The question is yours to answer. Was Jesus a real man or was he a myth?
I know, it may feel like a sacrilegious proposition. Some readers may be reeling with disgust at the mere suggestion that Jesus didn’t exist…(because He 100% absolutely, literally did live as the Son of God on Earth, exactly and only as the Bible states. Right? Right.)
And, on the other end of the spectrum, Atheists will be arming themselves with their evidence of nonexistence, standing ready to contradict my words if I *dared* declare Jesus *DID* exist nearly 2000 years ago.
As we dive into the crucible of the question, the truth in the scriptures includes: Jesus was the one and only Son of Father God, conceived by the Holy Spirit in his virgin mother, Mary. He led a ministry of healing, transformation of water into wine, and assorted miracles, exorcisms, and bringing people back to life; and then was celebrated as the King of the Jews, even riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
He was also reported to have caused a ruckus in the temple courtyards, and brazenly rebelled against the religious laws and practices at the time; and then, was arrested, crucified, and resurrected into heaven on the third day as reported in visions experienced by His disciples who became apostles.
Four of the gospels about his life were canonized in the New Testament and later on into one of an estimated 1500 different language translations in the world, not to mention, more than 450 translations in English alone.
Believers agree with their preferred version of Biblical truth, and nonbelievers know enough of the story to have decided against Jesus and Christianity for one reason or another in their life.
Yet, when we turn our gaze across history’s timeline, we see the long-time suffering endured in the world over the truth in nature of Jesus, as man and Son of God, including in the concept of the Trinity. (Fitting to mention on today, Trinity Sunday.)
The Trinity was first officially debated way back in 325 AD/CE at the First Council of Nicaea, where the arguments, and other particulars about what was the ultimate truth above all other truths, started and still continue to this day and age.
Schism after schism, reformations, and divided time and again into smaller fragments, the One body, the One church, that was spoken of in the New Testament, was noted to have split into more than 30,000 denominations as published in 2001. We are nearly 2000 years out from when Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God, was crucified, and Christians are even further away from being One in unity and love.
The truth is that we’ve been looking at it from too narrow of an angle and it’s time to broaden our perspective.
We are being called to take a leap in faith (the faith that makes mountains move) and consider fully what exists on the other side of our beliefs about Jesus to bring balance back into our world, and grow stronger in faith at the same time.
This means, let’s consider the possibility Jesus didn’t exist in the flesh literally as in The Bible.
After all, truthfully, we still don’t have solid evidence or proof in any discovered records that He lived as the stories in The Bible tell us He did.
Even if we believe it is all true.
But, before we go further…
If in this moment your inner world feels shaken and rattled after reading this far, if you feel anger, or indignation; distress or despair; or concern, doubt, or worry… take a centering breath (or two, or more), and receive the grace that is yours:
…[this is] the moment to spread your wings in faith of your beliefs and fly on your own. Soar like an eagle, wild goose, or dove in the sky, and if by chance your faith-wings fail you, know that Jesus is alive and standing by to swoop in and catch you if you start to fall. (The Gospel of Joy)
And, depending on how all this resonating within you, it may be wise to pause for prayer and meditation because solid grounding is essential for further contemplation. This concept was even mentioned earlier this month by His Holiness Pope Francis, in a reflection on Contemplative Prayer.
Then, when ready, come back to the deeper questions at a later time.
For those who are ready to press on in faith:
What would it mean if Jesus literally did walk on Earth as The Bible says? What would change if He didn’t? What would it mean in your life personally for you?
What if he was a metaphorical symbol in a founding myth for humanity, but not actually a real man in history?
How would it change the fact that He demonstrated a life of the perfect moral human in relationship to God (that is, of Love) written by the authors of the gospels in which restores humanity’s entry into the Garden of Eden through his sacrifice, thereby erasing Adam sin as recorded in the creation story of humans in Genesis?
Really consider it for the first time if you haven’t ever opened to consider it before:
What if the gospels are the greatest fairy tale of love for all of humanity carried forward throughout generations?
For those who are willing to acknowledge the possibility that there is more to explore, we’ll step out in faith even further and raise our gaze to the heavens above, an even higher universal perspective may be revealed.
Similar to other founding myths in history, perhaps the stories of Jesus in the canonized gospels were first written in the universe by the placement and movement of the planets, sun, moon, and stars, and scribed into human history. After all, Genesis 1:14, “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years” (ESV).
At least one scholar has investigated this extensively, David Warner Mathisen, author of Star Myths of the World and How to Interpret Them, Volume 3: Star Myths of the Bible. Mathisen pointed out a major issue in the baby Jesus storyline regarding the Magi (the 3 wise men). The Magi from the East saw the star in the east after Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea; they traveled from the east to Jerusalem to find the king of the Jews (Matthew 2:2).
The issue was they should have headed east towards the star in the eastern sky, not west (away from the star in the east). Could this be proof that the story was designed to match constellation positions in the sky and not that it was a record of a real-life timeline from Earth?
As described by Mathisen in volume 3, an English clergyman and radical free thinker, Reverend Robert Taylor (1784-1844), came to similar realizations in his studies of Biblical texts—the scriptures were celestial metaphor from beginning to end. That was, none of it happened; all were symbols in the sky.
His beliefs came with expulsion from the church and imprisonment more than once. But from that point onward, he preached, “As the Psalmist sublimely explains: “For ever, O Lord, thy word is true in Heaven.” And so it is: but it was never true on earth: and none but a fool or a dunce would ever have dreamed that it was so. And they who have represented Christ and his apostles as persons that ever existed upon earth, do turn the truth of God into a lie.”
This was without a doubt heretical ground. And one can fully understand why Reverend Taylor was expulsed from the church in his day.
But, we’re now in the year 2021 AD/CE. Almost 2000 years have passed since Jesus’ time, and this subject remains controversial. Generations of Christians have argued, fought, and harmed each other over their beliefs regarding the nature of Jesus of Nazareth who was the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Not enough people have stopped to question, “Does it even matter whether or not he existed on earth at all?”
Because when you really stop to think about it, ultimately it doesn’t matter.
It really, truly doesn’t.
He wasn’t just alive in history, he is alive right now in Spirit existing in this present moment, too!
Jesus is ALIVE!
Looking back to the scriptures, it was written that Jesus returned as the living Spirit within the earliest Christians, first reported in the visions Mary had of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, after he resurrected and appeared to her outside of the tomb.
This meant, in a mystical experience, she felt the familiar presence of Jesus surrounding her and may have smelled his essence or felt His energy or heard his voice in her mind. Somehow, even though he was not in his physical body in front of her, she knew in her heart and mind that Jesus was speaking to her and alive.
Jesus was alive within Mary, and then He appeared to the other Apostles, including in mystical visions for Saul who became the Apostle Paul. It wasn’t just one of the early Christians, it was within all of them (remember the event of Pentecost?) And, it was in these testimonies of the living Spirit of Jesus from within that was, and continues to be, the proof of Jesus’ existence.
Going beyond scripture and anything of this world, the inner presence of Jesus Christ is what all Christians should be endeavoring to experience (if you don’t believe me, go back and read the New Testament again).
The fact that Jesus is alive in Spirit just as the Bible promised us He would be for us is my personal truth, too. It doesn’t matter one bit if the gospels *weren’t* literal real-life accounts because Jesus appeared to me like he came in visions to Mary, and the other disciples, and to Saul (Apostle Paul), and in the lives of the saints and mystics throughout history.
And, like me, those with a testimony of Jesus in their own life can shrug when presented with these questions—of whether or not Jesus was just celestial metaphor—because it doesn’t matter either way. The inner knowing is so deeply rooted in the truth of my own experience of the living presence of Jesus in my heart and mind that it honestly doesn’t matter what did or did not happen two millennia ago. Jesus is alive and with me every day.
Beyond the crucifixion, the beauty of God’s love for us is Jesus alive in Spirit as a High Priest (Hebrews 4:14), and all we have to do is, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
It doesn’t matter whether we ever come to a final without-a-doubt answer whether Jesus existed literally as the Bible says He did or not, because:
Anyone anywhere can call upon the name of Jesus whether they are a Christian or not, for his light was given unto the world and to all the nations. We may follow his example and shine bright like the sun and stars in the skies, with the light and the love of Christ in our hearts and minds, until we once again partake of the tree of life as a child of the living Spirit of God and receive the river of peace from the living waters within. This is the way of miracles for the completion of joy, and it is given to each and every one of us to do our part in the creation of Heaven on Earth (TGOJ)
So, let’s go together in Christ!
For more about The Gospel of Joy, click here, for more about Shannon, click here, to connect, click here, to return to the home page, click here.
Image licensed from Shutterstock ID: 73125796
Jesus is alive and well. I believe all of the Bible is true