Famed pastor and author Max Lucado believes one of the most compelling pieces of evidence that Jesus is exactly who he says he is can be found in the details and circumstances surrounding Christ’s resurrection.
“For me, everything revolves around the resurrection,” Lucado told “The Church Boys” podcast, explaining that an important question emerges for those who doubt the biblical account of Jesus’ life and death: “If you don’t believe that Jeuss rose from the dead, then what happened to the body?”
Lucado, author of the book, “Because of Bethlehem,” said exploring this very question helped him solidify his own faith, explaining that the search for an answer led him to a definitive place on the matter, arriving at an answer through basic logic.
“I really gave that some thought and I realized, if Jesus had not risen from the dead there would be a body somewhere,” Lucado said, explaining his belief that those who wanted to stop Christianity early on would have simply produced the body in an effort to dispel the idea that Jesus rose from the dead.
He continued, “There was a resurrected body that was seen by members of the early church … and that’s why they were so passionate.”
Listen to Lucado explain what convinced him to embrace Christianity (he also gets deep into the contentious 2016 presidential election):
Years later, Lucado, who now pastors Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, is working to inspire others to embrace the gospel. That’s why he penned “Because of Bethlehem,” saying he wanted to create a “simple summary that is inspirational about the Christmas message.”
In addition to these discussions, Lucado also dove into the divisive 2016 presidential campaign, and detailed one of the challenges he sees for Christianity in the modern era.
“The message of Christianity and the gospel, which is the message of hope and love and excitement about the future, has been compromised, as it’s become more and more intertwined and intermingled with political messages,” Lucado warned. “And the Christian message and Christians are viewed as a voting bloc more and less as people who have been saved by God’s grace and who are excited about heaven — and who feel that there is a God, and Jesus was the son of God.”
Listen to the entire interview here.