EVIDENCE

I can't tell you how many times over the years that someone has asked me, "How can you actually believe that Jesus is the Son of God - the ONLY way to heaven?" Well, the first and most logical answer is that Jesus said He was the only way. In John 14:6 Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me." But usually a true skeptic will say, "Well of course JESUS said that! But what makes that true?" Then I usually talk about the resurrection - If Jesus isn't the Son of God then where's the body? If there is no resurrection then we should have proof of a body somewhere. We can locate the burial places of all the other well known spiritual leaders and if we dig in those places we'll find the remains. There are no remains of Jesus to be found! Then, as they did in the time of Jesus, the skeptics will say, "That's easy - they took the body and hid it so no one could find it!" Well, that debate starts to fade when we understand that there were guards placed at the tomb of Jesus to prevent that very thing from happening. I also tell people of the differences in my life that I know are there because God has delivered me through the blood of Christ and on and on it goes. But some years ago I started to think about the disciples who were there with Jesus - the ones who (according to the skeptics) were following a phoney - the ones who would have been responsible for hiding the body and perpetuating a lie. What happened to those men? Well, according to the book of martyrs they were all killed in defense of the gospel of Christ! I find that amazing to know - that the men who not only met Jesus but were taught by Jesus, lived with Jesus and followed Him in their lives were all willing to go to their death in defense of Jesus! Think about that for a minute. If the entire ministry of Jesus was a lie and the disciples somehow miraculously were able to overcome two Roman soldiers to get the body of Christ and then bury it secrectly to give the appearance of a resurrection; why allow yourself to be killed for a lie? According to Fox's Book Of Martyrs; James was beheaded, "Doubting" Thomas was run through with a spear, Phillip was crucified, Matthew was killed by a Halberd (basically a large axe), James (the step-brother of Jesus) had his skull crushed with a fuller's club, Andrew was crucified, Mark was dragged to pieces by an angry mob, Peter was crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to die the same was that Jesus had died, Jude (a step-brother of Jesus) was crucified, Luke was hanged, Simon was crucified and Bartholomew was beaten then crucified. The only one of the original apostles to not be killed was the one described as "the disciple whom Jesus loved". John died inprisoned on the island of Patmos. Every one of those men gave their lives to the cause of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. I suppose it might be possible that one or two might live the lie to the extent of giving their life - but all of them!? Those men had been changed! Their lives were never the same after they met Jesus. I understand that our belief today is based largely on faith - even though we see the evidence in our lives, it is faith that gives the glory of those things to God. But it goes beyond those men who worked with Jesus. There were literally thousands of others in that same time who saw the example of those disciples and knew it meant something. So they too were willing to give their lives for the cause of Christ. I can tell you today that even with my imperfections I am a changed person because of Jesus Christ. And I cherish the testimony of those original apostles who gave their lives for the truth that they experienced first hand in Jesus Christ. Beond the obvious proof of the scriptures, their deaths for the cause of Christ is evidence enough for me.