From Eliyahu 

Did the Son of God really die for us? Certainly, He did. Yet, there have been many contrary voices over the years. Some have said He is a complete myth and never really existed at all. People with this view are speaking from ignorance, since the historical reality of Y'shua/Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels has been well proven by archaeologists throughout the twentieth century. This is on top of all the documentary evidence from the first century onward, and the New Testament itself.

In fact, a number of well-known scholars became believers by researching this question of Christ as a historical figure. C. S. Lewis was one of these. As a young literary scholar at Oxford, C. S. Lewis was an atheist. At that time he believed the Biblical Jesus to be a myth, assuming the story to be a religious fantasy. Later, Lewis was talking with a friend at Oxford whom he describes as “the hardest boiled atheist of all the atheists I ever knew.” His friend said, “The evidence for the historicity of the Gospels was really surprisingly good … It almost looks as if it had really happened once.”

Lewis was stunned by this remark from such an unexpected source. This was enough to prompt Lewis to investigate the truth for himself. He writes about the result of his discovery of the historical Jesus in his classic book Mere Christianity.

Since the argument that Jesus never existed is so easily proven false, opponents of the Biblical account of His death have had to find another approach to discount it. The Passover Plot, a 1965 conspiracy theory book by Hugh J. Schonfield is probably the most outrageous of these arguments. Schonfield went so far as to invent a conspiracy theory in which Jesus faked His own death, with the help of the apostles. By this account, Jesus did not expect to be pierced by a Roman spear, which ruined the plot, killing Jesus. After that, the story goes, the apostles faked the resurrection story to start the Christian religion. I know; its stupid on so many levels. But some people will go to any length to maintain their grasp on their own sin.

Actually, there is no indication at all that the Jewish Y'shua, nor any of His Jewish apostles, had any intention ever of starting a new religion, certainly not the Christian Church. They were simply carrying forward the true worship given to the Covenant People, Israel. The Christian Church had its true start in the 2nd century as a schism, when the original movement was numerically overwhelmed by Gentiles, who broke away from the original ideals of Y'shua and the apostles, founding what became the Gentile Church system. These historical facts remove the supposed motive of The Passover Plot, of starting a new religion. 

Beyond that, the apostles were not the sort of people to concoct and execute such a devious and ambitious scheme. By their own account in the Gospels, there was nothing special about them. They were mostly just ordinary Jews of the working class - fishermen and the like. If Y'shua was hatching a plot, He certainly would have picked people better suited to con the world. No, these were authentic men chosen to show us that every man and woman could be saved through Messiah's death. They did what they did because they believed in Him with all their hearts. They knew what they had seen and been a part of, and it was real. Their lives were gripped by that reality, and everyone of them, except for the betrayer, maintained that testimony throughout their lives - and even in their deaths. No person would die to maintain a con game, a lie. Yet, all of the faithful apostles were willing to die for this truth, and most of them did.

Consider how the 12 apostles died. The New Testament was mostly completed early, reporting the deaths of only two of the apostles: Judas, the betrayer who went out and hanged himself, and James the son of Zebedee, who was executed by Herod about 44 AD (Acts 12:2).

Beyond this inspired information, we have traditions and legends regarding the end of the rest of the apostles. One early legend tells us they cast lots to divide up the world to determine who would go where, as witnesses of Messiah to the world. Stories from various nations seem to confirm this. None of this made for an easy life. In fact, they suffered as their Master had suffered, and most met violent deaths as their Master had, for the sake of the truth.

Here is what we learn about some of the apostles according to the ancient traditions and legends:

Peter and Paul: Both were martyred in Rome about 66 AD, during the persecutions of Emperor Nero. Peter was crucified, upside down at his request, since he did not consider himself worthy to die in the same manner as his Lord. Paul was beheaded for the faith.

Andrew:  He went to the "land of the man-eaters," in Russia. Local legends say he was the first to bring the gospel to that land. He also bore witness to Messiah in Asia Minor, Turkey, and Greece, where he was crucified.

Thomas: He witnessed in the area east of Syria, preaching as far east as India. It is claimed that he died in India, pierced by soldier's spears.

Philip: He witnessed to the populations in Carthage and Asia Minor. There the wife of a Roman proconsul put faith in Messiah. The proconsul was not pleased. He had Philip arrested and killed.

Matthew: He witnessed in Persia and Ethiopia. Reports say he was stabbed to death in Ethiopia.

Bartholomew: Tradition says he traveled to India with Thomas, to Armenia, to Ethiopia, and to Southern Arabia. He met his death as a martyr for the truth to which he bore witness.

James: The son of Alpheus is one of at least three James referred in Scripture. This James bore witness in Syria. He may have been stoned and clubbed to death for his faith.

Simon the Zealot: Preached in Persia and was killed for refusing to sacrifice to the sun god.

Matthais: He was chosen to replace Judas as apostle. He went to Syria with Andrew and was burned to death.

John:  He cared for Mary the mother of Y'shua in his home. He led the assembly in Ephesus. He was exiled to the island of Patmos During Domitian's persecution in the 90's, where he wrote the book of Revelation in his old age. He was the only one of the apostles to die a natural death. He outlived the other apostles, being the last apostle alive.

When we consider the lives and deaths of these men who walked with Y'shua, what chance is there that they were making up stories they themselves didn't believe? Nothing but the amazing truth of who Messiah is and how He died for us can explain the motivation behind the extraordinary lives and deaths of these otherwise ordinary men.

Twelve eye-witnesses who backed up their testimony of Y'shua with their very lives, faithful to that witness even unto death. What other figure in history can even come close to this amazing level of certainty? Surely, none other.

Messiah is real. He died to save us. He is coming back soon. Be ready.

Mark 14:1-31 recounts the sufferings of our Messiah. Tonight at 8 PM CST at Tsiyon.Net. This is the greatest story ever told.

Shalom,

Eliyahu ben David
Tsiyon.Org