They were naive in those days, they would believe anything!

It would be futile (and wrong) to suggest that some of us are not naive. There are naive people here today, and there were naive people at the time the Scriptures were written. However equally so there are skeptics today and there were skeptics then. In Acts 17:32 we read “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, 'We will hear you again on this matter.'”

So the issue is not really about the existence of either the naive or of the skeptic. Actually, the verse just quoted points to a pivotal issue, the question of the resurrection from the dead. If you can prove that Jesus did not rise from the dead, you have disproved Christianity and the Bible. Many have tried, and finding a grave with the name “Jesus” on it, won't do it. There are probably thousands in south America, where Jesus is a common name, perhaps as many as those that contain the name Mohammad in the Middle East. I mean what would it really prove? A DNA test on the bones won't work will it? And Dan Brown's doubts and (silly) theories won't either!

If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then we can safely dismiss His claim to be the Great “I Am” (John 8:58; Exodus 3:13,14). In the words of John Stott's trichotomy Jesus was either a lunatic or a liar or He is who he claimed to be, Lord (see post of March 7, 2011). It is nonsense to claim that He was just a good teacher when He made such extravagant claims about Himself. He claimed, for example “I am the way the truth and the life, No one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). There is no possibility of being neutral here. Jesus does not give us that option. If He is not who He says His is, He is either a liar or a megalomaniac. If you reject these last too options you are left only with the possibility that He is Lord.

There is much written about these things. But to come back to the resurrection, one of the questions we need to ask is, if Jesus did not rise from the dead what was it that changed the disciples from a bunch of cowards who ran and even denied their Lord, into a bold and fearless group that turned the World upside down? Some scholars have suggested that the disciples did not want to give up the cushy lifestyle they had enjoyed with Jesus, so they invented the story of the resurrection. But with the possible exception of John they all died for their faith. But who would die for a lie?

As I say there are books that are written about these things. As I also said there were and are naive people, and there are and were skeptics, but the Acts reference points to a third group of people, those with open minds, people who are willing to check things out. Which are you a mocker or one who “will hear you again on this matter”.

The fact is that most who do not believe, have not investigated the claims of Christ period, or if they have, they have not done so with their adult mind. There are some real questions that need to be wrestled with. I want to say this gently but I do not believe it is honest to simply dismiss these things with the sweeping assumption that people were (or are) naive! Some of the greatest minds that walked the earth, believed in God. How about you? Have you ever seriously investigate the claims of Christ? What if it's all true? You can know. More to come on this!