Heart pounding. Legs shaking. But still smiling. One by one the guests started to arrive. The final touches to my look were made. I was surprised at what I saw. I had never worn so much eye shadow before, but it was exactly what I wanted. My ivory wedding dress draped across my body perfectly. My family and bridesmaid were hyped up. Suddenly, the ceremony room became quiet, and only the pastor’s voice could be heard. Soon after, “You Raise Me Up” was played beautifully on the violin. There was no turning back now. My brother escorted me out and all eyes were on us. In a low voice, my brother encouraged me to keep my eyes on the groom. We approached the altar; my brother gave me away. The ceremony came and went. My life had changed forever.

Almost eight years have passed, and I haven’t forgotten a thing. If you asked the other people that were there that day, they would give you different details of the things that I missed. But the main events of the wedding would roughly be the same.

The same can be said about the writers of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). They all wrote about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. They present some of the events differently and include details that are not mentioned in other accounts. This is quite common in eyewitness testimonies as rarely do two eyewitnesses record an event exactly the same or see all of the same details.

If you were in a courtroom and heard two witnesses give exactly the same word-for-word testimony, you would be very suspicious. And so would the judge. They would assume that some sort of collusion was going on. The Gospel accounts are sufficiently uniform in that they talk about the same major events, for example, the Resurrection, and are sufficiently divergent (but not too much).

Nevertheless, some believe that the disciples could have been mistaken in what they saw and therefore question their credibility. Despite the fact that we don’t have access to the original documents nor the authors, there’s enough evidence to show that the Gospel writers accurately reported what they saw.

Their Writings Contain Embarrassing Events About Themselves

If we’re honest, we tend to portray ourselves in the best light possible. We’ll try to justify our actions, say what we did wasn’t so bad or why we were in the right. The Gospel writers, on the other hand, chose not to do so and admitted that they:

• Were not a very bright bunch: On a number of occasions, they failed to understand what Jesus was saying, although it was quite clear (e.g., Jesus’ death and resurrection Mark 9:32; John 12:16 and His triumphant entry Luke 18:34).
• Were very uncaring towards Jesus: They fell asleep and abandoned Him when He needed them the most (i.e., in the Garden of Gethsemane Mark 14:26-50; Matthew 26:36-56; Luke 22:39-46; John 18:1-12). In addition, they were so full of fear that they didn’t bury Jesus.
• Were fearful: All but one hid when Jesus went to the cross (John 19:25-27) and Peter denied he ever knew Him (Matt 26:33-35; John: 18: 17, 24-27; Luke 22:54-62; Mark 14:66-72). It was the women who stood by Jesus as He died on the cross and were the first to discover the empty tomb while the men are hiding from the religious leaders.
• Were doubtful: Despite the fact that Jesus told them IN ADVANCE that He would be crucified and rise from the dead, some doubted it even AFTER they saw Him. Thomas, who was absent the first time Jesus appeared, said he would not believe unless he saw and put his finger into Jesus’ wounds, which is what Jesus asks him to do when He appeared the second time (John 20:25-28).
• Relied on their own understanding: One of the pillars of the early church, Peter, is rebuked twice. Jesus calls him Satan (Mark 8:33) when he rebukes Jesus about dying on the Cross, which is why He came in the first place. Paul rebukes Peter (Galatians 2:11-21) for choosing not to dine with believing Gentiles due to pressures from some Hebrew Christians.

They Didn’t Shy Away from Jesus’ Statements

If you were part of a movement, you would try to make it as easy as possible to join. You would hope that your leader would encourage new followers. The Gospel writers, however, did not hold back any of Jesus’ statements, which demand a higher standard for everyone (including them). The implications for some of these commands are as follows:

• If thinking about sinning is sinful, everyone is guilty. (Matt. 5:28).
• The strict standards for divorce and remarriage are not very attractive (Matt 5:32).
• Not resisting the insults of an evil person goes against our basic human instincts. (Matt 5:39-42).
• To love and pray for your enemy goes against every fiber of our being (Matt 5:44-45).

They Saw Jesus Raised from the Dead

If you saw someone hang on a wooden cross, bloodied and beaten, you wouldn’t forget it. Think of a movie you have watched that shocked you and to this day you still have those images in your mind. Similarly, the apostle John and the women he was with at the Crucifixion would hardly forget what they saw.

To the Romans and the Jewish leaders’ surprise, 500+ people (including the disciples) saw Jesus raised from the dead. There was no way to explain such an event without resorting to making up a story to try to cover it up (Matt 28:11-15). Justin Martyr and Tertullian’s 150-200 AD writings support this cover up. In addition, the disciples saw, touched and ate with the risen Jesus on several occasions (Matt: 28:9, 16-20; Luke 24:13-35; Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-31).

They Included 30+ Historically Confirmed People in their Writing

As you read the Gospel accounts, you will notice a number of key figures mentioned such as:

• Annas (high priest): Luke 3:2; John 18:13, 24
• Caesar Augustus: Luke 2:1
• Herod Antipas: Matt 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-29; Luke 3:1; Luke 23:7-12
• Herod the Great: Matt 2:1-19; Luke 1:5
• Herodias: Matt 14:3; Mark 6:17
• Pilate: all the Gospels
• Tiberius Caesar: Luke 3:1

Historians like Josephus, Tacitus, Philo, Suetonius, Paterculus, and Dio Cassius have confirmed such figures. If the Gospel writers attempted to create false stories based on any of these (and more) figures, they would never have gotten away with it.

Their Lives Changed Forever

All of these events changed the disciples’ lives forever. They left their hometowns, wives, businesses, and were willing to die to follow and preach about Jesus Christ. They adopted new beliefs and even communed with Gentile people. This was a huge thing for them to do.

They didn’t deny their testimony, even though it cost them their lives. They didn’t get rich, didn’t get popular and didn’t gain political power. They got the exact opposite. They were persecuted, beaten, imprisoned and sentenced to death. They had every reason to DENY it all happened, yet chose not to. Why? Because the life of Jesus impacted them forever.

What do you think? Share your thoughts and comments below!

Thank you so much for taking time out your day to read this. If you enjoyed this post, make sure to subscribe for more! 😊

Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

Acts 4:13 (NASB)