Is There Actual Evidence for Jesus?

“Is there actual evidence on Jesus Christ?”

Great question, Grace! There is a lot of evidence that Jesus of Nazareth actually existed—so much so that even people who don’t believe his claims acknowledge that he was a real person. The non-Christian historians Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and Suetonius made mention of him or his followers.

But we need more than that—we need evidence that his claims about himself, that he is the Jewish Messiah and the Savior of the world, are true! And there is a lot of evidence for that.

The Bible itself is our primary and most important source about who Jesus is and what he did during his ministry in first-century Palestine. The four books that tell us about Jesus’ ministry are called the Gospels, and the men who wrote them were careful to write down everything accurately. But even more importantly, God made sure they didn’t get anything wrong—that’s what we call the inspiration of Scripture! The Gospels give us a starting place to understand these three pieces of evidence supporting that Jesus is the Messiah:

1. Most importantly, Jesus was raised from the dead. This confirmed everything he claimed, and it proves we can trust him to forgive our sins. Today, the Bible is the primary source that tells us about Jesus’ resurrection, but Paul wrote when most of the witnesses were alive, including 500 who all saw Jesus at the same time!
2. The apostles’ beliefs changed in ways that only make sense in light of the resurrection of Jesus. They had been Jewish people with typical Jewish beliefs, including about the resurrection, which Jews believed would happen at the end of time.1 There was no room in that doctrine for one person to be raised ahead of everyone else. However, immediately after Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples incorporated this event into their theology. I like to think that when Jesus opened the Scriptures to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (recorded in Luke 24), this is part of what he explained to them! Theologians say this sudden change in belief only makes sense if Jesus was actually raised from the dead.
3. The Holy Spirit bears witness to Jesus, and without his help, we can’t place our faith in Jesus at all! This doesn’t really help us convince others about Jesus, but he helps us be sure for ourselves.

Do you have a question about the Bible? Ask your parents to help you submit your question today. We’d love to hear from you!

Footnotes

1. While some people were raised from the dead during the ministries of Elijah and Elisha, and Jesus and Paul also raised people from the dead, those people later died. This is talking about the final resurrection, after which there is no more death.