# 54: Authenticity of Jesus

Can the Bible prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus Christ really existed and that He did everything the New Testament claims? No. But there is credible evidence besides the Bible to substantiate His historical existence and the truth behind his actions as described in the Bible. Reading from the “Funk & Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia #14,” “Today, however, scholars generally agree that His existence is authenticated, both by Christian writers and by a number of Roman and Jewish historians.” One of those Jewish historians’ names was Josephus. He was born in Jerusalem and he made friends at the court of Emperor Nero. He therefore enjoyed imperial patronage under Vespasian. Josephus lived in Rome and devoted himself to his writing. Though he was not a friend of the early Christians, he writes in the latter part of the first century. While still in Rome, he wrote about a man from Galilee that did many miracles and how His followers thought of Him as the Son of God. Though that is not conclusive proof of His existence, it does, to a degree, substantiate the Bible message."

If one could miniaturize the entire universe down to a size that would fit under an electron microscope, the earth, and possibly our sun, could not be found—they are that small in comparison to the size of our universe. That tells me that we should see ourselves in a humble manner and put our planet in a realistic context with the rest of our environment. This thought is worth exploring. We think our planet is of unique value and importance. But is it really? I don’t think so. Our greatness is less than that of peons even though we look at ourselves as oh-so-important. And yet, even though as physical beings we are so infinitesimal (size does not exist in the spirit realm), because of God’s awesome grace, He actually counts genuine Christians as kings and queens. On that same note, of all the infinite number of God-like beings in the universe, just one is of more value to the Creator than all the inanimate galaxies put together.

Note this: In this dog-eat-dog world, a self-centered person in essence believes, without even whispering so much as a word to anyone, that he or she is the most important and valuable person in the universe. That could mean that being SELF-CENTERED is an extremely critical position to be in. And who will the first to openly admit that they are self-centered?