the verses that follow John 3:16, it becomes abundantly clear that Jesus is making a much more definitive statement that he is in fact the only way to Heaven and that all mankind is in need of reconciliation to God through faith in Jesus.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.John 3:16-18 ESV
And if you are still tempted to parse the words to explain away Jesus’s claim of diety and exclusivity, there is this passage:
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:6-7 ESV
False claim #3: Jesus died because he was found guilty of treason against Rome
It’s tempting to believe this claim for some because it allows them to also believe that Jesus did not claim to be God. Then it makes it easier to accept Jesus moral teachings without having to also acknowledge that he was a lunatic who claimed to be God and who died for that claim. However, the historical fact is that Pontius Pilate did not convict Jesus for treason, but found him innocent of that charge. No, it wasn’t Pilate who found Jesus guilty, it was the Jewish religious establishment who hated Jesus because of his condemnation of their hypocritical, dead religion. When Jesus claimed to be God, they were finally able to find cause to justify his death. But as an occupied civilization, and due to their circumvention of Jewish legal due process, the Jewish leaders wanted the Romans to crucify Jesus so they themselves would avoid being technically guilty of murder. To reconcile the legal conundrum and to avoid a riot that would require Pilate to violently suppress, he turned to a loophole in which each year one criminal could be released from prison. Pilate offered Barabbas (“a notorious criminal”) to the nearly rioting crowd of Jews calling for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate likely thought that the mob would choose to release Jesus (who only a week before was led into Jerusalem to cheering crowds). But in the account in Matthew we are told that the “…the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.” Matthew 27:20 ESV. It was checkmate for Pilate. He was forced to crucify Jesus Christ in spite of Pilate knowing that Jesus was innocent of the charges against him of treason.
Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. I will therefore punish and release him.Luke 23:13-16 ESV
False claim #4: Jesus didn’t actually rise from the dead
During this time when we celebrate Easter from the seclusion of our homes as a result of the Corona Virus pandemic, there is not one of us who does not consider our own mortality. Eternal life is the ultimate hope as we each pause to think that each of us will take a final breath some day. Jesus claimed to be able to give us eternal life. That would be a pitiful promise if he himself did not actually rise from the dead. Consider the fact that there is no tomb anywhere in the world that contains the body of Jesus Christ. The first and second hand accounts about Jesus and the people who followed him even after his crucifiction provide some compelling testimony that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead. His skeptical and fearful followers were bolstered in their courage and conviction when Jesus appeared to them on multiple occasions in bodily form. They actually touched him, spoke to him, and ate with him. After the crucifiction they ran in devastating fear and disillusionment, dashed by the reality that their friend and leader was actually dead. After the resurrection these same people were bold even to the point of being tortured and killed for telling others about Jesus rising from the dead. There are people who would be willing to suffer and die because of something they believed to be true but wasn’t, but few if any would be willing to die for something like this if they new it was a lie. Because of this reality, we too can have the hope of eternal life through faith in Jesus.
He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3 ESV
Jesus demonstrated that his words are trustworthy and true. We ARE in need of the Savior, and He is that One. All who soberly reflect on and acknowledge their wrongdoing against God and their neighbor, and trust in the sacrifice that Jesus (God Himself) made by being crucified on the cross, and believe that Jesus rose from the dead, will be saved from eternal punishment and will experience eternal life when they too are raised from the dead. Believing begins with confessing. (Romans 10:9) Call someone you know who is a Christian and if you acknowledge and believe in this way, tell them about it.
Note: This post was originally posted on my other now discontinued blog on April 12, 2020 as the COVID Pandemic was just beginning. Now 3 years later almost to the day, the pandemic is largely over. I praise God that it is over and I hope to never take for granted the warm handshake, hug, or kiss from a friend or loved one ever again.