The idea that some anointed Messiah would come out of Israel and lead the heathen of the nations to the light of God was never more remote a fantasy. Pagan civilization embodied by Rome was triumphant and confident. In rough, broad outline, the prophets foretell that a uniquely anointed servant of YHWH would, suffer some terrible crisis/setback, emerge triumphant, and the nations would “stream to his light.”īetween the epoch(s) in which those prophecies were spoken, and the reign of Tiberius Caesar, massive unforeseen transformations occurred to the ancient world. It’s kind of interesting to compare the Hebrew prophets’ writings regarding the coming Messiah with the inside-out transformation that the Holy Gospel had on the pagan civilizations of late antiquity.
Big flashy miracles can be faked, but the consistent influence of God including many small miracles over decades is either God or a conspiracy so intricately played out for a nobody liked me that it would be pointless to resist. I can look back and see where God clearly has his hand in my life and in the lives of those around me, even when we rejected God. I've seen miracles, i can tell you about fuel and food that didn't run out when they should, about miraculous provision and healing of terminal illness, but the thing that most convinces me is the constancy.
And I get that, cos for years I followed Jesus but I only knew about him, and I wasn't sure I believed deep down that it was all real. You know, at the beginning of the story of Job God is telling Satan about how awesome and faithful Job is, then at the end of the story Job says "I knew about God, but now I have met God." God's best dude only knew about him, he hadn't met him. If Christ wasn't raised from the dead this is just a social club.
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