Three Reasons Jesus is the Most Famous Person in History

(Reading time: 6 minutes and 22 seconds)

According to a new rankings system on Wikipedia, Jesus has been named the most famous person ever in human history. Even the standard Calendar accepted worldwide, referred to as the Georgian Calendar, divides time between BC and AD. The BC stands for before Christ, and AD means “in the year of the Lord.” The meaning comes from the Medieval Latin term “Anno Domini.” The Calendar came into existence centuries after Christ.

How do we know that Jesus was an actual historical figure? We know by the same means that we know the authenticity of any historical figure, by extant written history. There is more evidence concerning the historicity of Jesus than there is of Neapolitan, who lived much closer to modern times. Josephus was a Jewish historian, a near contemporary of Jesus, who authenticated Jesus and His ministry. Although there are no surviving original Josephus manuscripts, the oldest words of Josephus come from quotations incorporated into others writings from the 4th century. There are no known original autographs of the Bible; however, the dead Sea scrolls, discovered in 1947, dates from the 3rd century BC to the 2nd century AD. These documents were found near the ruins of Qumran, near the Dead Sea; they contain the entire Hebrew Bible except Esther.

How can it be that out of the millions of famous people throughout history, Jesus, a lowly carpenter without money, is the most celebrated and famous of all? There are three basic reasons:

First, it is because the life and transforming work of Jesus impacted the world like nothing ever before or since: Jesus influenced people’s lives during His stay on earth, and ever since, in a way that has never been surpassed by anyone. His followers experienced a positive change that transformed their lives. Those present at the time of His crucifixion who later witnessed His resurrection were utterly transformed. His closest disciples fled away from Him in the Garden of Gethsemane after He was arrested by the Roman solders, in fear for their lives. Still, a few days later when they saw the resurrected Christ their outlook on life completely changed, and they were willing to proclaim the name of Jesus even if it meant their death, which it did for eleven of the twelve disciples. Until this very day, those who trust Jesus are transformed forever. Many Christians today in certain parts of the world face persecution, hardships, and death but still remain faithful to Jesus. It is not uncommon for Christians to put aside their own needs and desires to follow Jesus where ever He leads them, whether serving as missionaries in third-world countries or by giving their money to support the missions of the church and personally serving the needs of others at home.

During the time of Jesus on earth, even those who were initially skeptical of Him were later transformed into ardent followers. Jesus’ own brothers and sisters did not recognize Jesus’ true identity when growing up, but that changed when they saw Him after His resurrection. James, the brother of Jesus, not only believed but also became the pastor of church in Jerusalem and later died a martyr’s death in AD 62. Saul of Tarsus, who prosecuted Christians, bringing them in bounds to Jerusalem to be imprisoned or executed, was later converted on the road to Damascus as he sought other Christians to be taken and imprisoned. Suddenly Jesus appeared to Saul in the air: “And he [Saul] fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? ₅And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (Acts 9:4-6). Paul now being blind went to Damascus to a street called Straight and in three days the Lord sent Ananias to Paul (his new name), and Ananias healed Paul’s blindness. Paul was sent forth as a chosen vessel unto the lord, to bear His name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. Paul planted churches throughout Asia Minor and the Roman Empire, while he wrote 14 of the 29 books of the New Testament. Paul was finally beheaded by the Romans for his service to Christ.

The Roman governor Plinius Secundus was amazed and impressed with the firm commitments of Christians even though he ordered them to be tortured and executed for refusing to curse Jesus. He wrote in his Epistle: “Christians were people who loved the truth at any cost and not to do any wicked deeds, never to commit any fraud, theft, adultery, never to falsify their word, not to deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up.” Over the centuries, true Christians worldwide have been shining examples of the truth and love established by Jesus of Nazareth.

Historian Philip Schaff wrote concerning Jesus and the overwhelming influence which He had on the subsequent history and cultures of the world: “This Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science […] he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of schools, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.”

Second, Jesus gave hope that no one had ever experienced before: According to the World Atlas, there are 2.2 billion Christians today, out of a population of nearly 8 billion. That means nearly one out of every three persons is Christian. Lew Wallace, the author of one of the greatest novels of the life of Christ, “Ben Hur,”was once an atheist who, for two years, conducted research in the leading libraries across Europe and America, searching for information to destroy Christianity forever. Ironically, during the writing of the second chapter of his book, he was overcome with guilt and fell on his knees, crying out to Jesus, “My Lord and my God.”

The Christian book “Screwtape Letters” was required reading when I was in college. The late C.S. Lewis, an Oxford University in England professor, was the author. For years he was an agnostic who denied the deity of Christ and set out to disprove the His Deity. After an intense study of Scripture, he gave in to intellectual honesty, trusting in Jesus as his Lord and savior. He dedicated the rest of his life to promoting Jesus writing several books, including the classic “Mere Christianity.”

Over the years, many Christian men and women have found new hope and joy in the teachings of Jesus. Their lives were transformed when they placed their faith in Him and committed their lives to Him. They realized there was no hope in materialism, agnosticism, atheism, and secular humanism. Many in recent history have suffered and died because of their faith in Jesus, more in the last century than in all history combined. Nevertheless, the hope found in a relationship with Jesus is worth far more than anything else on earth, including even life itself. It is like the Scripture says, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 10:36-37).

Third, Jesus is God who came to earth in human flesh: Only God has the right to stand above everyone else and be recognized as the most famous person of all time. He is most notable because He is the only one who can save us from our sins. No one else in history could have offered salvation and provided for it by paying the penalty for sin through His death on the cross.

How do we know Jesus is God? We know because He proved it by the miracles He performed and ultimately by His resurrection from the dead, which 500 people witnessed. Also, Jesus, contrary to what some say, claimed to be God as recorded in Scripture:

Jesus told His disciples, “I and the Father are one… Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 10:30, 14:9).
When Thomas (who was a disciple who doubted that Jesus had been raised from the dead) met Christ after the resurrection, he exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!”—and Jesus accepted his praise (John 20:28).
Even the enemies of Jesus knew He claimed to be God. In one of those instances, they picked up stones to kill Him: They said, “for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33).

But why is it important that Jesus is God? It’s important because no one other than God could have the power to save us from our sins, and Jesus would have had no power to forgive and save us as only a man. Because Jesus is God, He could become a perfect and complete sacrifice for our sins through His death on the cross, His burial, and His resurrection from the dead.

You may be wondering what all this has to do with you. If you desire to know the living God in His power and experience His transforming power in your life, you may do so. The Bible says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Would you like to know that when you die, you are going to heaven to be with God and His holy angels forever. If that is your desire, I would like to show you how. I have prepared a step-by-step guide from the Bible on how to experience the transforming new Life that Jesus offers. Just CLICK HERE.

We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of JimmieBurroughs.com. If this article has been of any help to you, please pass it on to family and friends or the social media. Thanks

Tags: God, America, Jesus, eternal life, salvation, hope

The original article is posted on www.JimmieBurroughs.com

Email
First Name*

Leave a Reply Cancel reply