Claim ID: HIS-IS26

Claim: Eyewitnesses Attest to the Divinity of Jesus

Summary: The New Testament is replete with eyewitness accounts of people claiming Jesus was divine. This preponderance of direct evidence leads to the necessary conclusion that Jesus was the Son of God.

Description: Eyewitness testimony is crucial in any court trial. Eyewitnesses provide direct evidence that supports the truth of an assertion. This means that no additional evidence or inference is needed. Eyewitnesses testify to the time, place and nature of the events. The facts obtained from direct evidence far exceed the information inferred from circumstantial or hypothetical evidence.

The New Testament is replete with eyewitness accounts of people claiming Jesus was divine. These accounts draw upon a diverse range of people that have had a shared experience with Jesus.

Jesus' original twelve disciples had first-hand knowledge of the Jesus' life and ministry. They lived with Jesus for three years. They eye witnessed Jesus' teaching, miracles and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. Because of their longstanding, intimate relationship with Jesus, their testimony is the most significant.

In Peter's second letter to the Christians in Galatia, Peter states that he and the other disciples did not commit their lives to a myth, but to a reality. He states that he and the others were eyewitnesses to Jesus messiahship.

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty (2 Peter 1:16).

In Acts 2:32, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:20, Acts 5:30-32 and Acts 10:39-40, Peter claims that he and others were witnesses.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Peter was the first to confess that Jesus was the Christ (Messiah). Jesus in turn confirms Peter's confession and instructs the disciples to not reveal his true identity until "his hour of sacrifice has come" (John 17:1).

15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. ... 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ." (Matthew 16:15-20, also Luke 9:18-21)

In the Gospel of John, John claims that he himself bore witness of the events concerning Jesus. He also states that he and the other disciples experienced the truth of the testimony of Jesus as being the Messiah.

This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. (John 21:20-24)

The written testimony of the Gospel/Epistle eyewitnesses would easily stand up in a court of law. Not only do we have one witness, but we have several witnesses. Further, the events witnessed by the Gospel/Epistle writers were voluminous covering a time span of three years, not just a single event.

The preponderance of eyewitness evidence presented in the New Testament leads us to the conclusion that Jesus was the Son of God.

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