Jesus and Bigfoot

Bigfoot is the silliest idea ever. It boggles my mind that people actually believe in Bigfoot.

Some people feel the same way about Jesus.

It’s unclear when the idea of Bigfoot really took off in the minds of some Americans. It’s very akin to the Himalayan yeti and Australia’s yowie: a creature that walks upright, has shaggy hair, and let’s not forget, big feet. (Which begs the question: Why isn’t he called Bigfeet?)

According to Smithsonian Magazine (September 2018), the name Bigfoot entered our culture when large footprints were found in northern California in the 1950s. Fifty years later in 2002, it was revealed that Ray Wallace created those footprints as a prank. His children revealed his secret after he died in 2002—but it didn’t matter to true believers. The Bigfoot fascination took off—and it hasn’t let up.

There’s actually a Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization that checks into reported sightings. Over the last 20 years, they report there have been Bigfoot sightings in every state but Hawaii. (He gets around, so he’s surely built up some serious airline points.)

But does Bigfoot really exist? It depends on who you ask. The reality show “Finding Bigfoot” ran for eleven seasons, but they never found him. No concrete evidence exists for Bigfoot, but even without the evidence, many people want to believe in Bigfoot.

Some people look at Jesus the way I look at Bigfoot—a grossly exaggerated story with little evidence—but there is a marked difference.

While there are a tiny number who doubt Jesus ever existed, the historical record proves otherwise. You can step outside the New Testament to see references to the Jewish rabbi named Jesus. Jesus certainly lived, but did He die—and more importantly, did He rise from the dead?

The resurrection of Jesus is the sticking point for skeptics. There are some who accept the resurrection of Jesus as a spiritual matter—His truth and “spirit” live on, but they contend a physical resurrection did not happen—nor was it necessary. But it does matter. Without the resurrection, Jesus is nothing more than a well-meaning teacher who died—and remained dead.

But the resurrection matters, and I contend there is considerable evidence pointing to it as an historical event. Read the gospel accounts of Jesus’s resurrection and some statements stick out.

• Jesus foretold His resurrection.
• There was an empty tomb. If the disciples were making false claims about Jesus rising from the dead, the opponents could’ve squelched their claim by pointing to His body in the tomb.
• The disciples did not invent the story; in fact, they didn’t believe it at first. It wasn’t as if they thought they saw Jesus because they wanted to see Him. They had to be convinced by seeing the physical body of Jesus.
• The resurrection didn’t happen in a remote place. It’s not like that one guy who thought he saw something in the foggy distance and reasoned it must be Bigfoot. Jesus’ resurrection was not done in secret. He spent forty days in the physical presence of others.

“After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts. 1:3).

And it wasn’t one or two people who saw Jesus. It was a multitude.

“For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me” (1 Cor. 15:3-8).

• The apostles died for their belief in the resurrection. They knew they had seen Him alive. They had talked with Him. They had eaten with Him. There is no evidence of any of the early Christians ever recanting under the threat of death.

Jesus is alive. And because Jesus is alive, that changes everything. It lends credence to everything else He said and did. The resurrection shows God’s approval of Jesus’s death on our behalf. It changes everything, because Jesus didn’t just die to remove our sin; He also rose again to give us eternal life.

I’ll take that any day over Bigfoot.

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