Historical Jesus Series – Part 3: Examining the Evidence for the Crucifixion

What Thomas Magnum Can Teach Us About Investigating Jesus

Who is your favorite tv detective? Mine is Thomas Magnum, better known as Magnum P.I. What is not to like about Thomas Magnum? He hangs out with a British guy named Higgins. He drives a Ferrari, has an epic collection of cabana wear, and sports the most fantastic mustache in the history of facial hair.

As a private eye, Magnum relies on his gut feel to guide him in investigations, which often leads to exciting albeit unnecessary conflict with Hawaiin mobsters. On top of all that I have mentioned, Magnum P.I. has a killer theme song. The adventures of Thomas Magnum make for great television.

What works for Thomas Magnum does not work for New Testament studies. While I am not against researching while wearing classic 1980’s cabana wear, one cannot follow their gut when examining the evidence surrounding the life of Jesus. We must seek the truth in a careful and calculated manner. To ensure that I objectively present the evidence, I have come up with a rating system. I call it the Magnum Mustache Scale or the MMS. The MMS rates evidence from one to five Magnum Mustache’s with one meaning the evidence is not trustworthy or helpful to the crucifixion case and 5 meaning the evidence is trustworthy and adds to the case for the crucifixion of Jesus.

The evidence I am presenting in this post is not the whole story, far from it. I am time-constrained and have chosen to keep the exhibits I selected at a high level rather than dig down into the weeds. However, I still had to cut this post into two parts because it had grown beyond what most people would read in one sitting. The fact that I could not paraphrase the evidence for the death of Jesus on the cross in 1,000 words speaks to the depth and breadth of the case for Christ. God has been so gracious to His people to leave behind a treasure trove of documentation that proves the validity of the Christian faith.

Queue up the Magnum P.I. music, its time to review the evidence.

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The Gospels

The majority of scholars believe that the four canonical Gospels fall into a genre of ancient literature called Greco-Roman biographies. Greco-Roman biographies are concerned with accurately portraying both the facts of history and the character of their subject. The Gospels serve as our best source for proving that He was a living person and died at the hands of a Roman crucifixion squad. Each of the four, Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John, are verifiable to a degree by their placement in time and geography within the Roman empire. Most importantly, they contain multiple accounts of eyewitness testimony of the crucifixion of Christ.  

“In addition to being Holy Scripture, they are the most well transmitted and preserved historical documents in the history of the world!”

The Gospels are also written within living memory of Jesus’ death and resurrection, which makes them historically reliable and extremely rare. Modern historians have very few ancient documents that were written or preserved within a thousand years of their describing events. Mark’s gospel was written in a time frame stretching from 15 years post-resurrection [conservative scholars] to a more accepted view of 40 years post-resurrection. Additionally, we have copies of John’s gospel from A.D. 125 or just about 20 years after the original was written. 

Bottom line, if we only had the Gospels, we would have more than enough evidence to prove that Pontius Pilate crucified Jesus. In addition to being Holy Scripture, they are the most well transmitted and preserved historical documents in the history of the world!

Magnum Mustache rating – 5 Magnum Mustaches.

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Paul

We also have Paul’s writings that attest to the death of Jesus (e.g., 1 Cor 15:3-8; 2 Cor 4:10; Rom 1:4; Col 1:22; Gal 1:1). Paul was a prolific writer. He gives us the earliest eyewitness testimony in the NT with 1 Cor 15:3-8, a creed established by the Jerusalem Church no older than 5 years post-resurrection. I’ll unpack 1 Cor 15:3-8 later in this series, but know, it is a smoking gun as far as evidence goes.

Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians in AD 54 or 55. Still, he had already published Galatians and both letters to the Thessalonians at that point. Making his writings the earliest accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus in the NT. Furthermore, Paul’s letters are corroborated by Luke’s reports of early church history in Acts.

Additionally, Paul was an enemy of Christianity until his conversion 2 years after Jesus died, making his testimony highly credible. After all, why would a Jewish Pharisee, who persecuted Christians, suddenly flip and become Christianity’s missionary to the Gentiles unless he had seen the risen Jesus? If Paul believed Jesus had been resurrected, then he also thought that Jesus had died.

Magnum Mustache rating – 5 Magnum Mustaches.

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The Apostolic Fathers

The Apostles carried out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) and made disciples who would make disciples. The first generation of Christian leaders discipled by the Apostles are called The Apostolic Fathers. Why are they called the Apostolic Fathers if they are spiritual offspring of the Apostles, you ask? I have no idea.

The Apostolic Fathers write many letters and validate the crucifixion stories heard from the men that trained them. Clement of Rome knew Peter and Paul, and according to Dr. Mike Licona, may even be the guy in Philippians 4:3 that Paul is “labor[ing] side by side” with.[1] Clement of Rome wrote a letter to one of the early churches stating that he received the Gospel from the Apostles.

“The Apostles received the Gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ was sent forth from God. So then Christ is from God, and the Apostles are from Christ. Both therefore came of the will of God in the appointed order. Having therefore received a charge, and having been fully assured through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ…”[2] 

Using the same logic as I did with Paul if Clement believes that Christ had been raised from the dead, he thought Him to have died. Clement receives a bonus mustache rating because he received direct eyewitness testimony from the Apostles. This is cool stuff.

“For I know and believe that He was in the flesh even after the resurrection.”

Ignatius

Ignatius was the third bishop of the church in Antioch and is the second Apostolic Father we can glean evidence from. Ignatius knew the Apostles and his letters to other churches confirm the apostolic teachings we find in the NT. Several passages can be used from Ignatius to verify the death of Christ; the one I’ve chosen is from a letter to the Smyrneans where he writes this about Jesus,

“He is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, but Son of God by the Divine will and power, truly born of a virgin and baptized by John…For I know and believe that He was in the flesh even after the resurrection…and strait-way they [the apostles] touched him and they believed, being joined unto His flesh and His blood…And after His resurrection He ate with them and drank with the.”[3]

Ignatius affirms the death of Jesus by describing His bodily resurrection and describing physical interactions with the Apostles. There can be no doubt that the Apostles taught the next generation of church leaders that Jesus had been crucified and physically rose from the dead.

Clement of Rome and Ignatius believed Jesus to have died and to have been resurrected, but they do not give us the source of His death. While their testimony is still incredible evidence, some skeptics, believe the manner of Christ’s death to be something other than by crucifixion. For this reason, I have given the Apostolic Fathers a slightly lower rating for their contribution.

Magnum Mustache rating – 3 Magnum Mustaches.

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Crucifixion is Embarrasing

I have provided more than enough evidence to prove the death of Christ by crucifixion in this post. Far more than would be required to confirm the same about any other historical person. Jesus of Nazareth is the most unique figure in all of religion. He is the only figure claimed to be a central or prominent part of multiple religions, playing a role in Islam, Hinduism, and Mormonism, to name a few. Because of His notoriety, skeptics require evidence on top of evidence.

“The Apostles rolled with crucifixion despite the social stigma because Christ was crucified.”

What makes Christianity’s claim about Jesus unique from other religions is the entire faith rests on Him being crucified and raised three days later. This claim is even more stunning in the context of the Roman Empire. Crucifixion was the most demeaning and humiliating death for a person to experience. It wasn’t just the physical body of a person that was crucified; their reputation and their family’s reputation would have been crucified as well.

When thinking about how the Apostles could have made Christianity cooler to join, crucifixion would be last on the list. Claiming the founder of the religion was stripped naked, beaten within an inch of His life, and crucified between two criminals is not a good marketing strategy. The Apostles rolled with crucifixion despite the social stigma because Christ was crucified.

Magnum Mustache rating – 5 Magnum Mustaches.

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Where is the Non-Biblical Evidence?

We are only halfway through the extra-Biblical evidence for the crucifixion. There is still so much to cover. In the meantime, what stuck out to you as the best evidence for crucifixion as the cause of death for Christ? Was there anything new you had not heard of before? Leave a comment, engage on social media or shoot me an email and let’s discuss.

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[1] Mike Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus: a New Historiographical Approach (Nottingham, U.K.: Apollos, 2018), 249-250.

[2] Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2017), 168.

[3] The McDowell’s citing Dr. Gary Habermas on page 169 of Evidence That Demands a Verdict.