The 12 apostles were around Jesus for most of the day, every day. That would make them pretty reliable witnesses to how Jesus acted and the fact that he did accomplish what the gospels state that he did. They traveled with him, ate with him, stayed with him, and watched him almost 24 hours a day. They were eye witnesses to Jesus’ acts and that he was sinless. When Jesus said ‘Which of you can convict me of Sin?’, no one spoke! If the apostles believed as they did that Jesus was the son of God and the deity come to earth in human form then they would have had a hard time still believing if they saw him committing sins. If I tried to pull that off, I am sure my wife would be able to stand right up and tell a couple of good tales; and the same goes for each of us. We could easily be found out as a sinner; yet not a single mouth opened to convict Jesus of sin; even the 12 men that were with him night and day.
Many of the apostles were common men, fishermen, a tax collector, and so forth. They also traveled great distances to other countries to declare that Jesus was resurrected and is the savior of mankind. They were first hand witnesses that Jesus body was put into the tomb and sealed. Three days later, just as predicted, the tomb was empty.
Could they have been just part of a big practical joke and made this all up? That is a common thought among non-believers, but it is seriously unlikely. Remember that these are the same men that, save for one of them, all died rather painful deaths to defend what they knew was the truth. Judas hung himself for betraying Jesus; not something I would be willing to do if I knew it was all a big joke and he really was not the son of God. James, as far as can be determined, managed to die of old age. The other 10 were beaten, imprisoned and put to death for spreading the word of Jesus Christ. Why would they do that if they knew it was a lie or a joke? Would you die for your best friend to protect the lie that he thought he was God in human form? At least one of them would have stood up and said “hang on, we didn’t mean it….Jesus was just a man”; yet none did. How are we so sure of that? Simply because the Jews that were torturing them would have shouted it from the roof tops and Christianity would have been blown out of the water before it started! Yet, there are churches all over the place!
It is very unlikely that the apostles would chose to be tortured and killed for something they knew to not be true. They witnessed Jesus’ miracles and his life; of all the people that think know if He was not who He said He was, they would be the ones. With that they were willing to die, most painfully, to spread his word. That in itself is powerful evidence that Jesus was who He said He was and that His acts were true and pure.
In His service,
Hunter B.
