True
“… think about how improbable it would be to make up a fictional person like Jesus. You’d have Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in a room. And the other apostles say, “Okay guys, I know you don’t have any writing experience, but we need you to write the most influential work in human history. You need to create Jesus as the Messiah. He needs to be verified by the people who saw Jesus and fulfill the Old Testament prophecies. We need Jesus to be the greatest figure in human history. He is God but also man, sinless but touchable. He needs to be the fulfillment of all the Jewish hopes but also have global appeal to the Gentiles. He needs to have a heart melting with kindness yet have a stern determination. We need him to give sublime ethical teaching — the kind that builds civilizations. We need extraordinary miracles from him — the kind that would have been noticed and could not be contradicted. We need him to be impeccably righteous but is nonetheless condemned as a blasphemer. We need it all to stand up to scrutiny of scripture and theology. And confirmed geographically and historically. And it needs to be believable today and for all the generations to come. Got it? Now get to work!” – Pastor Tony Walliser
True
“Just as the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us. It also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence … so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.” – Luke 1:2-4
In a world where we are becoming more and more use to hearing half-truths, partial truths, someone’s personal version of truth, or a mixture of truth and spin from our leaders, from the media…even from our neighbors, co-workers and employees, no one is sure what the truth is anymore (especially during “election” season).
However, Jesus, Himself, reminds us that He is The Truth (as well as the way and the life) and then went about living it out. Yet sometimes it takes modern day experiences to help us realize that He is who He said that He is.
That’s why I like this Chuck Colson quote so much. It gives a clear picture of the Truth of Jesus Christ:
“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified, they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Everyone was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world — and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.” – Charles Colson
12 of the most powerful men in the world were involved with Watergate and they couldn’t keep a lie for 3 weeks. THREE weeks!
The Disciples endured much over 40 years as they proclaimed the gospel, as they shared what they had seen and learned first-hand, as they proclaimed the truth of the gospel. For 40 years they never once broke, they never once recanted their story or turned from the gospel. FORTY years! They did what they did and endured all that they did because they knew the Truth.
These 12 men not only knew the Truth but shared the Truth to a lost world around them. These 12, mostly uneducated, common men, changed the world forever! All because they knew the Truth and the power of that Truth. And the Truth set them free to do great things for Him.
What do you say about Jesus?
What does your life say about that Truth?
… the truth will set you free…
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”” – John 14:6-7 ESV