Philipp Brooks says: „I am certainly not mistaken when I say that all the armies that have ever marched, all the navies that have ever been built, all the parliaments that have ever met, and all the kings that have ever reigned have not made such a lasting impact on the lives of men on earth as Jesus“ solitary life did."

W. E. H. Lecky, an unbelieving and outstanding historian, says: „Jesus exerted such a great influence that the simple account of the three years of his public activity contributed more to the renewal and pacification of mankind than all the exhortations of moralists and philosophers.“

• Jesus was not a writer and yet more books have been written about him than about anyone else.
• He was not a historian and yet he became the centre of history. The date of every newspaper and every letter shows this.
• Jesus was not an artist and yet the greatest works of art by painters, sculptors and musicians have been dedicated to him.
• Jesus was not a lawyer and yet his law of love is the best in the world.
• Jesus was not a doctor and yet he is the great physician who could heal every illness.
• Jesus was not a psychologist and yet everyone came to him for advice. An eminent psychologist said: ‘If we were to burn the straw among the psychological works, what remains would be nowhere near the Sermon on the Mount’.
• Jesus was not married and yet no one can give better advice on how to have a happy marriage than he could.

The Christian answers without hesitation: Because he was God, the Son of God who became man. The exciting fact for his disciples was that God had become man in Jesus Christ in order to redeem us, just as the prophecies had foretold for centuries. You surely remember the unique miracle of the messianic prophecies. God authenticated Jesus of Nazareth with 333 marks. Interestingly, none of the false messiahs has ever dared to refer to these predictions.

It was foretold that in Christ ‘God is with us’ (Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23), that he who would be born in Bethlehem ‘has been from eternity’ (Micah 5:1), and that he would be called: Wonder-Counsellor, God-Hero, Ever-Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa. 9:5)

He confirmed that he was the Christ who had been announced in the prophecies. (Matth. 11,1-6; Matth. 16,16.17; Luk. 4,17-21; Joh. 4,25.26 etc.)

Jesus was questioned under oath during his interrogation before the High Council:

„Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?“ (Matth. 26,63.64). Jesus' answer to this is clear: „It's me!“

The Jews had clearly understood Jesus' claim to be the unique Son of God. For they accused him of making himself God as a man. (Joh. 10,33)

He said: „All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.“ (Matthew 28:18) and „I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.“ (Rev 1:8)

John Montgomery, historian, says: „What does a historian know about Jesus Christ? First and foremost, he knows that we can rely on the documents of the New Testament to give us an accurate picture of him.“ - What is reported there by the eyewitnesses?

John the Baptist testifies that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. (Joh. 1,34) According to John, Jesus was to take away the sins of the world, something that only God can do. (Joh. 1,29)

Peter declared that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Joh. 6,68)

Martha, Lazarus' sister testified to the same thing. (Joh. 11,27)

Thomas, at first unwilling to recognise the fact of Christ's resurrection, finally stood before the living Christ „and said to him, “My Lord and my God'" (Joh. 20,28)

The Apostle John testified to the divinity of Jesus with the words: „This is the true God and eternal life.“ (1 John 5:20) He draws our attention to the fact that the biblical accounts have a purpose, „that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.“ (John 20:31)

The Roman captain, who was among the soldiers at Jesus' crucifixion, also recognised the divinity of Jesus. He said:

„Truly, this was the Son of God.“ (Matth. 27,54)

St Paul initially rebelled against Christ with all his might. He did everything he could to kill the followers of Jesus. But after his personal encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he became a fervent disciple of Jesus and declared Christ: „...who is God over all“. (Rom. 9:5) He testified of him: „...in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily“ (Col. 2:9) By this he means that Christ possesses all divine qualities in full measure.

Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, stated: „At that time Jesus lived, a wise man, if he is to be called a man. For he was a doer of marvellous works, a teacher of men, who received the truth with joy. He was the Messiah. And when Pilate condemned him to death on the cross at the suggestion of the rulers, those who had loved him first did not abandon him. He appeared to them alive again after three days. The divine prophets had predicted this about Jesus Christ, just as they had reported countless other marvellous things about him.

Cornelius Tacitus mentions: „The name is connected with ‘Christ’, who was executed as a criminal by the procurator Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius.“

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe recognised: „If ever the divine appeared on earth, then it was in the person of Jesus.“

Rousseau writes: „If the life and death of Socrates was that of a wise man, the life and death of Jesus was that of a god.“

Ernst Renan, the famous orientalist and critic, makes the remarkable concession:

General L. Wallace had a lively conversation with a well-known atheist about the nonsense of Christianity. Wallace decided to write a book to prove that Christianity was nonsensical and that Jesus Christ had never lived. He collected material for his book for years. He soon realised that Jesus Christ had actually lived.

Then he became convinced that Christ was more than a historical figure. As a fifty-year-old man, General Wallace knelt down to pray for the first time in his life. He asked Christ to become his Lord and Saviour. - From his material, he then created the famous story Ben Hur.

Sir William Ramsay became famous for his research into antiquity. He was convinced that the Bible was untrustworthy. He was a chemist and archaeologist and went to the Orient to uncover the truth. He stayed there for 15 years. He returned as a convinced Christian and wrote many books promoting Christian faith and trust in the Bible.

Frank Morison, an English journalist, wanted to prove that the resurrection of Jesus was a myth. His research led him to the conclusion that he was dealing with facts. As a result, he also became a believing Christian.

Prof Dr Cyril M. Joad, the Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of London, was also a sceptic who believed that Jesus was only human. He believed that there was no such thing as sin. His life underwent a dramatic change. He now believed that sin was a reality. Two world wars had shown him that man is a sinner. He came to the realisation that the only explanation for sin can be found in the Word of God and that the only solution for sin is the cross of Jesus. He became a fervent follower of Jesus.

Giovanni Papini, the famous Italian denier of God, also became a convinced Christian after he began to study the New Testament. He then even wrote a book about the life of Jesus.

Adolf Deißmann, the great German explorer, went to the Orient to demonstrate the unreliability of the Bible. He also became a convinced Christian and theologian through the facts. His book ‘Light from the Orient’ confirms the truthfulness of the Bible.

There could be a long list of similar personalities who could not resist the facts.

Prof J. McDowell, who preached Christ to over 3 ½ million academics and students at more than 500 universities in 52 countries for 27 years after the Second World War, writes:

What do you think of the following consideration? Suppose we meet someone who knows nothing about the Christian faith and ask him:

Could his answers perhaps be like this?

• I would expect God to become human in an unusual way.
• I would expect that as a human being he would not do the slightest injustice.
• I would expect him to be above the laws of nature and to be able to perform miracles.
• I would expect him to have better character than everyone else.
• I would expect him to give the greatest teachings ever given.
• I would expect it to have a lasting and universal influence.
• I would expect him to be able to satisfy our deep longing for God.
• I would expect him to have power over death.
• I would expect him to be able to help me if I asked him to.

Jesus lived up to these expectations in every detail.