truly wonder if there is one person in this
whole world who does not know or does not believe in the historicity of Jesus,
the one called Christ. For surely without a doubt sometime during the reign of
Caesar Augustus the records show clearly that such a person was born.
Needless to say, Jesus is not the
only man, not the first man, nor indeed the last man of history. There have
been many men of old among the millions that were before and also after
Him. To document just those of note
would fill many volumes; but to make the point just a handful will be named
here.
Before Jesus, there were many
men, beginning with Adam. Men such as Isaac, the father of Jacob, whose name
God changed to Israel, and who was the father of twelve sons representing the
twelve tribes of Israel, the people know in history as the Jews.
Then there was Moses, about whom
much has been written and said, and is perhaps more than any other, a household
name for all times, in all languages, and among all peoples. The records show
he lived for some 120 years, between 1391-1271.
King David is another well-known
name. We know he reigned over Israel 40 years, actually thirty three years over
Jerusalem and seven years in Hebron, during the period just over a thousand
years before the birth of Jesus.
David’s son Solomon who succeeded
him, reigned from around B.C. 970-931
In between those men of renown were two women
equally well known and spoken of.-
The Queen of Sheba, known to history as an
Ethiopian Queen by the name of Makeda, around the period of King Solomon’s
reign in the 10th century B.C.
And
although much later in history we see the name Cleopatra, the Queen of the
Nile, the Pearl of Egypt during the period B.C.69-30. Apart from her apparently
exquisite beauty and charm, she may be best remembered for her affair with
Julius Caesar and being bitten to death by her asp.
Tarquinius
was the last King of ancient Rome (534-509 B.C), and in the last days of the
Republic, names such as Augustine, Justinian, (the prolific law maker), Gaius,
Pompey and Brutus, Julius Caesar.
Julius Caesar was born just about
100 years before Christ. He was a great military leader, who extended the Roman
Empire abroad, and in so doing made enemies for himself at home. Among his
exploits were his invasion of Britain in 44, at which time he uttered the
famous words vini, vidi, vici, words which some say the Brits interpreted as
weeny, weedy, weaky, and led to their early capitulation. But he also fought
and won another battle in his romance with the beautiful Queen of Egypt,
Cleopatra, until his assassination during the ides of March.
Apart from Kings and Queens and
military leaders and rulers, there were the men of literature and learning,
philosophers and poets. Men such as
Publius Virgilius Marco, born 70 B.C and known to us as the poet Virgil, and a
couple of decades later, Ovid, whose interest was law and politics, but best
known for his poetry. He was born around
43 B.C. and both he and Virgil would have been still living in Rome at the time
of the birth of Christ. And speaking of literature, we must not forget or fail
to mention the great library built at Nineveh by the great Assyrian leader
Cennacherib circa B.C 705 years before that built by Alexander the Great at
Alexandria, remnants of which still stands today, while fragments of the Nineveh
library may still be found at the British museum and elsewhere.
Cennacherib as well as his
grandson Ashurbanipal are well known within the Bible and also in extraneous
records for their successful campaigns against Babylon and Judah.
Pythagoras. When in the mathematics classroom we learn
that in a right angle triangle the square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum
of the squares on the other two sides, we are not just talking mathematics; we
are remembering a great mathematician whose name was Pythagoras. He was born over 500 years before the birth
of Christ and is another indication that there were great scholars and thinkers
on earth before and at the time Jesus was born. Men who could think and write,
calculate and articulate; men who could not be easily fooled.
Archimedes was another great
thinker. He was born in Syracuse, in
Sicily, B.C 287-212, and educated in Egypt.
He was the one responsible for what is known to us today as Archimedes
principle a theory which helped the king prove he was being jilted by his
goldsmith, by showing how much gold was displaced and stolen.
Getting even closer to Jesus’ day
was a well-known name, an Emperor of Rome whose name is Caesar Augustus. He was born Gaius Octavius in B.C 30 and
ruled Rome as Emperor until his death on August 19, 14 A.D. It is evident then,
that Jesus was born during Augustus’ rule.
Caesar Augustus was succeeded by
Tiberius in 14 A.D. and ruled until 37 A.D. that is to say throughout the life
of Jesus.
When Jesus was born, therefore,
it would have been during the reign of Caesar Augustus and when he was arrested
and tried, it would have been during the reign of Tiberius.
First things First
Is the Bible not a true record
and a liable repository of the history of mankind apart from being God’s
Word? We have seen that Caesar Augustus
was the ruler at the time and remained ruler until A.D. 14. So now here is Luke, not a disciple of Jesus,
but one, a clinical physician, who became fascinated by the exploits of the man
Jesus after His death and resurrection; a physician by profession, but later
became a follower and friend of Paul. Dr.
Luke writes.
“And
it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus
that all the world should be taxed, or enrolled,” (Luke 2:1), So the decree
went forth, and it is a fact of Bible as well as secular history.
Next Thing Next
Before continuing on, the next
thing we need to know is this. In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth, he made
reference to a king Herod, to whom the wise men had come and made inquiry
concerning the new birth; who after feeling he was tricked gave order to
destroy all the new born 2 years and under.
“Behold when Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the King, there came wise men from the
East to Jerusalem saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we
have seen His star in the east and we have come to worship Him.” (Mt. 2:1-2)
Of course it was not part of
God’s plan to allow Herod to kill his son at that time; so He caused the wise
men not to return to Herod, which made him even more angry; and so he gave an
order to kill every child around 2 years and under.
Who was this King Herod, and why
he was so frighteningly jealous? Some critics may even ask, How come he is
mentioned as King and Augustus Caesar Emperor? This Herod is known to
historians as Herod the Great, the wicked King who out of pure wicked jealousy
gave order to destroy all the babes within his kingdom. He saw Jesus as not
only a rival but a serious threat. After all he Herod was king of the Jews; so
when the wise men told him they had come to worship a newborn king of the Jews that was enough to drive him over
the edge.
Herod had ruled over the Jews in
Jerusalem for some time. His father was a Jew and his mother Arabic. He had
received the favor of Caesar Augustus who had appointed him King of the area
and he schemed and connived his way further into Caesar’s favor by his building
and other programs. And in particular during a period of unrest he was able to
restore peace thus remaining in the Emperor’s good book. The point is, his
kingship was limited to that of the Jews.
The next thing is Luke’s
reference to Tiberius. He writes, “And in the fifteenth year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea and Herod being Tetrarch
of Galilee, and his brother Phillip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of
trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the
high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the
wilderness.” (Luke 3:1-2)
The import of all this is to show
how succinctly the Biblical record fits into the Roman history. John the Baptist’s preaching ministry, then
would have begun around A.D. 29-30, six months to a year before Jesus’ own
short ministry.
Flavius Josephus
One name that cannot be omitted is that of Flavius
Josephus. He was born in 37 A.D. just 3-4 years after Jesus’ death on the
cross. Josephus is a celebrated Roman/Jewish historian and scholar. He would
not have known Jesus personally. But his parents, aunts and uncles, cousins and
other grown-ups around would have known a great deal about the life and times
of the man Jesus. His words, His miracles, His life, His death, and what was
claimed by His disciples regarding His resurrection. And surely many of Jesus’ disciples were
still alive when Josephus himself came to age. He could have spoken to
them. After all that is what historians
do, as well as examining official records.
Josephus never became a disciple or friend of
Jesus. Neither did he show by his
biographies and other writings, any indication of having accepted
Christianity. Indeed he used language
which shows that to him Jesus was little more than a curiosity piece. But the things he did say proves that Jesus’
existence was never a question of doubt in his mind. For example, he said
things like, “There was this fellow called Jesus, who went around trying to
convince others that all men were brothers.” He wrote about James, the brother
of Jesus, and about John the Baptist, and about Jesus’ execution and
resurrection. It is alleged that the Jews in some parts redacted, suppressed
and destroyed much of Josephus’ references to Jesus; but sufficient evidence
remains to show that to him, Jesus’ existence is in no doubt. Josephus lived
into the end of the first century during the time when all of the Gospels and Epistles
were being written.
And what about a name such as Confucius the
well-known Philosopher, born Kong Qui in China c. A.D. 551, and commonly called
Confucius, in China 551A.D; and Muhammad the Prophet of Islam, born around 570
and died around 632 and proclaimed as a god to his followers; and Haile
Selassie the Rastafarian Messiah. The interesting thing about these three
proclaimed by their followers as gods, their mortal remains, like that of John
Brown’s body, lie a moldering in their graves.
Charlemagne or Charles
the first also called Charles the Great was born A.D 747 died in January 814.
He was king of Austrasia, now Germany, king of the Franks, king of the
Lombards, and from 800 to 814 Holy Roman Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
William the Conqueror
Every English school
boy and most other schoolboys, would have read about the man called William the
Conqueror, and would know that in the year 1066 he defeated the Anglo-Saxon
king Harold Godwinson on 14th October 1066 at the Battle of Hastings
and so began the Norman conquest of Britain.
After William, many
great men appeared on the scene. Men such as Johannes Gensfleisch Zur Laden zum
Gutenberg who lived between AD 1398 -1468. A blacksmith, goldsmith, printer and
publisher who introduced printing to Europe and started a printing revolution,
and was an important catalyst leading the way to the Renaissance, and the age
of science and enlightenment, including the printing of the first Bible.
Martin Luther, the
German Lawyer, Friar, priest, professor of Theology and a key figure in the
Protestant Reformation movement, and probably best known for his rejection of
several teachings of the Catholic Church. Martin Luther was born 10 November
1483 and died 18 February 1546. Luther, apart from being the founder of the
Lutheran movement, is also remembered for his ninety Five Theses, condemning
the authority, efficacy and use of indulgencies by the Roman Catholic Church. A
subsequent and well-documented follower of Luther was John Calvin, famous in
his own right.
Whenever I think of
martyrs, the first name that comes to my mind, apart from Stephen the first
Christian martyr, is that of William Tyndale, (1494 to 5 October 1536). A man
who choose rather to be strangled and burnt at the stake than abandon his
primary stated ambition to translate the whole Bible into English. Whereas the
New Testament had been translated into Latin, there was no English translation
extant. Tyndale wanted to ensure, “that even he that drives the plough could
read the word of God for himself in English.”
For printing and circulating his Bible in English in England, the
Tyndale Bible, he was strangled and burnt at the stake in the year 1536.
Catherine the Great
Her Russian name was
Yekaterina Alexeyevna. She was the best known and the longest ruling Monarch of
Russia. Born 2 May 1729, she became Empress of all Russia in 1762 and reigned
until her death 17 November 1796
Frederick the Great,
1740 to 1786, was another great man of history. It is said he came to the
throne hoping nothing, believing nothing and fearing nothing. He was a
dictator; but a benevolent one showing concern for the development of the Country
and caring for the needs of the poorest. No one who was willing or able to work
was left out. Dictator or not he was a good and brave Ruler.
Another man other than
Hitler who caused a great deal of trouble in the world was Napoleon Bonaparte
who plunged the world into conflict, and would have defeated the world and set
himself up as king if the hand of God did not stop him, using the same elements
He used to frustrate the Egyptian army in pursuit of the children of Israel,
namely, fire and cloud. God used the cloud element on both occasions in dealing
with Napoleon and later Hitler; cloud over the English Channel by day and
night. Napoleon was born 15 August 1769 and died in banishment on the island of
St. Helena 5 May 1821.
Queen Victoria
The final great personage I would like to
mention is the Great Queen Victoria. Born 24 May, 1819 in Kensington Palace,
London, she lived until 22 January 1901 at Osborne House, East Cowes. Victoria was Queen of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland from 1837 to her death.
She also took the title Empress of India from 1 May 1876. Until the
Present Queen Elizabeth II who may overtake her shortly, Queen Victoria was and
still is Britain’s longest serving Monarch. She was exclaimed by one and all as
a great Queen, a Queen never-the-less who proclaimed that her greatest honor
would be to see with her eyes the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory when
according to her, she would, “Cast all of her crowns at His feet.”
It was intended indeed to end with Queen
Victoria, but it might be instructive to mention her great grand- daughter the
reigning Queen Elizabeth II. One reason
is I was speaking to an atheist some time ago, who when cornered on the fact of
people of history, said there was no proof that any of the names mentioned ever
existed. “How about the President of the
United States, George Herbert Walker Bush?”
Her reply was forthright if astonishing. “You
have no proof of him either.” Am afraid
at that stage I rested my case. It is true, “If you convert an unbeliever
against his will he remains an unbeliever still.”
So anyhow, Queen Elizabeth everyone in the
world would have seen at some time or the other. She was named Elizabeth
Alexandra Mary at birth, 21 April 1926. She acceded to the British throne in 1952
and is still the reigning Queen. Elizabeth is the Great, Great Granddaughter of
Queen Victoria and is included to make a point later. Elizabeth is Queen of
England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales; but also Queen of Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon
Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua
and Barbuda, Saint Kitts, Nevis Anguilla and remaining Colonies and
Protectorates such as Montserrat, Tortola and Gibraltar. Someone could just as
easily make the point that she does not exist either.
So there we have all these men of history.
Kings and Queens, soldiers, philosophers, statesmen, writers and poets. The
question is are there any among us who do not believe that these men and women
existed? Is there any who would say, none existed, or all existed except one,
the man Jesus called Christ. And if any would say that, what possible sane
reason could he or she give for such exclusion?
The man Jesus has not existed, does not exist
in a vacuum. Like all other men, He was
born of father and mother, at a certain time in a certain place. The men of his day who lived in his part of
the world knew Him; the children he grew up with knew him as children growing
up; others came from afar to see Him.
When he spoke men heard His words; some were uplifted by them; some were
offended. Some men loved him, some men
hated him; some men cherished him others despised him. When he healed the sick, He did it openly,
when he caused the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, the blind to see, He did all
of those things openly; and when he brought back to life he that was stinking
in the grave, even His worst detractors were there. None could deny his
presence.
As a matter of fact, it is recorded that when
some about Him saw the miracles and heard the power of his words they asked,
“Whence has this man this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his
mother called Mary? And His brethren James and Joses, and Simon and Judas? And His sisters are they not right here with
us? The question is, they asked, where does he get his wisdom from?”
Before Jesus was born many men and women of
note lived; and after he departed this world there were many men and woman
after Him. It was as if Jesus was just planted there in the middle of them all,
as it were, joining the old with the new. And consider this outstanding fact.
Before Jesus was born, there were many Calendars, the last of which was the
Julian Calendar which began in 45 B C. The significant thing is, all those
Calendars reckoned time backwards.
Imagine the Julian Calendar like all others started 44, 43, 42, and so
on, counting down to what or better still to whom? However after Jesus birth, although the same
Calendar remained in use, time was counted in another direction upwards, as in
one two three, and although the Gregorian calendar took over from the Julian
time continued to be counted up until now we are at 2015. Is that not a curious
fact at least? Could it be that mankind from the very dawn of recorded history
was unwittingly counting down time in anticipation of some great event, like
the count down at a shuttle launch? Like counting down to the birth of the King
of Kings and Lord of Lords? Jesus the Saviour’s birth? Even the most skeptical would be forced to
admit it’s an interesting question.
In any event Jesus is there indelibly embedded
in human history. For one reason or
other, a lot of people would wish it were not so. Just as when he rose from the dead, Satan was
furious at the thought; and so were the Jews! They conspired with the soldiers
who saw the stone rolled away to lie and pretend it did not happen. They bribed
them, they paid them money to cover up the plot and then published abroad a
Passover plot involving the disciples.
This brings us to the question why the high
priests and the Jewish rulers wanted to dispose of Jesus. As we have seen, King Herod held the Roman
appointed office of King of the Jews. It
was not only a prestigious office, it was profitable to him. The high priest Annas and his son-in-law
Caiaphas were his appointees and the Sanhedrin consisted mostly of the
hand-picked men of the high priests. So
to be sure there was a great deal of nepotism, cronyism and simony. So when the
shepherds told Herod that there was born a King of the Jews, he was
understandably furious. He felt threatened; and when they told him they wanted
to worship this new born king, one could understand his anger.
The problem for many people with Jesus is, he
was not just a man; he was also God, He is God. Jesus said he was the son of
God, who had come down from heaven. So when Philip asked Him to reveal the
Father Jesus said, “if you have seen me you have seen the father.” In addition, he was called God. So when doubting Thomas hailed Him as “My
Lord and my God,” Jesus responded and said, “Because you have seen me you
believe; but blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe.” In addition,
Jesus seemed to be God, and His very detractors bore this out, for when he told
the paralyzed man, “Be of good cheer thy sins are forgiven thee,” the Jews
cried, “Blasphemy, for only God can forgive sin!” So that they saw in Jesus
God-like qualities, but would not bring themselves to acknowledge Him as God.
And this is part of the problem even
today. Many people have a problem with
admitting the truth about Jesus because if they do, it cut from beneath their
feet the very ground on which they stand, in so far as they make bold to say
there is no God. For Jesus proves that God exists. Just as some people reject the Bible because
if they accept it they would also have to accept that there is God.
Even now, as we approach another end of year,
we come to a time when we celebrate the birth of the Christ. But many begrudge Him even that, refusing to
use the word Christmas unless they have merchandise they are trying to sell in
which case Christmas is alright.
In conclusion, therefore, we say this.
1
That Jesus is as much
a man of history as all the other men and women, those mentioned here, and the
millions not mentioned. Jesus lived on earth over two thousand years ago. Obviously, none of us living today can
physically point him out and say, “There goes Jesus,” no more than we can point
out our great, great grandparent, as few of us ever get to know in the flesh
any of our numerous ancestors, beyond, say, a great grand. There was a man in
history that I loved and admired very much. He lived and died during my lifetime;
but I never met him. But even now, I
hear his voice in his music. I know he existed.
Similarly, those who love Jesus, hear His voice in the words which He
spoke in Holy Writ.
2
As has been said
earlier those who deny God has to deny both Jesus and the Bible, because they
speak of God. And in the words of a well-known song, “You can’t have one
without the other.” As Jesus told Philip, “If you have seen me, you have seen
the Father also;” and He adds, “I and my Father are one. I am in the Father and
the Father in me.” Of course there are those who opine that Jesus is not coeternal
and consubstantial with God, and is therefore not God. They insist that Jesus was
and is God’s son, as indeed he says, “I am the Son of God the Father.” While
not accepting that narrow theological construct, it also bolsters the point for
the existence of God; for if Jesus is God’s son, then that proves that Jesus’
Father is God.
3
Who then can deny the
existence of God? It is averred that
those who do so fall exclusively into three main categories, namely: (a) those
who are mentally unstable, (b) those whom God has given over to a reprobate
mind. (c) those who have no knowledge of, or who are ignorant of the history of
mankind.
(a) The mentally unstable. God’s word says, that the fool says in his
heart there is no God. Properly understood, this refers to a person who lacks
mental capacity, for example, the criminally insane. That is what God says and,
therefore, it must be so.
(b) The Reprobate. The Bible also refers to those whom God has
given over to a reprobate mind. Here again it is submitted that the person with
the reprobate mind is a person who is in a state where he is unable to
differentiate between right and wrong, much like the person who is mentally
unstable. Here God has given such a person over; that person God has decided,
has no moral worth and cannot be saved.
(c) Apart from the above two categories of
atheists it is postulated that a person may be so ignorant of history or so
lacking in general knowledge, or common sense that he might never have had the
mental capacity to see Jesus as a man of history, and not just some mysterious
or mythological personage found in the area of folklore or fairy tale. In terms
of today’s world, such a person would have to have lived a very sheltered and
darkened life.
Finally Jesus Himself
gives us an explanation of the unbeliever which may apply to all of the three
categories outlined above, and it is this. “That Light (Jesus) is come into the
world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.”
In addition, I would
say this if you have been seriously seeking and failing to find God, it may be
that you have not yet come to the place where you know, that God is. That is
the first hurdle and every man has a natural, inborn capacity to know God. For
it has been well said, “Knowledge of God is by rational intuition.” In other words once you possess mental
capacity you have the ability to know God. And once you know God you would
automatically be led to learn more about him.
“For he that comes to God must first believe that He is, and that He is
a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
As we enter into the
Christmas season in the year of our Lord 2016, may the Light of Christ shine in
every heart and lightens every shadow of darkness. A very blessed and Happy
Christmas to all.
Rev Dr. John S. Weekes
Pastor/Founder
Gatewaytoheavenchurch.org
