In one of the villages in northern India a missionary was preaching in a bazaar. Afterward a Mohammedan came up and said, “You must admit that we Mohammedans have one thing that you Christians have not. We at least can take our people to Medina where they can see the tomb of Mohammed, but when you Christians go to Jerusalem, you have only an empty tomb.”
And the missionary answered, “Thank God, you are right! That is the difference between our faith and yours. Your leader is in his grave, but Jesus Christ, whose kingdom is to include all nations and peoples and tribes, is not in any grave. He is risen! And He says from the resurrection side of an empty tomb, ‘All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth’ (Matthew 28:1818And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18)).”
You ask, “Did Christ really live?”
That is one thing that all agree upon—that this person who claimed to be the Son of God really lived here on earth among men.
We know when He lived—from about 4 B.C. until around 30 A.D. We know where He was born—in Bethlehem of Judea, a real town. We know where He lived for most of the years of His life—in Nazareth, in northern Galilee. There He worked as a carpenter.
We know many of the characters of His day—their names appear in other historical writings outside of the Bible: Herod the Great, King Agrippa, Salome, Pontius Pilate, Tiberius Caesar, Gamaliel, Felix and Festus.
Every history of the ancient world and every encyclopedia records the fact that Jesus lived during the first century of our era. All dates of history are now designated by the letters B.C. or A.D., both of which refer to the time of the birth of Christ.
JESUS CHRIST LIVED!
HE LIVES!