Where is the Proof ?

A number of years ago, we met a most extraordinary individual.  His name is Charles Colson.  At one point in his life, Colson was a Senior Advisor to President Richard Nixon.  Colson was also part of a group of 7 Senior Executives advising the President on all issues. When the Washington Post started their articles on the illegal activities of the Republican Party (Watergate), Nixon and his 7 Executives agreed to cover their lies about their involvement in Watergate and deny any wrong doing.  Within a period of 2 weeks, some of those individuals started breaking down admitting to their criminal activities.  The 7 most powerful men on earth could not keep a lie for more than 2 weeks. When Jesus rose from the dead, scripture tells us that he was seen by over 500 witnesses.  These simple and poor men and women, many of them simple fishermen clung to their testimony that indeed they had seen the Risen Lord.  Actually, many of them were faced with the choice of either denying that they were witnesses of seeing Jesus risen or face brutal and dramatic painful deaths at the hand of their persecutors.  Historians do not record that they recanted.  None of them.  Not one single time.  They were convinced of the truth and died for their testimony.  Why would so many die for a lie?  Nothing to gain in this… Yet, they stood firm until their last breath. Compare both scenarios.  On one hand, the 7 most powerful men on earth could not keep a lie for more than a few days.  On the other, hundreds of simple folks died burned at the stakes for maintaining their conviction that Jesus had risen from death.  They had seen Him. It is our view that these early Christians are one of the many compelling proofs regarding the truth about Jesus.