Bible Study: HOW DO WE KNOW JESUS WAS REAL?
This may be long, but I just could not bring myself to water down or shorten the Word of God, as it came to me. And for that, I won't apologize. I told it as the Spirit led me. I will not quench it.
Before you dismiss Jesus as merely a religious figure, I would like you to consider something very simple: Jesus was a real person who lived in history.
You don't have to follow a certain "denomination or religion". I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about a real person who died on the cross to save us from the condemnation that sin brought on us. The religions of this world cannot do that. They don't have that kind of power. And no Minister can save us. Only Jesus, who bought us with His redeeming blood. The others are merely people who chose a certain institution to WORSHIP IN, and "religion" is defined as man-made philosophy. We can go to church everyday of the week, but it's not the building nor the surroundings that will save us, but the Person of Jesus. How do we know that?
Well, we know that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, and God's Word says there is only one Mediator between God and man. The Bible even tells us who it is. Jesus came so that we wouldn't have these doubts...so that we could know without guessing, how to get to heaven.
“For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” 1 Timothy 2:5
The Bible says there's not one religious affiliation that will get us to heaven. Now what makes more sense? To follow flawed man or Jesus who came down from heaven so we could be saved? To me, that's a no-brainer. Jesus was angry at the "religious leaders" who were gambling in the temple and kicked them out for defiling his Temple! So it's not about where you attend, but whom you attend TO and follow. That's what determines where you shall spend eternity. No institution can save us from hell, but Jesus can. And you don't have to accept everything you've ever heard about religion.
That devil wants to keep you from church and from learning about God and being saved. And think about it. Everyone says oh I'm not going to church because there's too many hypocrites. Well that's just why people need to go to church, because everywhere you go you're going to find hypocrites and we're not going to church for them. We're going to learn the word of God and how to get to heaven. God knows who is lying or not. That's not our responsibility. Let God speak to their hearts but don't keep yourself away from church because of other people. That's really just an excuse. Instead, consider the historical evidence surrounding one man who changed the course of human history more profoundly than anyone who has ever lived.
His name was Jesus of Nazareth. How do we know He was real?
We don't have to rely solely upon the New Testament to answer that question. There are references to Jesus in ancient writings outside the Bible.
The Roman historian Tacitus, writing in the early second century, referred to Christ and explained that He had been executed during the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius under Pontius Pilate. Tacitus was NOT a follower of Jesus. In fact, he had no reason to promote the beliefs of those who followed Him.
The Jewish historian Josephus also referred to Jesus and to James, “the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ.” Again, Josephus was not writing as a follower of Jesus. And you know what else? Even the devil believes in Christ, but he's not going to heaven. The point is, even he and his demons know that Christ is real. The Bible even says they tremble even at the hearing of His name!
Other ancient writers, including Pliny the Younger and Suetonius, provide additional evidence concerning Jesus and the people who followed Him. But there is something even more important to consider.
The earliest writings about Jesus appeared during the same generation in which He lived. The Apostle Paul wrote about Jesus only decades after His death. And Paul wasn't writing about some distant legendary figure whose story had grown through hundreds of years of storytelling. He knew people who had known Jesus personally.
Paul wrote:
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve disciples: After that, he was seen of above 500 brethren at once.” 1 Corinthians 15:3–6
Notice something. The central message wasn't simply that Jesus had been a great teacher. His followers were saying something much more extraordinary. They said He had been crucified. They said He had died. They said He had been buried. And they said they had seen Him alive again. And this message began in Jerusalem...the very place where Jesus had been publicly executed. That matters!
This wasn't a story that appeared centuries later in some distant land. The claims about Jesus began in the same place where the events happened, while people who could challenge those claims were still alive. Something happened that caused His frightened and grieving followers to become convinced that Jesus was alive. And they didn't merely hold that belief privately. They proclaimed it publicly, even when doing so brought them persecution and suffering. Even death!
Yes, suffering for a belief doesn't automatically prove that the belief is true. But it does tell us something important: these people sincerely believed what they were saying. They and the 500 witnesses at His Ascension, were not describing Jesus as a mythical character who had lived hundreds of years earlier. They were talking about a real man they had KNOWN.
A man who had walked the roads of Galilee.
A man who had spoken to ordinary people.
A man who had touched the sick.
A man who had wept.
A man who had been betrayed by someone who sat at His own table.
A man who had been nailed to a Roman cross.
And a man whom His followers insisted they saw alive afterward.
A man whom the disciples gave up everything to follow him and watched him Ascend into heaven to His Father, amongst 500 other witnesses.
A man the disciples were willing to give their very lives for. They were threatened, they were imprisoned, even tortured for their beliefs, yet they were willing to die for their Savior, after He ascended to join His Father in heaven... and they spread the gospel throughout the land. Do you know what sacrifice that took and what faith? They weren't just guessing. They were living out their faith no matter the cost. That's trust, dedication, and commitment to a man they knew as Jesus, their Savior. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't follow a man whom I wasn't sure of. Neither did His disciples. They knew exactly who He was. They were with Jesus daily. He taught them, and they saw him do miracles, one right after the other. In fact, they were so sure of him, they left everything behind and followed Him all the days of His life on earth, until His blessed ascension took Him to His heavenly Father.
So perhaps the question isn't really, “Was Jesus real?” The historical evidence gives us very good reason to say yes. The more important question is, “Who was He?” Because Jesus made claims about Himself that no ordinary teacher could make.
He said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6
He didn't simply say, “Follow my teachings.” He called people to follow Him. And that is where this becomes personal.
You don't have to settle every argument about religion in order to investigate Jesus. You don't have to defend a denomination. You don't have to trust every person who calls themselves a follower... the Bible said there will be false prophets in this world, but it is the Holy Spirit that helps us discern who is a true, committed follower of Christ. It says we shall know them by their fruits/talk and actions. It's not about what denomination one belongs to.
People can disappoint us. Religious institutions can disappoint us. People can misuse God's name. But none of those things change who Jesus was. So I would encourage you to put everything else aside for a moment. Forget the arguments. Forget the hypocrisy you've seen. Forget the people who have used religion to hurt others. You may rest assured that their sins do not go unnoticed by God. They shall reap what they sowed. Meaning that deceiver's actions, habits, and choices always lead to matching consequences.
Just look at Jesus. Read what He actually said. Look at how He treated people. Look at how He responded to the broken, the rejected, the sinful, and the hurting. Look at the cross. And then ask yourself one honest question:
“Who is this Jesus?”
Because perhaps you aren't being asked to find a religion. Perhaps you are being invited to find a Person. A Person who loved you enough to willingly lay down His life for you:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Jesus isn't asking you to believe in a system. He is calling you to Himself. And that is why the question of whether Jesus was real, matters so much. I can honestly tell you that not only I, but thousands of others have found Christ to be not only real, but is present in our daily lives. Do you really think I would/could have followed Him for 53 years, if He was not real? He absolutely proved it to me. When I invited Jesus into my heart and life, there was no guessing that H was real. He healed me. He showed me just who he was, in a way that I had no idea could happen to me. Not an inkling.
That's why there's no guessing about it for me. When I accepted him as my Lord and Savior, He immediately, as promised, sent His Holy Spirit to abide in me and cleansed this sinner's heart, and transformed my life completely for the good. His Holy Spirit was sent to lead and guide me through life and show me the way that leads to a more happy and abundant Life. His love and Spirit saturated every space in my heart. Nothing in this life can satisfy our spirit like Jesus. Nothing can substitute for Him and His saving grace. I found that out myself. All it took was a prayer inviting him into my heart and life as my Savior, and that's something any of us can do. John 3:16 to 17
If He was only a man, then He belongs in history.
But if He really is who He claimed to be...
then He belongs in your life. ♥🫂
Before you dismiss Jesus as merely a religious figure, I would like you to consider something very simple: Jesus was a real person who lived in history.
You don't have to follow a certain "denomination or religion". I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about a real person who died on the cross to save us from the condemnation that sin brought on us. The religions of this world cannot do that. They don't have that kind of power. And no Minister can save us. Only Jesus, who bought us with His redeeming blood. The others are merely people who chose a certain institution to WORSHIP IN, and "religion" is defined as man-made philosophy. We can go to church everyday of the week, but it's not the building nor the surroundings that will save us, but the Person of Jesus. How do we know that?
Well, we know that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, and God's Word says there is only one Mediator between God and man. The Bible even tells us who it is. Jesus came so that we wouldn't have these doubts...so that we could know without guessing, how to get to heaven.
“For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” 1 Timothy 2:5
The Bible says there's not one religious affiliation that will get us to heaven. Now what makes more sense? To follow flawed man or Jesus who came down from heaven so we could be saved? To me, that's a no-brainer. Jesus was angry at the "religious leaders" who were gambling in the temple and kicked them out for defiling his Temple! So it's not about where you attend, but whom you attend TO and follow. That's what determines where you shall spend eternity. No institution can save us from hell, but Jesus can. And you don't have to accept everything you've ever heard about religion.
That devil wants to keep you from church and from learning about God and being saved. And think about it. Everyone says oh I'm not going to church because there's too many hypocrites. Well that's just why people need to go to church, because everywhere you go you're going to find hypocrites and we're not going to church for them. We're going to learn the word of God and how to get to heaven. God knows who is lying or not. That's not our responsibility. Let God speak to their hearts but don't keep yourself away from church because of other people. That's really just an excuse. Instead, consider the historical evidence surrounding one man who changed the course of human history more profoundly than anyone who has ever lived.
His name was Jesus of Nazareth. How do we know He was real?
We don't have to rely solely upon the New Testament to answer that question. There are references to Jesus in ancient writings outside the Bible.
The Roman historian Tacitus, writing in the early second century, referred to Christ and explained that He had been executed during the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius under Pontius Pilate. Tacitus was NOT a follower of Jesus. In fact, he had no reason to promote the beliefs of those who followed Him.
The Jewish historian Josephus also referred to Jesus and to James, “the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ.” Again, Josephus was not writing as a follower of Jesus. And you know what else? Even the devil believes in Christ, but he's not going to heaven. The point is, even he and his demons know that Christ is real. The Bible even says they tremble even at the hearing of His name!
Other ancient writers, including Pliny the Younger and Suetonius, provide additional evidence concerning Jesus and the people who followed Him. But there is something even more important to consider.
The earliest writings about Jesus appeared during the same generation in which He lived. The Apostle Paul wrote about Jesus only decades after His death. And Paul wasn't writing about some distant legendary figure whose story had grown through hundreds of years of storytelling. He knew people who had known Jesus personally.
Paul wrote:
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve disciples: After that, he was seen of above 500 brethren at once.” 1 Corinthians 15:3–6
Notice something. The central message wasn't simply that Jesus had been a great teacher. His followers were saying something much more extraordinary. They said He had been crucified. They said He had died. They said He had been buried. And they said they had seen Him alive again. And this message began in Jerusalem...the very place where Jesus had been publicly executed. That matters!
This wasn't a story that appeared centuries later in some distant land. The claims about Jesus began in the same place where the events happened, while people who could challenge those claims were still alive. Something happened that caused His frightened and grieving followers to become convinced that Jesus was alive. And they didn't merely hold that belief privately. They proclaimed it publicly, even when doing so brought them persecution and suffering. Even death!
Yes, suffering for a belief doesn't automatically prove that the belief is true. But it does tell us something important: these people sincerely believed what they were saying. They and the 500 witnesses at His Ascension, were not describing Jesus as a mythical character who had lived hundreds of years earlier. They were talking about a real man they had KNOWN.
A man who had walked the roads of Galilee.
A man who had spoken to ordinary people.
A man who had touched the sick.
A man who had wept.
A man who had been betrayed by someone who sat at His own table.
A man who had been nailed to a Roman cross.
And a man whom His followers insisted they saw alive afterward.
A man whom the disciples gave up everything to follow him and watched him Ascend into heaven to His Father, amongst 500 other witnesses.
A man the disciples were willing to give their very lives for. They were threatened, they were imprisoned, even tortured for their beliefs, yet they were willing to die for their Savior, after He ascended to join His Father in heaven... and they spread the gospel throughout the land. Do you know what sacrifice that took and what faith? They weren't just guessing. They were living out their faith no matter the cost. That's trust, dedication, and commitment to a man they knew as Jesus, their Savior. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't follow a man whom I wasn't sure of. Neither did His disciples. They knew exactly who He was. They were with Jesus daily. He taught them, and they saw him do miracles, one right after the other. In fact, they were so sure of him, they left everything behind and followed Him all the days of His life on earth, until His blessed ascension took Him to His heavenly Father.
So perhaps the question isn't really, “Was Jesus real?” The historical evidence gives us very good reason to say yes. The more important question is, “Who was He?” Because Jesus made claims about Himself that no ordinary teacher could make.
He said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6
He didn't simply say, “Follow my teachings.” He called people to follow Him. And that is where this becomes personal.
You don't have to settle every argument about religion in order to investigate Jesus. You don't have to defend a denomination. You don't have to trust every person who calls themselves a follower... the Bible said there will be false prophets in this world, but it is the Holy Spirit that helps us discern who is a true, committed follower of Christ. It says we shall know them by their fruits/talk and actions. It's not about what denomination one belongs to.
People can disappoint us. Religious institutions can disappoint us. People can misuse God's name. But none of those things change who Jesus was. So I would encourage you to put everything else aside for a moment. Forget the arguments. Forget the hypocrisy you've seen. Forget the people who have used religion to hurt others. You may rest assured that their sins do not go unnoticed by God. They shall reap what they sowed. Meaning that deceiver's actions, habits, and choices always lead to matching consequences.
Just look at Jesus. Read what He actually said. Look at how He treated people. Look at how He responded to the broken, the rejected, the sinful, and the hurting. Look at the cross. And then ask yourself one honest question:
“Who is this Jesus?”
Because perhaps you aren't being asked to find a religion. Perhaps you are being invited to find a Person. A Person who loved you enough to willingly lay down His life for you:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Jesus isn't asking you to believe in a system. He is calling you to Himself. And that is why the question of whether Jesus was real, matters so much. I can honestly tell you that not only I, but thousands of others have found Christ to be not only real, but is present in our daily lives. Do you really think I would/could have followed Him for 53 years, if He was not real? He absolutely proved it to me. When I invited Jesus into my heart and life, there was no guessing that H was real. He healed me. He showed me just who he was, in a way that I had no idea could happen to me. Not an inkling.
That's why there's no guessing about it for me. When I accepted him as my Lord and Savior, He immediately, as promised, sent His Holy Spirit to abide in me and cleansed this sinner's heart, and transformed my life completely for the good. His Holy Spirit was sent to lead and guide me through life and show me the way that leads to a more happy and abundant Life. His love and Spirit saturated every space in my heart. Nothing in this life can satisfy our spirit like Jesus. Nothing can substitute for Him and His saving grace. I found that out myself. All it took was a prayer inviting him into my heart and life as my Savior, and that's something any of us can do. John 3:16 to 17
If He was only a man, then He belongs in history.
But if He really is who He claimed to be...
then He belongs in your life. ♥🫂
