09 Is Jesus more than just a swear word?

Was Jesus a real person? If so, was he just a man, or was he God in human form? Was he put to death on a Roman cross? Was he buried in a tomb?  Did he come back from the dead?

We need to carefully consider each of these questions because much more hangs on them than we are inclined to think, particularly the last.

Many people dismiss Jesus as a fairy story; they say that he never really lived on this earth. Authorities in Ancient History no longer think that way. Professor Edwin Judge, from Macquarie University in Sydney, is accepted as a world expert in this field. He said in a recent interview;

Ancient historians take for granted the historic existence of Jesus as he is presented in the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are accepted as good reliable history sources.

Some people once believed Jesus was a figure of the imagination. Nobody argues that now, certainly no historians do.

Strangely, many of the same people who deny Jesus existed never question the existence of Plato or Julius Caesar, despite the fact there is far more written evidence, for Jesus than for either of these historic figures, or for any other figure of ancient history for that matter. These pieces of evidence for Jesus are also from copies of manuscripts dated a lot closer in time to the actual events, than evidence for other figures in ancient history.

Jesus is mentioned as a real person in the writings of at least two reputable historians of that time, Josephus (37 to 100 AD) and Tacitus (56 to 120 AD).

The main historic evidence for Jesus life is in the four Bible books mentioned by Professor Judge, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Despite what you may read or see in the media, these four Gospels are reliable history. That is Professor Judge’s point.

They were separate records, written by different people for different audiences, comparatively soon after the events they portray. It was many years later that these books were collected together to become part of the Bible.

The four Gospels are not just biographies. They were written to explain the purpose of Jesus’ life, of his death and his resurrection. Read them and you will see exactly who Jesus claimed to be. Read them to find hope, to help you answer your questions about life after death.