As a youth, I was a consumer of adventure stories, particularly of Robin Hood and King Arthur. As I approached adulthood, I experienced a bit of sadness realizing these were characters in legends and were not historical figures. Actually, there may have been real people that inspired the legends, but the stories I fell in love with were not history. Now, as a Christian, I love and revere the stories of Jesus and rail against the efforts to place them in the same category as a sword pulled from a stone or splitting an arrow at an archery contest.

Jesus is not a figure from Hebrew mythology; He was a real person in history. He was a man. The seventh chapter of the Gospel of John records some debate about Jesus as He taught in the temple. His words reflected the Old Testament in such a way that some considered Him the fulfillment of prophesy while others wanted to arrest Him. That is a debate that is still going. When healed of congenital blindness, the man told the authorities he had been healed by “a man called Jesus” (John 9:11).

Jesus is Mentioned in Secular History.

MacDonald has compiled several ancient nonbiblical sources which refer to Jesus or reflect the context in which he ministered, and some of them confirm historical elements about Jesus that are in the canonical Gospels.^[1] These include the Roman historians Tacitus, Seutonius, Pliny the Younger, and Celsus. Even pejorative depictions of Jesus in graffiti give evidence that Jesus existed.

The Quests for the Historical Jesus are Problematic.

Since the 1980’s, there have been several attempts to outline the life and times of the “historical” Jesus. On the positive side, the scholars and historians involved in these projects agree that there was a real person in history named Jesus at the center of the movement that bears His name. On the negative side, these successive quests for the historical Jesus have held in common that the depiction of Jesus in the Gospels is not to be taken as historical reality. As James Dunn writes, “If the quest of the historical Jesus is characterized by one feature above all others, it is the contrast between ‘the historical Jesus’ and ‘the Christ of faith,’ or probably more accurately, the antithesis between ‘the historical Jesus’ and ‘the Christ of faith.’”^[2].

This stands in opposition to the evangelical tradition of seeking to know the real Jesus by simply reading the Bible. Still, after discounting the religious elements of the Gospels, historians generally agree on some central items. As the non-Christian historian Adele Reinhartz lists, “Concerning the historical Jesus, I would suggest that we are on solid ground with regard to six points: (1) he was born in Galilee (2) sometime right before or right after what we refer to as the turn of the eras; (3) he was baptized by John; (4) he gathered a following, and (5) he was crucified on the order of Pontius Pilate. Finally, (6) we can say with certainty that Jesus was a Jewish man.”^[3] Most people that want to know more about Jesus may be skeptical of the religious elements, but reading the Gospel narrative is the desired avenue of inquiry. Gary Habermas said, “the New Testament has always been and still remains the best source for the historicity of Jesus.”^[4]

Jesus Has Had an Impact on History.

J. Warner Wallace claims that Christians have been key initiators of every major field of scientific study and spends several pages listing the categories.^[5] He demonstrates the same level of impact on education and the arts. For centuries, years have been reckoned as being B.C. (before Christ) or A.D. (in the year of our Lord). Recently, efforts to downplay the impact of Jesus have led to these terms being replaced by B.C.E. and C.E. These acronyms can stand for “before the Christian Era” and “Christian Era,” or, alternatively, “before the Common Era” and “Common Era.” The effort is moot, because the life of Jesus is still the dividing line.

The Dangers of Discounting Jesus’ Divinity.

As we see, the main objections Christians face is not against those who claim Jesus was a man. The greater issue is with those who say Jesus was only a man. As the crowds were confronted with Jesus teaching in the Temple in John 7, some considered Him a good man and others, a troublemaker (John 7:12). Others were amazed and curious. The officers sent to arrest Him did not serve their warrant. They said, “Never has a man spoken like this!” (John 7:46). No other man ever can.

Conclusion

Robin Hood and King Arthur may or may not have been men. Jesus was certainly a man, but He was certainly also more than a man. The man healed from blindness was correct in calling Jesus a man, but he came to realize that Jesus is much more. He is a Man like no other.Subscribe

Bibliography

Dunn, James D. G.. A New Perspective on Jesus (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology): What the Quest for the Historical Jesus Missed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005.

Gary Habermas, Evidence for the Historical Jesus Is the Jesus of History the Christ of Faith Cambridge, OH: Christian Publishing House, 2020.

McDonald, Lee Martin. The Story of Jesus in History and Faith: An Introduction. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.

Reinhartz, Adele. “Beyond the Jewish Jesus Debate” in The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus. edited by James Crossley, and Chris Keith. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2024.

Wallace, J Warner. Person of Interest. Grand Rapids, MI: 2021.

^[1] Lee Martin McDonald, The Story of Jesus in History and Faith: An Introduction, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 127.

^[2] James D. G. Dunn, A New Perspective on Jesus (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology): What the Quest for the Historical Jesus Missed (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 16.

^[3] Adele Reinhartz, “Beyond the Jewish Jesus Debate” in The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus, edited by James Crossley, and Chris Keith (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2024), 71.

^[4] Gary Habermas, Evidence for the Historical Jesus Is the Jesus of History the Christ of Faith (Cambridge, OH: Christian Publishing House, 2020).

^[5] J. Warner Wallace, Person of Interest (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2021), 200.