Homily for Ordinary Time 3 - January 23, 2022

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 3

January 23, 2022

Historicity of the Gospels

 

            I love how Luke begins his Gospel because he tells us straight-up that he is writing history, not a legend. Legends begin with, “Once upon a time…”. But history begins with “In this specific place, at this specific time…” And Luke makes it clear that he is not just repeating mythical stories – no, he looked into all of these events himself, and is writing a historical account of a real man named Jesus.

In 1979, an atheist, Yale-educated journalist named Lee Strobel was shocked when his wife, an atheist like himself, converted to Christianity. He wanted to disprove her new faith, so he set about to investigate the claims of Christianity in the hopes of finding Jesus to be a myth.

            Applying his journalistic skills to the person of Jesus, he uncovered some startling facts. He found that every reputable historian agrees that Jesus really existed. In fact, in the first few centuries after Jesus, there were many pagans – non-Christians - who wrote about Jesus. Early historians such as Tacitus, Flavius Josephus, and Pliny the Younger – all of whom wrote in the first two centuries after Jesus – spoke about him as a really existing person. Even from a secular standpoint, Jesus actually has more historical evidence than any other ancient person.

            Plus, the Gospels are historical documents themselves. Two of them – Matthew and John – were both eyewitnesses to the events of Jesus, and wrote their Gospels only 30 years after He lived. We actually have copies of John’s Gospel from about 120AD, so we know that the original manuscripts of the Gospels came from the first century. The other two Gospels – Mark and Luke – interviewed eyewitnesses for their material. Mark interviewed St. Peter, and Luke used St. Paul and the Blessed Mother as his sources.

            These writings agree in the fundamentals. Yes, there are some small discrepancies, but how many times have you disagreed with your spouse about events that happened years in the past? The husband says, “Oh, remember that time last year the Joneses came over and Mary spilled the red wine on her white dress?” And the wife responds, “It was two years ago, it was the Smiths, and it was actually a martini.” The small disagreements in the Gospels don’t change the truth of Jesus – He really lived, preached, did miracles, died on a Cross, and rose from the dead. After studying all this, the journalist Lee Strobel realized there was no escaping the truth that Jesus really existed, really claimed to be God, and really rose from the dead. He converted to Christianity and ended up becoming a Protestant pastor.

            If Jesus is not just a myth – if He really lived and really died and really rose again – this has two consequences for us. First, it means we can have a real relationship with Him. We can’t have a real relationship with Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker, since they don’t really exist. But I can speak to the Lord – and He really hears me, because He is real. And…He speaks to us, too!

            Nowadays, people are seeking spirituality in all sorts of places. A month or so ago I met with a woman who was going through a crisis, and I suggested that she pray about it. She said, “Yes, I shall consult the energies.” Energies? Since when do energies hear or answer prayer? She wanted to be “in touch with the universe” – but the Universe isn’t a person! But Jesus Christ is really alive, a real person, with whom we can have a real relationship. All of our spirituality, then, must be based on pursuing a living relationship with Jesus through daily prayer, Scripture reading, and encountering Him through the Sacraments.

            Second, if Jesus is real and alive, then He truly is the King of the universe – which means that He has a claim on our lives, and we have to follow Him, live for Him. One of our church’s greatest saints, St. Augustine, struggled to come to that understanding. As a kid, Augustine was a wild child. In his autobiography, “Confessions” (which, interestingly, was the first autobiography in history!), he tells a story of his teen years, when he and his friends were passing by a pear orchard. The pears were still small, hard, and unripe, but he decided to steal some and eat them. Even though they tasted awful, he said that he savored the flavor of his sin! He loved indulging in sin – he had a child outside of marriage, he ran away from his super-devout mother St. Monica, and made money and fame the goal of his life. After many years, though, his sin wore him down and he was sick and tired of the emptiness of his selfish life. He began to seek truth and meaning – first looking into a cult of quasi-Christians, before encountering a holy bishop named St. Ambrose. Ambrose taught Augustine about true Christianity, and intellectually he became a believer. But it was a struggle to forsake his sin! One time, he famously prayed, “Lord, grant me holy purity…but not yet!” He was still a slave to sin, even though he knew that Jesus was truly alive.

            One day as he was walking through a garden, he was torn up about living this double life – believing in Jesus but still living for the flesh. He heard a voice off in a distance singing, “Take up and read!” Looking down, he saw a bible on a bench. Picking it up, he read St. Paul’s words, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provisions for the desires of the flesh.” He was cut to the heart and finally able to give up his sin and live for Christ alone. He became a priest, a bishop, and is one of the greatest saints in our church.

            I am so grateful that St. Luke did what he did – giving us an accurate, historical account of Jesus Christ. Because if Jesus is real, then I can have a living relationship with Him, and I must live my life for Him alone. If He really lived and died and rose again – then this changes everything!