Everyone has some idea of how a trial works in the American court system. Either through television, movies or through personal experience we have all seen that eyewitness testimony usually provides the most convincing evidence in a trial.

Material evidence can be very powerful, but it is usually held with some suspicion of being circumstantial. We have seen how, in even the most high profile cases, the material evidence can be twisted by the defense to cause a reasonable doubt, and in our system of government a reasonable doubt is enough to thwart a conviction. But eyewitness testimony is viewed in a different light. We tend to believe a person who has witnessed an event with their own eyes, and we are only swayed from our belief based on the character of that person or on evidence to counter their trustworthiness.

On the following pages we will embark on a cross-examination of the eyewitnesses to Jesus, and hear from the very people who actually knew Him and traveled with Him during His ministry. We will attempt to discern their character and reliability as witnesses, and explore their testimony of His life and their conviction of His deity.

We will meet a man who lived his entire life in preparation for Jesus' arrival, and in fact was anointed as an eyewitness even before he was conceived. We will hear the testimony of two men who actually walked with Jesus and became His closest friends; these men grew to know Him more intimately than anyone else, and provide the best firsthand account of His life and identity. We will also question a man who was the greatest adversary to the early Christian church. A man who hated Jesus' followers, condemning and killing them for their faith shortly after Jesus' death, but who, after meeting Jesus, was miraculously converted and became the greatest advocate for Christianity who ever lived. And lastly, we will seek the testimony of God himself. The same God that we stand before when we swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and whose testimony for Jesus' identity is undeniable.