Do You Really Believe?

As we enter this Christmas season, I want to remind you that we will be looking at the Christmas Story and the fascinating details which surround this defining event. The first Christmas truly changed everything. That God became a man is still preposterous to many. That Jesus was “born of a virgin” is even more fantastical! Yet, Christmas hinges on these two truths. Otherwise, Christmas is just another holiday based on legend and propagated by the commercial industry for monetary gain. As we contemplate the meaning of Christmas this year, I feel it is crucial to remind you that 1) Jesus’ birth is an actual historical event, 2) Those who recorded the details of His birth have been proven trustworthy, and, 3) Jesus was indeed something much more than human, but, as difficult as it might be to accept by some, He was the God-man.

When someone says to me, “Well I don’t believe Jesus ever lived; the whole thing, His life, ministry, and crucifixion is myth and legend,” my immediate thought is, “Wow, are people really that uninformed?” No respected historian, religious or secular, would agree with such a statement. We do not need the Bible to know that Jesus lived for approximately thirty-three years, gathered a large following of disciples, performed miracles, and died during the reign of Pontius Pilate. These are undeniable historical facts. The eleven disciples are not the only historians to record details of Jesus’ life and ministry. Outside resources corroborate the Bible’s story that:

1. There lived a man named Jesus, born in Bethlehem, in the house of David, raised in Nazareth, who was a Jewish teacher.
2. He performed miracles and exorcisms. (Now miracles were not really a big deal in the first century like they are today. In the first century if someone achieved a miracle the credit was naturally given where credit was due.)
3. Many people believed that Jesus was the Messiah.
4. He was rejected by the Jewish leaders.
5. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius.
6. Thousands upon thousands believed in His resurrection and followed Him diligently, even to the point of death.
7. Christianity spread beyond Palestine so that there were thousands and thousands of Christians in Rome by the mid-way point of the first century. People from all walks of life—rich, poor, educated, uneducated, slave and free—worshiped Jesus Christ as God.

All these facts come from numerous historical texts and manuscripts external to the Bible, written by scholars and historians in the first, second, and third century. Even if the Bible had never been written, we would know these things about Jesus’ life—we don’t need the Bible to know that Jesus was a real man in history who greatly impacted people in the land of Palestine, and beyond!

We also have the unique privilege of living in a generation that can look back over history and see that every time a historical reference has contradicted the Bible the biblical reference has proven to be the more trustworthy source. There are many examples but let me give you just a few.

Luke

Luke, who was a personal physician to the apostle Paul and wrote two books in your New Testament, was a first rate historian who recorded the events of the early church in great detail. In Luke 3:1, he mentions that Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene. For years, historians said that Luke could not be trusted because historical documents showed that Lysanias was not a tetrarch but rather the ruler of Chalcis half a century earlier. But, as has often happened, an archeological dig uncovered an inscription from the time of Tiberius from 14-37 AD which names Lysanias as tetrarch in Abilene near Damascus just as Luke had written.

Another example occurs in Acts 17:6, where Luke makes reference to politarchs, translated in your New Testament as “city officials.” Again, for years scholars said that Luke could not be trusted because there was no evidence of the term politarchs anywhere in ancient Roman literature. But today, in the British Museum there are more than thirty-five inscriptions that archeologists have found that mention politarchs, several from the Thessalonica period.

The Hittites

The Old Testament makes frequent reference to the Hittites, who were the arch-enemies of the nation of Israel. For hundreds of years scholars argued that there was no evidence of the Hittites ever existing and therefore the Old Testament could not be trusted. Then in 1906, during an archeological dig, scientists uncovered and confirmed the existence of the Hittites: they unearthed not only their capital city but forty other cities that made up their empire.

The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon mentions a vast civilization that existed in the Americas between 600 BC and 400 AD—it names the tribes, cities, mountains, rivers, and coinages. The problem is, there is not one single historian inside or outside the Mormon church that has been able to produce a single piece of evidence or artifact that would sustain any of the claims the Book of Mormon makes about this vast civilization.

When I have confronted my Mormon friends or those who knock on my door with this fact, they say, “That’s just the way it is. You have to accept it by faith.”

But Jesus does not call me to blind faith. He consistently asks me to consider the objective evidence and reflect upon the direction in which it points. Jesus says that when I become a Christian I don’t check my intellect at the door, but rather I use my intellect to guide me to ask questions and seek answers and find the truth. That intellectual journey will ultimately result in building my faith in Jesus Christ and the Bible.

Validity of the Scriptures

In the 21st century we can look back over history and categorically state that where there have been contradictions between the historical records and biblical accounts, the archeological discoveries have proven the biblical account to be the more accurate. Not once or twice, but every single time. John McRay, an expert whom National Geographic contacts for accurate, detailed information concerning the geography associated with the ancient world says, “There’s no question that archeological findings have enhanced the New Testament’s credibility. No discovery has ever disproved a Biblical reference.”1

Professionals and researchers are continually finding new documents that can be compared and contrasted to texts already in our possession, and most will tell you that the Bible stands on a plateau far above any other work of literary antiquity. In fact, some will go so far as to say that if you cannot trust the Bible, you cannot trust any ancient text. Why would scholars make such an aggressive statement?

First, a rich supply of manuscripts pertaining to any one book of antiquity rarely exists. For the most part the stream is rather dry. Yet, when you consider that we now have in our possession over 5,366 fragmented copies of the New Testament, one has to wonder, “Is God preserving His Word?” Homer’s Iliad holds the closest comparison to that type of manuscript authority featuring some 700 copies from the ancient world. But there is a problem. The first copy of the Iliad comes 1,000 years after the original! Why is that a problem? One thousand years catalyzes a certain amount of doubt concerning whether or not the first copy accurately corresponds with the original writing. A millennium is quite enough time for stories to be changed and legend to take over.

Now compare that with the Bible which features copies written within the same generation as the originals. Not too long ago, a librarian discovered what is now called, the John Ryland Manuscript. It is a small section of the book of John that dates back to 105 AD. Why is the small time gap between the events and the recording date crucial to the trustworthiness of the Biblical record? In short, when the copies are so closely related to the actual events, there is not enough time for legend to develop. In other words, when the stories of the Bible were circulating, eyewitnesses to the events were still alive. In such proximity, facts, figures, and other details could be verified, questioned or confirmed.

For instance, it is difficult to falsely claim that, “Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead in Bethany in 33 A.D.” if some of the people who lived in Bethany during the proposed raising were still alive and could emphatically deny that such an event took place. This same scenario would apply to any claim the New Testament writers made concerning Jesus’ teachings, miracles, and personal resurrection. Yet, there are no polemic sources which deny Jesus’ teachings or miracles. In fact, in those historical resources that refer to the resurrection, the empty tomb is assumed. The focus is centered upon the question, “What happened to the body?”

The Bible is Unique

While attending a conference which featured scores of university students from New Zealand, a young Muslim student approached me and said, “I’ve heard what you’ve said and I appreciate the sensitive fashion in which you presented it, but I’d like to have lunch with you because I have some concerns.” I said, “Great, let’s have lunch. You pay and I’ll pray and we’ll talk.”2

So after he paid and I prayed and we ate, he looked at me across the table just before dessert and said, “I appreciate everything you’ve said, but I have one statement to make: I don’t see any difference between Jesus or Mohammed. You try to say there’s a difference but they’re two great men, two great religious leaders. Why do you insist upon claiming Jesus is greater than any prophet?”

I quickly responded:“But isn’t it true that even the Koran explicitly states that Jesus was virgin born?”3 He said, “Yes.” So I said, “And yet you don’t think there’s a difference between Jesus and Mohammed?” He looked at me with glazed eyes as if no one had ever confronted him with that question before. “Moreover,” I said, “Jesus died for your sins. Do you still see these two leaders as equals?” “In fact,” I continued, “Islam teaches that a Prophet cannot lie. Moreover, Islam agrees that Jesus is a Prophet. Yet, Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Me.’ If a prophet cannot lie, and, if Jesus is a prophet by Islam’s own admission, then, I am assuming that only Jesus gains us access to God.”

With no room to maneuver, he complained, “The Bible does not say that Jesus claimed to be the only way to God.” I took him to John 14 and read the first ten verses. Again, frustrated, he said, “Your Bible has been changed.”

Listening to this response I was reminded of the young man who was convinced he was dead. No matter what his friends or relatives told him, he was absolutely convinced that he was no longer living. Desperate, his family hired the services of a psychiatrist who arranged a meeting. Bringing all kinds of evidences to bear (films, scientific data, microfiche, and oral testimony) the trained physician finally convinced the young man of one single truth: only living people bleed. Encouraging him to repeat the phrase, “Only living people bleed,” over and over again, hoping that through repetition the truth would penetrate, take root and become part of the young man’s belief system, the psychiatrist waited for the right moment to make his move. Finally, after some time, the young man admitted this premise, “Indeed,” said the confused young man, “Only living people bleed.” Instantly, the psychiatrist removed his pen from his shirt pocket and stabbed the patient in the arm, producing a steady stream of blood. The young man quickly responded, “Great Scott! I guess dead people bleed too!”

In thirty years of ministry I have learned a valuable lesson that has saved me heaps of time. If the will is wrong, no amount of evidence will sway one’s thinking. If one is less interested in discovering truth than defending a position, every piece of evidence I submit will merely be more information to be harnessed for misinterpretation.

The point is this: Jesus is uniquely different from any other religious leader. Any inquiring mind who truly seeks the truth and is open to the evidence will discover this undeniable fact. He lived a sinless life, claimed resurrection from the dead, was born from a virgin. These facts alone set Him apart from any other religious leader.

“What does all this have to do with the Bible?” In the same way that Jesus as a religious leader distinguishes Himself, the Bible also has a distinguishing mark that not only separates it from all other religious books, but also strongly suggests that the Words of God are found within its pages.

The Bible Contains the Fingerprints of God

Yes, the Bible claims to be the word of God, and, the Bible is perfectly accurate in its historical references. But let’s be honest; the fact that the Bible claims to be the Word of God coupled with the fact that the Bible is accurate in historical references, is still not enough! There has to be something more definitive, more certain, more conclusive.

Lee Stroble, in his book, The Case For Faith, tells the story of Clarence Hiller. Clarence lived in 1910 and owned a two-story house. One night he and his wife were upstairs asleep, just down the hall from his young daughter. Awakened by a sudden noise, Clarence noticed the nightlight near his daughter’s bedroom. He rose out of bed, descended down the hallway to extinguish the light when suddenly, his wife heard rumbling and tumbling down the stairway, two gunshots and then the slamming of the front door. She ran down the stairs to find her husband dead, lying on the kitchen floor.

About an hour later the police found a man by the name of Thomas Jennings with a gun that was missing two bullets from the chamber. Moreover, Clarence Hiller had spent the day painting his house and the paint around the window sill was still wet. Not only were two bullets missing from Jennings’ gun, when Jennings had broken into the home, he left his fingerprints in the paint! The police compared the paint marking with the fingerprints of Thomas Jennings. This resulted in the first conviction in American history based on fingerprint evidence.

Fulfilled Prophesies: The Fingerprints of God

When I was younger, I wished desperately that somehow, God’s fingerprints would show up on the pages of the Bible. In fact, I often had little talks with God that included statements like, “God, if this is really your word, every time I open it could you ensure that a large hologram emerge into the air, just above the pages, and your voice echoes through the air saying, “This is my word, take it up and read it!”?

Would that be cool or what? Who doesn’t long for the fingerprints of God on the Bible? We need something special to make us believe that the Bible is the word of God. Merely claiming to be just doesn’t cut it. And, as impressive as the historical accuracy of the Bible may be, truth be told, it still is not enough. I would expect those things to be true if indeed the Bible is the word of God but, in and of themselves, the evidence is not conclusive. We need something more.

Given the fact that we are able to accurately date books of literary antiquity, we can know beyond a reasonable doubt, the time in which each book of the Bible originated and the date of its subsequent copies. So when you open your Bible and read about the time, place, and date of a particular book in the Bible, you can trust the information to be accurate. Dating is a science, not an art. Many pieces of evidence are brought to bear before arriving at any conclusion. Oral tradition, the type of paper or parchment upon which the writing occurs, and a host of other evidence, both objective and circumstantial, all play a part in the final analysis. That raises a very important question. How is it possible for men who lived 500-700 years prior to Jesus’ birth to record over 48 very specific, detailed prophesies about the Christ, and, to have each one of these prophesies fulfilled in every detail by Jesus Christ.

We’re not talking about general prophesies like those made from men like Nostradamus who predicted that “an earthquake would occur somewhere in the world.” We’re not talking about the kind of prophesy that says, “I predict that the sun will rise tomorrow.” We’re talking about very detailed, very specific prophesies that make the Bible different from any other book. Men who lived hundreds and hundreds of years before Christ specified the exact place where Jesus was going to be born, Bethlehem; His ancestry, that He’d be a descendent of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; from the tribe of Judah, and that He would hail from the house of David. Such detailed prophecies and fulfillments could only come from a Sovereign God. Yet, these types of prophesies are seen all through the Bible.

Zechariah

Zechariah, who lived almost 600 years before Jesus, prophesied in detail that Jesus would be betrayed by a friend for thirty pieces of silver thrown down in the house of the Lord and, that the money would be used to buy a potter’s field. Again, we don’t need the Bible to tell us that Jesus fulfilled those prophesies, we can corroborate them with outside historical references.

David

David, writing hundreds of years before Jesus came on the scene, prophesied the manner in which Christ was going to die—crucifixion. What’s even more amazing is that the Romans hadn’t even invented crucifixion as a way of capital punishment yet. So David predicted Jesus’ death by crucifixion before any knowledge concerning crucifixion existed.

Tyre

The Bible not only gave us specific prophesies Jesus fulfilled, it also makes bold predictions that can still be tested today. In the fifth century B.C. there was a strong and vital city on the Mediterranean coast called Tyre. Ezekiel, who wrote hundreds of years before Jesus, made the bold assertion that Tyre, a huge metropolis, would be utterly destroyed and no city would ever be built on that site again. A few hundred years later, history records that the prophesy became a reality, and, you and I, if we are willing to travel, can visit the flat rocks that once provided the foundation for the city of Tyre. And yes, it has never been built on again.

Attacks on the Validity of the Bible

Despite the overwhelming evidence, attacks do come, and, they usually come to us in the form of two rebuttals. First, yes, Jesus did indeed fulfill many prophecies made hundreds of years before He was born in the manger in Bethlehem, but, all that is just a coincidence. Second, yes, Jesus fulfilled these prophecies but, Jesus maneuvered His life to fulfill them. Let’s investigate the evidence and ask where it points.

The Fulfilled Prophesies are Just Coincidence

For those who claim that Jesus’ fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies was nothing more than coincidence, one must understand that accomplishing such a feat is a mathematical impossibility. The odds of anyone in history fulfilling just eight of the forty eight prophesies concerning the Messiah are the same odds as covering the entire state of California in quarters, three feet deep, placing a black mark on one quarter, hiding it somewhere in the pile, blindfolding a willing participant, then asking him to find the one marked coin on his first attempt.

World-renowned mathematician Peter Stoner hypothesized that the probability of someone fulfilling all forty-eight prophesies concerning the Messiah is equal to picking out one specific atom in the total number of miniscule atoms in a trillion universes the size of our universe.4 The odds alone say it’s impossible for anyone to fulfill all the Old Testament prophesies and yet Jesus and only Jesus managed to do it.

Jesus Maneuvered His Life to Fulfill the Prophesies

Argument two suggests that Jesus maneuvered His life to fulfill the Messianic prophecies. A Buddhist student once looked me right in the eye and said, “Jeff, I’ve heard you talk about how Jesus fulfilled those prophesies and how literary antiquity supports the trustworthiness of the Bible, but I know how Jesus did it.”

I said, “How?”

He said, “Well Jesus would have known that the Old Testament prophesied that Jesus’ bones would not be broken on the cross, so He struck a deal with Pilate, paid him thirty pieces of silver, and received Pilate’s word that His bones would remain intact.”

I just started to laugh. Despite the fact that there is not one ounce of evidence to support his claim, I said, “That’s pretty good. But let me ask you a few questions: would you like to tell me how Jesus could control His ancestry or His place of birth or even the timing of His birth? Would you like to tell me how Jesus could control the fact that the Sanhedrin would offer Judas thirty pieces of silver to betray Him? Or how He could control that the Sanhedrin would use the betrayal money to buy a potter’s field? Or how He could control the false accusers at an invalid Jewish trial, or how Jesus could control the soldiers gambling for His clothes at the cross, or even His method of execution?”

These are very specific prophesies that could only be fulfilled if the hand of God was on those prophets and on Jesus and on the Bible. Indeed! These fulfilled prophesies separate the Bible from every other book ever written. Think about it! Forty-eight specific, detailed prophesies and Jesus fulfilled every single one of them.

Do you believe? Really believe?

My friend Ravi Zacharias can often be heard repeating what I believe has become one of his favorite lines: the Bible continues to outlive its pallbearers. Indeed. Kings, rulers, authorities have desperately tried to eradicate the Bible, yet to no avail. The Bible continues to be the number one best selling book year after year. In a time of such great unbelief, God seems intent upon offering more and more evidence--archeological digs, finds and discoveries in literary antiquity, research, study, and the mountain of manuscripts on display supporting the authenticity and trustworthiness of the Bible. The evidence is in and the only logical conclusion is that the Bible is the word of God revealed to man, authenticated by its accuracy and substantiated by its prophesy.

So I have five questions for you:

1. Do you have your own copy of God’s word with your name in the front of it?
2. Are you reading it daily?
3. Are you memorizing it, hiding God’s word in your heart that you might not sin against Him?
4. Are you obeying it and doing what it asks you to do?
5. Are you allowing it to guide your life?

It is clear that the Bible is a powerful book—God’s word to us. Are you spending time in the Word, memorizing it, obeying it, and letting the Bible dictate how you respond to people who have hurt you, to determine how you treat your boss, or employees, or team, or spouse, or family? If God came down and said to you, “Stop sinning! Live a life of purity! Be a doer of the Word!” you’d probably be terrified, and of course, you’d try to obey. Yet, the Bible gives us instructions like that everyday. If you really believe this is the Word of God, you’re going to want to know what it says, do what it says, and let God’s power become a reality in your life.

For three solid years, between 1857 and 1860, Charles Blondin walked across Niagara Falls on a tight rope stretching from the Canadian to the American side. Spectators would gather and applaud the tremendous acrobatic prowess and intestinal fortitude on display. At the end of a three year run, Blondin, with 25,000 present, crossed one final time from the Canadian to the American side of the falls. Mesmerized by the large crowd, Blondin shouted, “My name is Charles Blondin, do you believe in me?” Twenty-five thousand shouted, “Yes, we believe!” How could they say anything less? He had proven himself over and over again. Again, a second time, Blondin shouted, “My name is Charles Blondin, do you believe in me?” Again, twenty-five thousand voiced their affirmation, “Yes, we believe!” A third time, Blondin shouted down to the crowd, “My name is Charles Blondin, do you believe in me?” “Yes, we believe!” twenty-five thousand voices echoed through the falls. Blondin stopped, looked over the crowd, then bellowed out in a deep, loud voice,” Then who will go with me to the other side?” Silence. Then, one man, small in stature, raised his hand, ran to the edge and said, “Sir, I will go.” Charles Blondin, with companion on his shoulders, crossed back to the Canadian side. One man, small in stature, had the ride of his life! Twenty-five thousand people claimed to believe but only one actually did. To believe, really believe, that the Bible is the Word of God is to climb on its shoulders and allow it to take you where you have never been before. It will ultimately lead you to a Savior who will guide you into all truth and show you what it means to really live and to see life as a great adventure culminating in an eternity that is beyond what we could ever hope for or imagine.

1. Stroble, Lee. The Case for Faith. (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI. 2000) 264.
2. I heard this line from Ravi Zacharias who heard it from Josh McDowell who heard it from...well...who really knows?
3. Qu’ran 3:47
4. Stoner, Peter W. Science Speaks. (Moody Press, Chicago, IL, 1969)

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