Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
—ACTS 4:12
WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE VICTORY OF THE CROSS? That it could not hold the Savior of the world, who triumphed over sin and death, winning salvation for mankind. The resurrection story of Jesus Christ is what gives meaning and power to the cross. What a failure Christianity would be if it could not carry our hopes beyond the coldness and depths of the grave. You see, the resurrection means the salvation of our souls.
What does the resurrection mean to you? Many have never thought about it. Some believe that Jesus died leaving a legacy of “Do good to your neighbor,” never believing that He was raised from the dead. Others think the resurrection was a hoax. There are those who question whether Jesus even existed. True believers in Jesus Christ have no doubt that He lived among us, died for our sins, and after three days was resurrected to life, conquering the sting of death, offering the human race the greatest gift—His sacrificial love.
Several months ago an entertainment network carried a story on the Billy Graham Library, highlighting it as a point of interest in the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. The show’s cohost, Kristy Villa, arrived on the property along with her crew and was met by a colleague who explained what visitors might experience while there. She drew the journalist’s attention to the many crosses displayed, including the forty-foot glass cross through which visitors enter the building.
Halfway through the presentation Villa said with a sense of awe, “I see all the crosses, but where is Jesus?” The colleague smiled and said, “He’s in Heaven, and He is also present in the lives of those who believe in Him and follow Him as their personal Lord and Savior.” The journalist threw her hands around her face and exclaimed, “Oh, that’s right! Some worship a crucifix, but Christians worship a risen Christ.” After a moment Villa said, “I have been in church my whole life, but I have never heard the emphasis put on an empty cross.”
She may not have realized it, but she had just proclaimed the heart of the Gospel, as I have done for more than seventy years, and later told her viewers, “This destination [the Library] is a place you must come and see!”1 When I heard this marvelous report, it made my heart leap, and I thought about the words of the psalmist: “Come and see what God has done . . . for mankind!” (Psalm 66:5 NIV).
The question we must all answer is, “What does Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection mean to us, and what does it mean to be saved?”
Many people, including some who claim to be Christians, do not fully grasp the impact that the crucified and risen Christ makes upon the human heart. How do I know this? Because there is no change in them. Have you asked yourself, “What do I believe about the empty cross and the empty tomb?”
The foot of the empty cross is the ultimate destination in life. Your acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice, or your rejection of it, determines your future life. If you do not believe that Jesus died for you, then you will remain the same, being gripped by sin and dying by its penalty, with certainty of eternal judgment in Hell and banishment from God. But if you believe that Jesus rose from the grave, achieving victory over the cross of death, and you accept that He paid your penalty, you will never be the same.
THE EMPTY CROSS IS FULL OF HOPE
The cross represents doom for sin and hope for sinners. It condemns sin and cleanses souls. The cross is where Jesus was crucified in our place and where Christ brings resurrection life to mankind. The bloodstained cross is gruesome to some, but the empty cross is full of hope.
Satan, overly eager to thwart God’s purposes, overstepped his bounds, and God turned what seemed to be life’s greatest tragedy into history’s greatest triumph. The death of Christ, perpetrated by evil men, was thought by them to be the end, but His grave became but a doorway to a larger victory.
The resurrection empowers faith in Jesus Christ. If I did not believe that Christ overcame death on the cross and bodily rose from the grave, I would have quit preaching years ago. I am absolutely convinced that Jesus is living at this moment at the right hand of God the Father and reigns in my heart. I believe it by faith, and I believe it by evidence found in the Scriptures.
Luke, a physician and disciple of Jesus, was one of the most brilliant men of his day; he made this startling statement about the resurrection in the book of Acts: “He . . . presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).
These “infallible proofs” have been debated for two thousand years. Many people have come to know the truth while they tried to prove Jesus’ resurrection a lie and failed. Others ignore the facts recorded in the best-selling book of all time, the Bible.
Television and radio host Larry King, who has been a friend of mine for many years, was once asked what historical figure he would most want to interview. His answer? Jesus. “I would like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me.”2
My response is always that Jesus was virgin born because the Bible says so. The angel appeared to Joseph and said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20–21 NIV).
The virgin birth is a stumbling block for many because they refuse to believe God’s Word—the Bible—as evidence. You cannot believe in someone if you do not believe their words.
Jesus was born of a virgin, fulfilling prophecy. Jesus was crucified on a cross, fulfilling prophecy. Jesus died for the sins of mankind, fulfilling prophecy. Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb, fulfilling prophecy. Jesus was raised from the dead, fulfilling prophecy. Jesus ascended into the heavens, also fulfilling prophecy. And this same Jesus will come again one day in fulfillment of prophecy. This is the hope and certainty of all those who believe in Him.
You may say, “Well, I don’t believe.” I would ask you this simple question: “Why?” Many people do not believe that Jesus ever existed, much less died and rose again, yet the calendar uses the birth of Jesus as the central point of time. Why? Because He came to earth, He died and rose again, and He is coming back. Jesus has defined history, giving hope for our tomorrows.
While much of the world challenges those of the Christian faith to prove the actual existence of Jesus, a post on a prominent atheist website states that denying Jesus existed is like “saying . . . somebody willfully ignores the overwhelming evidence.” Another says that “if he didn’t exist, we’ll never be able to prove it.”3
The Old Testament predicted Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection, and the New Testament documents the fulfillment of these prophecies, yet many people reject its truth. Why is it that the biographies of so many others are believed when they were written long after their deaths?
Alexander the Great’s biography, for instance, was written four hundred years after he died, so its author obviously never knew him. But Alexander’s legacy lives on while people doubt the life of Christ as documented by the Gospel writers who walked with Jesus.4
Many people down through the centuries never had a record of their own births. Yet the existence of Jesus is still called into question despite the intricate genealogy, recorded in the Bible, that has stood the test of time. Skeptics question His existence because of the “silent” years from age twelve to thirty. Yet the Bible documents great numbers of eyewitness accounts of His birth, His Person, His ministry, His death, and His bodily resurrection.
Did you know some today question whether William Shakespeare wrote the plays that bear his name? Why? Because “not one of Shakespeare’s original manuscripts survives.”5 Many scholars claim that a “practical, down-to-earth rustic from the English outback . . . lacked the sophistication . . . and depth of knowledge to produce a great body of brilliant work.”6 A well-known Shakespearean actor stated in a Washington Times article, “I’m pretty convinced our playwright wasn’t that fellow.”7
Some see Shakespeare as a legend, a pseudonym, because there are no documents dating his birth or what Shakespeare did between the 1580s and 1592;8 there are simply no accounts of his life during this time. His biography is peppered with suppositions and possibilities, yet “Shakespeare is the second most quoted writer in the English language—after the various writers of the Bible.”9
Does that surprise you? It did me. Shakespeare’s work is acclaimed in the literary world as genius, proving the truth of the famous eulogy by his fellow poet Ben Jonson: “He was not of an age, but for all time!”10
A very credible online article entitled “How We Know That Shakespeare Wrote Shakespeare” invites the reader to consider a number of historical facts, one being that the playwright’s “contemporaries knew who he was, and there was never any doubt in the minds of those who knew him.”11 The authors conclude:
How do we know that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare? We know because the historical record tells us so, strongly and unequivocally. The historical evidence demonstrates that one and the same man, William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon, was . . . William Shakespeare the author of the plays and poems that bear his name. . . .
[Those who assert otherwise] must rely solely upon speculation about what they think the “real” author should have been like, because they cannot produce one historical fact to bolster their refusal to accept who that author actually was. No matter how they try to ignore it or explain it away, the historical record—all of it—establishes William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon as the author of the works traditionally attributed to him.12
In his last will and testament, revised one month before his death, Shakespeare stated:
In the name of God . . . I William Shakespeare of Stratford upon Avon . . . in perfect health and memory, God be praised, do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following—that is to say, first, I commend my soul into the hands of God my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour, to be made partaker of life everlasting.13
Engraved on his tombstone are these words:
Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear. . . .
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.14
“Though it was customary to dig up the bones from previous graves to make room for others, Shakespeare’s remains are still undisturbed.”15
I never met the great playwright, of course, but I believe he existed. His work has remained for this age, but his remains, by his own admission, are in the grave, awaiting the next great and monumental event of all time, the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus, not Shakespeare, is the One who is “not of an age, but for all time.” Jesus Himself said: “Behold, I am coming quickly . . . I am . . . the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last” (Revelation 22:12–13).
You will never meet Shakespeare in this life because he is dead. But you can meet Jesus Christ in this life because He lives! The marks of His sacrifice on the cross are found in human hearts. Most gravestones bear the words: “Here lie the remains of . . .” But from Christ’s tomb came the living words of an angel, declaring: “He is not here, but is risen!” (Luke 24:6). Jesus’ tomb is history’s only empty grave. Christianity has no dusty remains of the Savior to venerate, not a tomb or shrine of His to worship.
Many lawyers and jurists of history became convinced that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a great and attested fact of history. John Singleton Copley, Lord Lyndhurst, considered one of the greatest legal minds in nineteenth-century Britain, stated it this way: “I know pretty well what evidence is; and I tell you, such evidence as that for the Resurrection [of Christ] has never broken down yet.”16
Simon Greenleaf of Harvard University was one of “the finest writers and best esteemed legal authorities in [the nineteenth] century,”17 and his 1842 text A Treatise on the Law of Evidence is still considered a classic.18 In his book Testimony of the Evangelists, he approached the matter of Christ’s resurrection from the standpoint of fact and evidence and concluded, “It was therefore impossible that [the Gospel writers] could have persisted in affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually rose from the dead.”19
Dr. William Lyon Phelps, beloved professor of English literature at Yale University for many years, declared, “The historical evidence for the resurrection [of Christ] is stronger than any other miracle.”20
These statements are from leading intellectuals who have studied the matter from the standpoint of valid evidence, so the voice of the scholar harmonizes with that of the angels and the disciples to declare in certainty today: “Christ the Lord is risen today.”21
There is more evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived or that Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three. It is strange that historians will accept thousands of facts for which they can produce only shreds of evidence. But in the face of the overwhelming evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they cast a skeptical eye and hold intellectual doubts. The trouble with these people is that they do not want to believe. Their spiritual vision is so blinded, and they are so completely prejudiced, that they cannot accept the glorious fact of the resurrection of Christ on Bible testimony alone.
While many institutions are reluctant to authenticate biblical accounts, the Smithsonian Institution states:
The Bible, in particular the historical books of the old testament, are as accurate historical documents as any that we have from antiquity and are in fact more accurate than many of the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, or Greek histories.
These Biblical records can be and are used . . . in archeological work. For the most part, historical events described took place and the peoples cited really existed.22
The world of science cannot unequivocally deny the Bible, and neither can history, based on the evidence of eyewitness accounts. Here is what the Bible says:
For I delivered to you first of all . . . 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 by Cephas [Peter], then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present. (1 Corinthians 15:3–6)
And what about the fact that when Jesus breathed His last, there was a great earthquake and graves opened, and many dead people were raised to life? If you had been there and witnessed your loved ones walking around after you had buried them, would you believe? Would it change your life?
Satan is on the move to discredit God’s Word and the resurrection. He plays with our minds, causing us to doubt, just as he did with Eve in the garden so long ago. His tactics have not changed. Jesus said, “My words will never pass away” (Luke 21:33 NIV).
There is no middle ground when it comes to Jesus Christ. You either believe Him and live for Him or reject Him and live for yourself. Satan relentlessly whispers in your ear, trying to plant doubt in your mind about the truth.
For those who have not answered the question, “Where is Jesus?” Satan wants you to reject the fact that He lives today in the hearts of those who believe in Him. For those who have settled the question, Satan wants you to doubt Christ’s power in your life. It is important to know who the enemy is and how his battle plan unfolds. From the beginning Satan longed to rob God of His rightful place, His throne of glory and power. Satan will never accomplish his goal in the big picture, but he can accomplish it in our lives if we let him, instead of the resurrected Christ, rule in our hearts.
DOWN THROUGH THE CENTURIES
Jesus once asked His disciples a challenging question:
Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?”
So they answered, “John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.” (Mark 8:27–29)
As you read these pages, do you sense Jesus asking, “Who do you say that I am?”
Well, it is interesting to go back through the centuries and consider what others have said about Jesus. Skeptics claim that the Scriptures are not believable, yet testimonies about Jesus’ life and resurrection come from historians, philosophers, scientists, churchmen, and, yes, even atheists. Evidence is substantiated in scrolls of antiquity, quill-stained parchments, and modern communications.
Centuries of history document testimony concerning Jesus. As early as the first century, a Jewish historian named Flavius Josephus, whose personal acceptance of Jesus as Messiah is debatable, confirmed the impact Jesus Christ made in the hearts of His followers:
About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man. . . . He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. When Pilate . . . had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared to them restored to life, for the prophets of God had prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.23
Justin Martyr and Tertullian, second-century historians and philosophers, refer to the existence of an official document in Rome from Pontius Pilate that speaks of Jesus’ crucifixion: “Tiberius . . . having himself received intelligence from Palestine of events which had clearly shown the truth of Christ’s divinity, brought the matter before the senate, with his own decision in favor of Christ.”24
In fact, the acts of Pontius Pilate related to Jesus’ trial, crucifixion, and resurrection are documented by quite a few early sources, most notably Justin, Tertullian, and Eusebius, who reported on their examination of letters from Pilate to Tiberius Caesar regarding the trial and execution of Jesus.25 While many call into question the authenticity of such resources, it is not so inconceivable to believe that the most dramatic event in Israel would not be properly documented by the ruling procurator of Judea, who would be expected to give full account to the emperor of Rome.
Even negative historical documents carry evidence of the truth and power of the biblical story. The fourth-century Roman emperor named Julian the Apostate opposed Christians and wrote of them disparagingly, but even his insults bear witness:
Jesus . . . has now been celebrated about three hundred years having done nothing in his lifetime worthy of fame, unless anyone thinks it is a very great work to heal lame and blind people and exorcise demoniacs. . . . These impious Galileans not only feed their own poor, but ours also; welcoming them into their agapae [love].26
The end of Julian’s life bears an interesting “backward” testimony as well. He was fatally wounded during a battle with the Persians and died sometime later. Many accounts claim that as he held up his dagger toward the sky, his last words were, “Vicisti, Galilaee,” which translates, “Thou hast conquered, O Galilean.”27
The Athenian philosopher Socrates lived four centuries before Jesus and was engaged in the pursuit of truth. His most famous quote is “I know that I know nothing.”28 Though this famous Greek left no written word behind him, we know about him because his followers, particularly Plato, “wrote their recollections of what he had said and done.”29 One writer has noted that “Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ’s 3-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity.”30 This opinion echoes that of Augustine in the fourth century: “I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are very wise and very beautiful; but I never read in either of them: ‘Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden.’”31
Many centuries later, in the 1700s, the influential Swiss-French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote admiringly of Jesus:
If the life and death of Socrates are those of a sage, the life and death of Jesus are those of a God. Shall we suppose the evangelic history a mere fiction? . . . it bears not the marks of fiction. On the contrary, the history of Socrates, which nobody presumes to doubt, is not so well attested as that of Jesus Christ.32
And since the truth of Christ is absolute, His life and death confirms the fulfillment of His resurrection.
Johann Sebastian Bach’s masterpieces of the eighteenth century were centered on Christ’s death and resurrection. When Bach died in 1750, it was said that he “yield[ed] up his blessed soul to his saviour.”33
The emperor Napoleon in the early nineteenth century spoke convincingly of the truth of the Bible’s claims about Jesus:
I know men, and I tell you that Jesus Christ is not a [mere] man. Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of empires and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not exist. . . . I search in vain in history to find the similar to Jesus Christ, or any thing which can approach the gospel. Neither history, nor humanity, nor the ages, nor nature offer me any thing with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here every thing is extraordinary. The more I consider the gospel, the more I am assured that there is nothing there which is not beyond the march of events and above the human mind. . . . You speak of Caesar, of Alexander; of their conquests, and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers. But can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory. My armies have forgotten me, even while living, as the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is our power! . . . Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires. But upon what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ alone founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him.34
Vincent Van Gogh, the great Dutch painter and mysterious personality, commented “Christ . . . is more of an artist than the artists; he works in the living spirit and the living flesh, he makes men instead of statues.”35
Lord Byron, the British Romantic poet from a generation earlier, stated even more concisely, “If ever man was God or God man, Jesus Christ was both.”36
And classic science-fiction novelist H. G. Wells wrote in 1935:
It is interesting and significant that a historian, without any theological bias whatever, should find that he cannot portray the progress of humanity honestly without giving a foremost place to a penniless teacher from Nazareth. . . . [One] like myself, who does not even call himself a Christian, finds the picture centering irresistibly around the life and character of this most significant man. . . . the world began to be a different world from the day that [His] doctrine was preached.37
Why is this? Because Jesus is the Word of God in flesh. He was resurrected to fulfill that living Word, and He lives today.
The prolific and eloquent nineteenth-century novelist Charles Dickens wrote, “I now most solemnly impress upon you the truth and beauty of the Christian religion, as it came from Christ Himself.”38
The American statesman Daniel Webster said, “If I could comprehend [Jesus Christ], he could be no greater than myself. Such is my sense of sin, and consciousness of my inability to save myself, that I feel I need a superhuman Saviour.”39 A short time before he died in 1852, he wrote, “My heart has always assured and reassured me, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be a Divine Reality. . . . The whole history of man proves it.”40
There is no Gospel without the certainty of the resurrection. That’s what makes the Gospel the Gospel and its certain hope.
American historian George Bancroft, US secretary of the navy and founder of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis in the 1800s, said, “I find the name of Jesus Christ written on the top of every page of modern history.”41
David Strauss, a German theologian and a most bitter opponent of the supernatural elements of the Gospels, whose work may have done more to destroy faith in Christ than the writings of any other man in modern times, confessed toward the end of his life that “This Christ . . . is historical, not mythical; is an individual, no mere symbol. . . . He remains the highest model of religion within the reach of our thought; and no perfect piety is possible without his presence in the heart.”42
Swiss-born theologian and historian Philip Schaff, who wrote in response to Strauss, added this assessment:
This Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of schools, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of any orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and sweet songs of praise, than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.43
This man, Jesus, lived among us, died at our sinful hands, and rose from the grave to give us life everlasting.
Ernest Renan, French historian from the nineteenth century and an expert in ancient civilizations, said, . . . “all history is incomprehensible without [Christ]. . . . whatever may be the unexpected phenomena of the future, Jesus will not be surpassed. . . . all the ages will proclaim that, among the sons of men, there is none born who is greater than Jesus.”44
Sholem Asch, a Polish-born Yiddish writer from the early twentieth century, wrote,
Jesus Christ is to me the outstanding personality of all time, all history, both as Son of God and as Son of Man. Everything he ever said or did has value for us today and that is something you can say of no other man, dead or alive. There is no easy middle ground to stroll upon. You either accept Jesus or reject him. You can analyze Mohammed and . . . Buddha, but don’t try it with him.45
Asch also penned this memorable line about Jesus: “He became the Light of the World. Why shouldn’t I, a Jew, be proud of that?”46
When the Pharisees told Jesus to silence His followers for proclaiming Him the King of glory, Jesus said, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 19:40). Archaeology is a sought-after adventure. Some enter this field, studying antiquities, to disprove the Bible. But when many brush the dust of the earth from their knees, they confess that Jesus is Lord! The very rocks do cry out that Jesus lives.
Archaeologist William Albright, born in Chile of missionary parents, stated, “There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of Old Testament tradition.”47 Jewish archaeologist Nelson Glueck said, “It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible.”48
Where do you stand among these men of history when it comes to Jesus Christ?
As communication tools became more widely available, documenting history became easier, and the twentieth century gave us libraries of information that will keep generations busy until Jesus Himself returns, confirming the overwhelming evidence found in the Bible.
Kenneth Scott Latourette, former president of the American Historical Society, stated,
Even if we did not have the four brief accounts which we call the Gospels we could gain a fairly adequate impression of him and of the salient points of his life, teachings, death, and resurrection from references in letters of his followers written within a generation of his death. . . .
It is evidence of his importance, of the effect that [Jesus] has had upon history and, presumably, of the baffling mystery of his being that no other life ever lived on this planet has evoked so huge a volume of literature among so many peoples and languages, and that, far from ebbing, the flood continues to mount . . . Some characteristics stand out so distinctly in the accounts . . . that they are a guarantee of authenticity, so obviously are they from life and not invented or even seriously distorted . . . 49
Mahatma Gandhi of India said, “[Jesus—] a man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.”50
Orthodox Jewish scholar Pinchas Lapide said, “I accept the resurrection of Easter Sunday not as an invention of the community of disciples, but as a historical event.”51
Dr. Charles Malik, past president of the United Nations General Assembly and someone I was privileged to know, wrote “These Things I Believe,” which included this memorable line about Jesus: “His words are wonderful; his acts, including his resurrection, were wonderful; but he himself is far more wonderful. . . . he said what he said, and did what he did, only because he was who he said he was!”52 Dr. Malik is also quoted as having asked, “Having fully realized that the whole world is dissolving before our very eyes, it is impossible to ask a more far-reaching question than this: ‘Do you believe in Jesus Christ?’”53
Even Newsweek magazine editor Kenneth Woodward, with whom I have had the privilege of speaking many times, wrote at the turn of the twenty-first century and the birth of a new millennium,
Historians did not record [Jesus’] birth. Nor, for 30 years, did anyone pay him much heed. A Jew from the Galilean hill country with a reputation for teaching and healing, he showed up at the age of 33 in Jerusalem during Passover. In three days, he was arrested, tried and convicted of treason, then executed like the commonest of criminals. His followers said that God raised him from the dead. Except among those who believed in him, the event passed without notice.
Two thousand years later, the centuries themselves are measured from the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. At the end of [1999], calendars in India and China, like those in Europe, America and the Middle East, will register the dawn of the third millennium. . . . the birth of Jesus . . . number[s] the days for Christians and non-Christians alike. For Christians, Jesus is the hinge on which the door of history swings, the point at which eternity intersects with time, the Savior who redeems time by drawing all things to himself. As the second millennium draws to a close, nearly a third of the world’s population claims to be his followers.54
Some years ago I was invited to have coffee with Konrad Adenauer before he retired as the chancellor of Germany. He asked me, “What is the most important thing in the world?” Before I could answer, he gave the right answer and said, “The resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ is alive, then there is hope for the world. If Jesus Christ is in the grave, then I don’t see the slightest glimmer of hope on the horizon.”
Legendary actor Charlton Heston recorded the famous statement, “There’s been more ink—and blood—spilled over this man since they nailed Him to the cross than over any single human being in history.”55
Even today in the twenty-first century, throngs of people acclaim the newly rediscovered Leonardo da Vinci fifteenth-century painting entitled Savior of the World. The piece had been lost for five hundred years, disguised by layers of overpainting, and was painstakingly restored before going on exhibit in London in 2001. When asked, “How can we know this is a da Vinci?” the answer was because art experts say so.56
Do great choirs and symphonies question the brilliant composer when singing or playing George Frideric Handel’s Messiah? For more than 270 years, audiences have listened to this magnificent composition. The text for the music was compiled from the Bible by Handel’s friend Charles Jennens, who chose 1 Timothy 3:16 for Messiah’s epigraph: “God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up to glory.”57 When the oratorio was first performed in 1742, a member of the audience expressed gratitude to Handel for “producing such a wonderful piece of ‘entertainment.’ ‘Entertainment!’ Handel replied. ‘My purpose was not to entertain, but to teach them something.’”58 And for centuries now Handel’s message has resonated in hearts, proclaiming that Jesus is the Lord who died and rose again. A soaring soprano solo in the Messiah masterpiece combines Job 19 and 1 Corinthians 15 to proclaim:
I know that my Redeemer liveth . . .
For now is Christ risen from the dead.59
Elvis Presley, who died in 1977, still ranks as one of America’s most successful performers, filling arenas around the world via multimedia presentations. I remember seeing a clip from a concert where someone handed him a crown. Elvis stopped his song and said, “I’m not the King. There’s only one King, and that’s Jesus Christ.” I also remember hearing international British pop icon Cliff Richard, who did a film for us some years ago, say that “no man can follow Christ and go astray.”
THE LEAP OF FAITH TO ETERNAL LIFE
In October 1929, the Saturday Evening Post published a landmark interview with the great physicist and mathematician Albert Einstein. I find his response to questions of Jesus as a historical figure simply breathtaking. He answered, “I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene. . . . No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.”60
While no one knows if Einstein ever made Jesus the Lord of his life, he did say this near the end of his life:
If you ask me to prove what I believe, I can’t. . . . The mind can proceed only so far upon what it knows and can prove. There comes a point where the mind takes a leap . . . and comes out upon a higher plane of knowledge, but can never prove how it got there. All great discoveries have involved such a leap.61
This, my friend, may be the point in time for your higher plane—relying on more than others’ testimonies and completely on faith in God alone because of what He says about Himself. “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). This leap of faith is given when you speak the name of Jesus in sincere truth, realizing that you are Hellbound without His forgiving grace and mercy. Ask Him to look into your barren heart and your hungry soul and fill it with the faith to believe that He will change you. No matter how much knowledge you gather, no matter how much proof you accumulate, you will never know the Lord Jesus Christ without taking the certain leap of faith that salvation comes only from Him. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for” (Hebrews 11:1–2 NIV).
The question remains: What have you decided about Jesus Christ? There is no such thing as staying neutral. Peter Larson wrote, “Despite our efforts to keep Him out, God intrudes. The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities: a virgin’s womb and an empty tomb.’”62
There are many among us today who acknowledge Jesus as a historical figure. Many even claim to follow Him, but their lives do not reflect a change in their thinking or in their behavior or whether the Holy Spirit reigns within them, enabling them to think godly thoughts and behave in a way that honors the Lord. The Bible says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6).
Someone wrote,
Buddha never claimed to be God. Moses never claimed to be Jehovah. Mohammed never claimed to be Allah. Yet Jesus Christ claimed to be the true and living God. Buddha simply said, “I am a teacher in search of the truth.” Jesus said, “I am the Truth.” Confucius said, “I never claimed to be holy.” Jesus said, “Who convicts me of sin?” Mohammed said, “Unless God throws his cloak over me, I have no hope.” Jesus said, “Unless you believe in me, you will die in your sins.”63
Many years ago I visited an old monastery in India. I saw old relics that had been dug up and are now worshiped by Buddhists in the area. Muslims point with pride to Mecca, where the body of their prophet, Mohammed, is buried. Followers of Confucius revere the remains of their master, who is buried in an imposing tomb at Shandong, in the People’s Republic of China. But what distinguishes Christianity from all other religions is the fact that Jesus lives and reigns as the only Savior of the world.
What do Socrates, Bach, and Shakespeare have in common? They are remembered as bigger than life, but they are dead and in the grave and can do nothing for you. Walk into the great cathedrals whose spires pierce the sky, and you will see paintings and sculptures memorializing robust men who are still revered and kind women who reached down to the lowly in compassion. But they, too, lie silent in death; they can do nothing for you.
But where is Jesus? Sadly, artists too often have depicted Him as feeble, weak, and dead—still hanging on the cross. This is not the truth; for the One who is depicted hanging lifeless and broken on the cross is instead full of the breath of life, full of glory. He drank the cup of sin for all by emptying His life’s blood so that He could fill us with the gift of eternal life by His resurrection.
Look to others and see that they are no different from you and me—we don’t need a religion; we need a Savior. Christianity is the faith of the empty tomb, a religion centered not on a dead leader but on the living Lord.
PROOF COMES BY FAITH
While it is captivating to read what others say about Jesus Christ, faith is still the key to believing in Christ, who saves the sinner’s soul.
As I meditate on the infallible proofs from Scripture of the life, death, and resurrection of this One solitary life, it occurs to me that there is a tremendous amount of convincing evidence—evidence that would be acceptable in any court of law as to the validity of Christ’s resurrection. But there are many who still have serious doubts. I am not presumptuous when I say that I have no doubts. I have experienced the living Christ in my heart. But for some of you who may be skeptical, there are many other reasons why I am sure that Christ rose from the dead.
Christ’s birth was no ordinary birth. It was accompanied by angels’ voices and celestial wonders. His life was no ordinary life, for it was marked by many signs and miracles. We’ve seen that His death was no ordinary death, for it was distinguished by unusual compassion, geological disturbances, and solar irregularities. Such a life could not long be contained in a grave, even though it was sealed in a prison of stone.
Yes, the Old Testament predicted that Christ would rise again. Every important event in Jesus’ life was described many centuries before He came in the flesh, and when Jesus came, He fulfilled every prophecy.
“The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). The Bible also says:
He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.
(ISAIAH 53:12)
The LORD makes his life an offering for sin. . . .
After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life.
(ISAIAH 53:10–11 NIV)
We’ve also seen that during Christ’s ministry He taught that He would die and be resurrected (Matthew 20:18–19). This blessed Christ, who never deviated from the truth, can certainly be trusted, and His own words comprise some of the most reliable and convincing evidence of His resurrection.
Jesus connected His own resurrection with our endless life when He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25–26).
Do you accept these words of Jesus? I do. Even His most avowed enemies never caught Him in a lie. He, who was truth itself, can be trusted implicitly. He said He would be in the grave three days—and He was. He said He would come forth from the grave—and He did. He said that all those who believe in Him would have hope of everlasting life—and they have. He said, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore” (Revelation 1:18). And we, also, will one day die and be resurrected. This is the great hope and certainty for those who follow Jesus.
We have the documented testimonies of those who were eyewitnesses to His resurrection. Angels, His disciples, the Roman soldiers, and a myriad of witnesses all shouted, “He is risen! . . . Surely He is the Son of God.”
The angel said to those who came to pay tribute to the dead, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you” (Luke 24:5–6 NIV). Mary Magdalene, scarlet sinner saved by grace, rushed breathlessly to the disheartened disciples with the glad news, “I have seen the Lord!” (John 20:18 NIV).
Peter, always the outspoken one, said, “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. . . . by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead” (Acts 10:39–41 NIV).
Peter also wrote,
We did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. (2 Peter 1:16–18 NIV)
The Bible says the apostle Paul “went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. ‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the [Christ],’ he said” (Acts 17:2–3 NIV).
When you look for Jesus you will not find Him on the cross nor will you find Him in the tomb—the cross is barren, the tomb empty. Your empty heart, though, can be filled with the forgiveness of the bloodstained cross and glory of the vacant tomb. He lives and abides within those who believe and obey Him by following His Word. We live and die, and in between we are all given the same choice—what will we do with Jesus—the resurrected Christ?
Even without these proofs I would still know that Christ lives because He lives in me. I talk to Him every morning when I wake up. He walks with me, and even as I write these words, His presence is overwhelmingly known. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).
Are you looking for Jesus? He is near you today. Look at the cross, and you will see the evidence—His blood shed for you—but He is not there. Look at the tomb, and you will see the evidence—it is empty—for He lives! The Bible says, “Look to Me, and be saved. . . . For I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22). Look for Jesus—He is knocking at the door of your heart.
Listen to God’s promise to you: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11). The evidence is before you. Examine it and then examine your heart. Roll back the stone of unbelief and behold the glow of an empty tomb and the thrill of a full heart and new life. The stone at Christ’s tomb was not rolled away to let out Jesus but to let in the eyewitnesses to declare, “He is risen!”
James Hastings, a Scottish minister and biblical scholar in the early twentieth century, told an intriguing story about a German artist named Sternberg. As a little gypsy girl was sitting for a portrait in his studio, she noticed on the wall a half-finished portrait of Christ on the cross. The girl asked who it was. When told it was Jesus, she responded that he must have been a very wicked man to have been nailed to a cross. The painter told her that, on the contrary, “Christ was the best man that ever lived, and that He died on the cross that others might live.” Then the little gypsy girl looked at him with such innocence and asked, “Did He die for you?” The question haunted Sternberg’s conscience day and night, for though he knew the truth about Christ, he had not accepted Him as his Savior. He found he was no longer satisfied with life until he answered the question that you must also answer: Did He die for you?64 If so, then you must die to self and find life anew in the resurrected Savior.
Have you received the living Christ? I am not asking you to receive a Christ who is hanging dead on a cross. Take Christ into your life—the resurrected Christ, who walks with those He has transformed by His grace. This Christ lives and is coming back to earth someday.
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR HIM? HAS HE CHANGED YOUR LIFE?
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. . . . who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed.
(1 PETER 1:3-5 NIV)