“You love him, even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8-9)

You may have heard the story about the little boy whose mother was after him to hurry and wash up so they could pray and eat for dinner. The boy explained to her, “My hands aren’t even dirty.” His mother was insistent and told him to “wash the germs off of his hands right now.” Exasperated, the boy huffed away from the table and yelled over his shoulder. “All I hear around here is germs and Jesus, and I haven’t seen either one of them.”

Well, there are many things that we hear about that we do not see. It was Billy Graham who noted that everyone acknowledges the reality of a mother’s love, even though you cannot put it in a microscope and view it. But notice that our confession of Jesus’ existence is historically rooted in the Apostle’s Creed.

We confess “I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was crucified.” It was the Pontius Pilate stone, which was discovered in 1961 in Caesarea Maritima and dated to around 26 to 36 AD, which places him in the historical record.

The presence of Jesus in his crucifixion under Pontius Pilate in the writings of non-Christian historians from the first five centuries, Tacitus, Josephus, Lucian, and others demonstrates that Christianity is not just a matter of faith, but also of historical record. These external accounts reinforce that Jesus was a real historical figure whose impact was recognized beyond Christian sources.

We believe in Jesus. We know him from the scriptures and encounter him in the sacraments. The Apostle Peter notes this belief beyond sight in 1 Peter 1:8-9, “You love him, even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”

Prayer
Lord Jesus, we do thank You for You stepping into our world.

We thank You that You were born to the Virgin Mary and that because of our sins and Your love for us, You suffered and were crucified under Pontius Pilate. We thank You also for the confession that we get to make, that this is not just some fantasy tale or some kind of fairy tale, but rather Lord, this is a story that is rooted in history.

And so, with confidence, we celebrate You, Your gift of love and salvation, and proclaim it to others. As we confess, “We believe, Jesus, You are real.” Amen.