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In part 3 of “Why Believe in Jesus,” we take a closer look into the credibility of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. If you missed the first two parts of this series you can read Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE.
This age is quickly ending. All the signs given for the last days are converging together. Jesus Christ is returning to set up His kingdom to rule and reign in righteousness. Judgment will be swift and impartial. For those who follow Jesus, we will be part of His kingdom for all eternity. Those who choose to ignore Him will spend eternity with Satan and his demons.
This last sentence compels me to share these posts praying that the “scales would be removed from the eyes” (see Acts 9:18) of skeptics, doubters, and those who think they can approach our Creator on their own terms.
A Basic Principle of Logic
For more than 1600 years the deity of Jesus Christ was seldom questioned. Most people readily accepted the eyewitness accounts of His life contained in the gospels which made it clear that Jesus was God in human flesh. History records few voices that were raised to justify questioning the deity of Jesus Christ until about 400 years ago.
For millennia, most of mankind accepted that creation demands a Creator and that a world of infinite design demands a Designer. Yet Descartes and those who followed in his skeptical footsteps rejected the whole notion of God.
However, keep in mind that one basic principle of logic is that if you begin with a wrong premise, inevitably you will reach a faulty conclusion.
A Matter of Rebellion
Regarding the deity of Christ, once a person has rejected God, he must dismiss belief in the supernatural. This prejudice will force him to wear philosophical blinders, preventing a fair evaluation of any claim related to the deity of Jesus. A skeptic cannot admit the possibility that Jesus is God.
Some people just refuse to believe, even when presented with overwhelming facts.
Others may have run out of answers, but still refuse to bend their knee to Jesus. In that case, their rejection of Christ and His resurrection is no longer a matter of reason and logic, it is one of rebellion against God.
Therefore God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:9-11 (emphasis mine.)
The Credibility of the Gospels
Since all the essential facts we know about Jesus come from the gospels, in a very real sense all of Christianity is based on the credibility of those four gospel accounts.
Modern skeptics, men who lived at least 1700 years after Jesus insist that long periods of time elapsed between the life of Jesus and the writing of the gospels. However, their claims are not based on truth as the following will show.
The Credibility of the Gospels – the Book of John
The most read and loved book in the world is the Bible. Moreover, among the most read and loved books in the New Testament is the gospel of John. (The writings of the apostle John are one of my favorite books to read.)
The gospel of John is customarily set apart from the others because he didn’t intend to write an account of Jesus’s life in chronological form. John’s desire was to present the supernaturalness of Jesus in such a way that his readers would be led to faith.
He makes that clear in his classic comment near the end of the book:
“These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” – John 20:31
John had long outlived the other apostles and had noticed a tendency for some people to think of Jesus’s deity in terms like that found in Greek mythologies.
John wanted to make it clear to everyone that Jesus had come in the flesh. Moreover, Jesus of Nazareth was 100% human (albeit sinless) and 100% God.
John most likely read the synoptic gospels when they were first written, some 30 years before he wrote the gospel of John. He wanted his record to be unique, which may be why he presents several miracles and many of Jesus’s teachings that are not mentioned in the other gospels.
Moreover, this is probably why he presented Jesus as the Creator of all things.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were created through Him, and without Him nothing was created that was created. In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. The light shines in darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:1-5
In addition, John presents Jesus as the Judge, equal with God, the Resurrector, Rewarder, Redeemer, and Revealer.
Its message in accordance with its own stated purpose has been used throughout the centuries to win multitudes to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is perhaps the crowning proof of its authenticity and divine inspiration.
An uncomfortable fact that confronts skeptics is that more ancient manuscripts attest to the reliability (and late 1st-century date) of John’s gospel than exist for any other literary work of antiquity. Many pieces of papery have been discovered that validate the Bible (and especially John) more than any other ancient document.
The Credibility of the Gospels – the Book of Matthew
Matthew was an eyewitness to the events of Jesus’s life.
His gospel was written primarily to the Jews because he continually emphasized the fulfillment by Jesus of Old Testament prophecies proving He was indeed the Messiah. Matthew tells us that he was a “publican” or tax collector who left everything to follow Jesus.
Dr. Carsten Peter Thiede a German scholar, released to the press his scientific evidence that dated that a fragment of the Matthew’s gospel was written as early as AD 30. In the book Eyewitness to Jesus, he, and British scholar Matthew d’Ancona state,
“It now appears that the finished gospel according to Saint Matthew was also circulating in codex form at that time [A.D. 30 to 60]. It could conceivably have been read and handled by an eyewitness true to the Crucifixion.”
Dr. Carsten Peter Thiede and Matthew d’Ancona Eyewitness to Jesus (New York: Doubleday, 1996), 163.
This means that Matthew stood the test of scrutiny by the only people qualified to judge it, not scholars 1900 years removed from the events, but by the very eyewitness to the events themselves.
No wonder the early church accepted the gospel accounts immediately and gave them status as “other scriptures,” placing them alongside the Old Testament in their worship services.
The Credibility of the Gospels – the Book of Mark
Mark traditionally considered the author of the second gospel was probably the first to compile a life of Christ for the ever-expanding early church.
Mark was not an apostle, but he knew both Peter and Paul well and traveled with them frequently. It is thought that Mark was especially attached to Peter and in fact, he was with the apostle in “Babylon” when Peter wrote his first epistle (see 1 Peter 5:13).
Mark had heard both Peter and Paul preach many times and thoroughly knew the events of Jesus’s life. Moreover, because the disciples met in his mother’s home in Jerusalem, it is assumed that in his youth Mark had heard the Savior speak frequently.
The Credibility of the Gospels – the Book of Luke
Luke known as “the beloved physician” (see Colossians 4:14) and the author of the third gospel and the book of Acts was well-educated and gifted as a historical writer. Even those skeptics who malign the gospel records admit the quality of the literary style in Luke.
He was a Greek medical doctor who traveled extensively with the apostle Paul in spreading the gospel. It is thought that his book was written in AD 70. It is further thought that he read the gospel of Mark prior to writing, for he quotes 320 verses of Mark in the 1129 verses of his gospel.
As a Greek, Luke tended to write to the Greek mind, which gives his gospel a more universal appeal than Matthew. He emphasizes the humanity of Jesus more than the other writers.
Luke was not an eyewitness to the events he relates in his gospel, but he turns that deficit to an advantage by interviewing those who were there, producing a highly accurate and believable record.
No one person could have been privy to all the details found in Luke’s gospel, but by interviewing the witnesses, the doctor produced a compelling account of Jesus’s life, ministry, and death.
Because Luke refers to so many specific geographical locations in his writings, he made himself vulnerable to careful examination.
He listed 53 geographical locations, and, in every instance, archaeology has proven him accurate. His accuracy is so startling that several archaeologists such as W. F. Albright, have seen their faith restored or have turned from infidelity to faith. An example of the latter is Sir William Ramsey, one of the greatest classical archaeologists and geographers ever to have lived.
All the gospels are important. To gain a complete picture of Jesus’s unique life you must study all four. Each one emphasizes a different aspect of his character.
- Matthew, writing to the Jews presents Him as king.
- Mark presents Him as a servant.
- Luke presents Him as the perfect man.
- John presents Him as God in human flesh.
All four are accurate pictures of Jesus of Nazareth and help us to understand the Lord in all his uniqueness.
We Can Base Our Eternal Salvation on The Credibility of the Bible
The truth is no ancient book has anywhere near the number of whole copies or parts of manuscripts that we possess of the New Testament. Josh McDowell writes,
“When I finished my research into biblical reliability and released Evidence That Demands a Verdict in 1973, I was able to document 14,000 manuscripts of the New Testament alone. In 1980 I reissued and updated Evidence because of the vast amount of new research material available. Now, I am able to document 24,633 manuscripts of the New Testament alone.
The significance of the number of manuscripts documenting the New Testament is even greater when one realizes that in all of history, the number two book in manuscript authority is the Iliad, by Homer. It has 643 surviving manuscripts.”
The great number of manuscripts authenticating the New Testament motivated Sir Frederic George Kenyon one of the leading authorities on the reliability of ancient manuscripts to write:
“The interval then between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact net negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt this the scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written now has been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established.”
Quoted by Norman Geisler, General Introduction to the Bible, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 405.
Jesus Guaranteed the Accuracy of His Record
No one needs to worry about the reliability of the gospel records or the accuracy of our Lord’s messages. Jesus Christ took great care to ensure they would be infallible. It makes sense that if He was to go to such enormous lengths to save mankind, He would assure the accuracy of the narration of those events.
Moreover, that Christianity has existed for two millennia, all the while depending on the gospels to tell His story did not take Him by surprise. Therefore we can read the gospels and other New Testament books with the confidence that we are reading pure reports of what Jesus of Nazareth actually did and said.
For that reason, we can base our eternal salvation and destiny on them. To know who Jesus of Nazareth really was, the best strategy is to read closely what the gospels and the rest of the Bible, Old and New Testaments have to say about Him. Therefore, I need to ask you…
Do you have a relationship with the King of kings, Jesus Christ? He is our only hope of eternal life.
Maranatha! Until next time, I am Passionately Loving Jesus, the Anchor of my Soul.
Read the complete series here.
Resources
Websites
- Josh McDowell: What turns skeptics into believers?
- Probe.org: Reliability of the Bible
- Cold Case Christianity: Four Reasons The New Testament Gospels Are Reliable
- Don Stewart: Are the Four Gospels Historically Accurate?
Videos
Lee Strobel – The Case for Christ is explained in 16 minutes.
Lee Strobel, a former atheist turned Christian who wrote the book The Case for Christ, shares how he went from skeptic to believer. This 16-minute explanation explores the truth he uncovered about the resurrection, the gospel accounts, and the controversies he had to overcome to support the evidence for Christ and make a case for the foundational belief in Christianity.
