by Lee Strobel
What did I learn from the book? The book is written by a former atheist turned pastor. Mr. Strobel compiled this book to prove that “God is Real.” The book contains several reasons why God is real from the cosmos to the universe being in fine tune. Everyone should read this book, whether you are a believer or a nonbeliever, in order to gain a better understanding of our God. I would like to concentrate on one aspect Mr. Strobel mentions in his book, which is that “Easter showed that Jesus is God.”
The first point he makes is that Jesus was killed by crucifixion. We know this from the historical perception of the four gospels, and there are several non-Christian sources that corroborate their accounts as well. For instance, the historian, Tacitus, said Jesus ‘suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius.’ The Jewish historian, Josephus, reports that Pilate ‘condemned Him to be crucified.’
The second fact is that the disciples believed that He rose and appeared to them. There are three strands of evidence as proof of this: 1) Paul’s testimony about the disciples 2) Oral traditions that passed through the early church 3) the written works of the early church. Paul’s testimony is crucial because he reports that he knew some of the disciples personally, such as Peter, James, and John. Then, we have the oral tradition. Back then there were no cell phones or tape recorders, plus very few people of that time could read, so they relied heavily on verbal transmission for passing along what happened until it was later written down. Finally, we have written sources, such as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and we know their writings were composed in the first century. In AD 110, Polycarp wrote a letter to the Philippian church where he mentions the resurrection of Jesus no fewer than five times. Just think about how the disciples had been transformed, to the point they were willing to endure persecution and even death.
We also have the conversion of the church by the former persecutor Paul. He was an enemy of the church and committed to persecuting it until he had a personal encounter with the resurrected Jesus. There are six ancient sources, in addition to Paul, that reported Paul was willing to suffer continuously and even die for his beliefs. Today, people come to know Jesus because they hear a message from a pastor, friend, or loved one. This was not the case for Paul, he was transformed because of a personal encounter with Jesus himself.
Then, there is the conversion of Jesus’ half-brother, James. We find in Mark and John that none of Jesus’ brothers believed in Him. We read in 1 Corinthians 15 that the risen Jesus appeared to James. A result of this encounter not only made James believe, but he later became a leader in the Jerusalem church. James was so convinced of Jesus’ Messiahship he died as a martyr.
Lastly, we have the tomb and it is empty. Again, there are three strands of evidence that support the tomb being empty: the Jerusalem factor, enemy attestation, and the testimony of women. The Jerusalem factor is where Jesus was actually executed and buried and then His resurrection was proclaimed in the same city. In fact, weeks after the Crucifixion, Peter declares to the people of Jerusalem ‘God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of it.’ Next, we have enemy attestation. Enemies of Christ were actually proclaiming the disciples stole the body. So, we are to believe the disciples stole the body then conspired to conceal it only to be beaten and put to death. Lastly, we have the testimony of women. Why is this important? In first century Jewish and Roman cultures, women were lowly esteemed and their testimony was considered very questionable. They were basically seen as less credible than men. So, if we were going to concoct a story about a risen Christ in an effort to fool others, why would we hurt the credibility of the story by saying women discovered an empty tomb? I think they would have said maybe Peter or John was the first to find an empty tomb.
The only thing I do know and believe is that the God we sinned against loved us enough to sacrifice the life of His only Son, adopt us as His children, and invite us to spend eternity with Him.
How will I use this book in the future? We have to come to God on His terms not ours. For me, that means I need to always keep my pride in check while displaying humility. I have loved doing many things in my life: spending time with family, farming, and sports, but the only thing that has really changed my life for the positive have been my trials and struggles. Through the darkness, I have come to know God and seek His wisdom, not mine. I put Him first today and will continue.