There are three universally accepted facts about the life of Jesus:

• He was a real man, probably born around 4 BC.
• He died a horrific, although somewhat common, death by crucifixion.
• In the days following his death, something happened.

How one determines what happened defines whether one is a Christian or not.

• Some would say the disciples had a group hallucination making them think they saw the risen Christ.
• Some would say the disciples concocted a giant lie and have pulled off the greatest hoax of all time.
• Some would say Jesus rose from the dead.

If the first two are right, Christianity is wrong; the Bible is false; and the myth of faith is destructive to all who believe.

If the last one is right, Christianity is right; the Bible is true; and everyone will face a day in which they will give an account to God of what they did in response to Jesus.

A few years ago, I was driving my car when it started making a horrible noise. I’m not a car guy, but my wife is so I called her. She wasn’t available so I kept driving trying to figure out the sound. Me trying to figure out a noise in my car is like Kid Rock trying to interpret a poem by Maya Angelou. Yet I tried anyway.

I noticed the sound only occurred when I turned the car, but I wasn’t able to diagnosis the problem. When I got home, I called a mechanic. Of course, he asked me to compare the noise to something. I described it as similar to if someone put some golf balls in a box and slowly see-sawed the box for side to side. He said it sounded like my CV joint was broken.

I carefully drove my car to the mechanic to be fixed. He was planning on having the car for the afternoon, so before I left I got my golf clubs out of the trunk. When I opened the trunk I noticed something. A few weeks earlier my golf bag was extra heavy and I realized I had too many old golf balls in my bag. At the same time I bought new golf shoes. Taking the shoes out of the box, I then emptied the old golf balls from my golf bag. I had never taken the box out of the trunk. Whenever I would drive and make a turn, the balls in the box would shift and make a low rumbling sound. My CV joint was not broken. The noise which sounded like golf balls see-sawing in a box was in fact golf balls see-sawing in the box.

On occasion the right answer to the question is the simplest answer. What happened following the death of Jesus? He rose from the dead. It is the simplest of all the answers. A few people might have a one time hallucination, but I doubt over 500 people over the course of 40 days and in several settings would have the same hallucination. People can concoct lies, but I have a tough time believing so grand of a lie could live for so long. People don’t rise from the dead, but with all the other miraculous events in his life, the resurrection seems to fit right in. I think the right answer is the obvious answer.

There is a fact about the Resurrection which few people like to admit. If someone believes it didn’t happen that changes who Jesus was. If Jesus rose from the dead, he was who he said he was—the Son of God. Yet if he didn’t, then he lied. He either knowingly lied or he was mentally ill and unintentionally led people astray. C.S. Lewis said that Jesus was either “liar, lunatic or Lord.”

Which do you believe about Jesus?

To me, he is Lord.

If you would like to discuss faith, please contact me. If you have car problems, call Jenny.