In part one of the “Can the Bible be Trusted” series, we saw how it is highly improbable it is for the whole story of Jesus to be a myth.  

But you realized that all our evidence was pulled out of scripture. If we are really trying to prove the credibility of the bible, some extra-biblical historical sources that corroborate the accounts in the bible will really do us good. Are they any historical works to back the claims of the bible? We expect that there would be many works talking about Jesus Christ, because he was doing some strange things. If they had newspapers back in the day, we expect that Jesus would be making headlines all over.  

Unfortunately, a lot of the works from history do not feature Jesus as strongly as we would expect. Examining documents form the time of Augustus Caesar and Tiberius Caesar, we can safely conclude that Jesus didn’t make the headlines in his day. He wasn’t the talk of the world, and many of the people who mentioned him, mentioned him only in passing. Tacitus (AD 56-120), a Roman senator and historian said, “Christus suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hand of one of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome…” (Annals 15:44, quoted by Lee Strobbel in “The Case for Christ”). Tacitus himself wasn’t a believer, and from his work, you can see the contempt he harbored for the Christians. 

Now, this statement by Tacitus tells us a lot. First, Tacitus regarded Christians as a nuisance. Secondly, he acknowledge that Jesus was crucified by Pontius Pilate. Third, he asserts that the early Christians believed that Christ rose from the dead. He calls it a most mischievous superstition. Note how he distinguishes what he knows to be a fact, i.e., the existence and crucifixion of Jesus, from what the belief of the Christians was. Fourth, he acknowledges that the gospel spread from Judaea to Rome, just as the bible says. Tacitus knew that Jesus did exist and was crucified, but called his resurrection, a most mischievous superstition. All this, he mentioned in passing.  

And there are many sources like this. In fact, Gary Habermas, in his book, “The Historical Jesus” details a total on 39 ancient sources from which he enumerates more than a hundred reported facts about Jesus’ life, teachings, crucifixion and resurrection. * Not only do these extra-biblical accounts verify the story of Jesus, they also verify many other facts scripture puts forth. Archaeology has repeatedly established that Luke, who wrote a quarter of the New Testament, was a careful and accurate historian. *  

But if Jesus was doing all that, why wasn’t he making headlines all over the world? It’s not every day you see someone raise people from the dead. Why did they not focus on him? 

Friends, there is just something about the life of Jesus. In the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus spoke about how the kingdom of God was like a small seed that grew into a mighty tree. Everything about Jesus while he lived, was so obscure. He was born in Israel, which was a small and unimportant colony among the Roman colonies. He was born to a carpenter, and historians tell us that in his day, the carpenters were poorer than the peasants. And in 3 years, his life was over. Plus, we also know that before him there were many people claiming to be something. Miracle workers were not uncommon, but all these people were larger than life and had some political ambition, i.e., to topple the Roman rule. He did not even have those ambitions, so He came and left like a small breeze. 

But not to be forgotten. This small mustard seed has become a mighty forest! And as time went on, historians will begin to focus on this movement which will go on to shape the world in an unmistakable way.  

Family, so there you have it. Once again we can see that the things we believe and things we implore others to hold on to are not cleverly invented stories. They did happen, just as the bible said. The bible is a credible source of information, and it will do us good to hold on to the words therein, and believe on Jesus Christ. 

**Quotes taken from “Experiencing the Passion of Jesus” by Lee Strobel and Gary Poole