Though born over 2,000 years ago, much of Jesus of Nazareth’s life resonates with our modern experience. He was born into poverty in a small town and spent his first years as a refugee. Sometime during his adult years, he lost his father. He worked as a day laborer and took care of his mother. He wept at the grave of a friend. He suffered. He died.

But he wasn’t ordinary. In the last three of his thirty-three years, this carpenter’s son shook up the cities of Judea and Galilee. He preached a radical love of enemies, forgave sins, healed the suffering, and ate with outcasts. As he hung on a Roman cross, he forgave those who stood below and mocked. And on the third day, he rose from the dead.

It’s easy to dismiss miracles we haven’t seen with our own eyes. There’s no shame in having doubts; God gave us our intellect for a reason. But we do know that those who witnessed Jesus’ resurrection were willing to suffer and die rather than deny what they had seen. Over two thousand years later, people continue to encounter the risen Jesus and testify to their experience.

Jesus didn’t claim to be a good teacher. He claimed to be God. If he wasn’t God, then he was either lying or he was delusional. But there’s a third option: what if it was true?  

What if Jesus is who he claims to be?   

If he is God, what does it mean for your life? 

You’re not the first to wrestle with these questions. Since the moment of creation, humanity has searched for its creator. The Church faithfully repeats the answer: Our God is real and he, out of love, has revealed himself to us through Jesus.