Thus It Is Written
No single life has ever touched humanity like Jesus of Nazareth. No group of individuals, coming together for any cause, has ever impacted the whole of humanity as did Jesus who was born in Bethlehem. Statesmen, politicians, and various types of individuals have had an impact on humanity, sometimes for good and other times for evil. In the two thousand years or so since Jesus was on this earth, His name is revered and known by the whole of humanity. Why is that the case? The fact that the majority of humanity will refuse to follow Him in no way changes the fact that Jesus has impacted the lives of all those who come to know about Him.
We then pause to ask ourselves, how does humanity in this the 21st century come to know about Him, who was and is God (John 1:1)? A difference must be made between coming to know about Him and coming to follow Him. History books bear His name. Historical events that took place in His lifetime on earth as man, are a part of a period of time which no man can blot out. Men like Pilate, Herod and Caesar are known historical figures. When their lives intersected with the life of Jesus the Christ, such intersection shows that one cannot remove Jesus from history no more than they can remove Pilate, Herod or Caesar.
The knowledge, then, of this single solitary Life can be studied as much as one would study the life of any person from the pages of history. One can, therefore, come to know "about" Jesus. Many have invested a great deal of time in studying about historical events of the past. If one brings the same interest to the events of the first century one can certainly find out things about Jesus from a historical prospective. You can learn that during the days of Pilate, one Jesus was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem as a common criminal but you will not learn why He was crucified by just searching the annals of history.
Herein then lies the difference between knowing about Jesus and gaining the knowledge which causes you to follow Jesus. Because Jesus is God, the events of His life and the things that He taught could not be left to the memory of men to commit to writing things about Him. Jesus promised certain ones that when the Holy Spirit came to them, the Spirit would teach them all things and bring all things to their remembrance (John 14:26). At no time did God trust the fallible memory of men to validate the existence of His Son on this earth. God would give men the very words to write in order that the history of His Son and what He taught would be preserved for all future generations.
In Paul's first letter to a divided and troubled congregation in Corinth, he reminded them that the truth came from the Spirit and that the Spirit used "words" to convey that truth (I Corinthians 2:12,13). Paul was not just some unmarried man making observations about the life of Jesus. He was a man used as a tool by God to convey the truth about Jesus to Corinth and to all others who would dare to consider the life of this one they called Jesus. Paul condemned the contentions in Corinth by reminding them of the superiority of Jesus to all others (I Corinthians 1:12,13). Why follow some man like Paul, Apollos or Peter? Jesus is God. These men spoke the truth about Jesus that was revealed by God in words that men could know.
Luke, by inspiration, recorded for us words that Jesus uttered before His ascension back to heaven. Jesus said because it was written that it was necessary for Him to die and rise from the dead on the third day, the events of His life had to take place. When we find those words, "thus it is written", we ask when was it written? The life of Jesus was, therefore, foretold before Jesus ever came as the Son of Man. It is because His life completely matches with what the prophets said that validates Who He was.
Luke, therefore, tells us that Jesus said that repentance and remission of sins would be preached in His name among all nations starting at Jerusalem (Luke 24:47). Those who come to know about Jesus may agree about change and remission of sins. Only those who chose to follow Him will repent and be baptize to remit those sins (Acts 2:38). Thus it is written and now you must obey that truth which purifies and set us free (I Peter 1:22).