I’m getting older, faster than I think. I still remember clearly, when I was a youing man, I was stressed with my work, and my life, and my brother had an idea. He invited me to come with him and some other people, to a movie. I sat in that theatre, and I didn’t expect much, but I really enjoyed that movie. It was a great stress reliever.

The movie was ET, and I still remember the line “ET phone home.” Like millions of other people, I really enjoyed that movie about a visit from a space alien. The story is made up fiction, but I still wonder; Why did so many millions of people enjoy that movie, so much? How did it become a part of our modern culture? Why are we so fascinated by visitors from other worlds?

You may have heard of a popular television documentary series “Ancient Aliens” that looks at human history for evidence of beings from off the planet, who visited humans, long ago. It’s complicated, but always interesting. For people who believe in something like UFOs, in our time, why not believe in visits to our planet, in ancient times?

The idea goes beyond one television show. Many people believe in Alien visitors, and some of them focus on visitors who apparently influenced human history:

There is one other idea, in modern culture, that has started a few arguments. Have you heard of “Jesus Mythology”? This is the idea that Jesus never really existed, and the foundation of Christian beliefs is a fraud. It’s easy to imagine Christians getting irate and answering back:

I am writing as a Christian, and I am not irate, but I know that two thousand years ago, people who didn’t care, and people who hated Jesus and his followers were very sure that he existed. If they could have made the argument that Jesus was a fictional character, and he never existed, they probably would have said that, to stop that religious movement, when it first started. They lived two thousand years closer to the man than we do, and there were many eye witnesses, and they never said that Jesus was an invented story and that he never existed. Disagreeing is not the same as denying his existence.

So, ancient aliens and Jesus. Let’s put these ideas together. Was Jesus an ancient alien? I could be in trouble just for asking the question, but it is an interesting topic.

All religions seem to have stories about “gods” who visit human beings, and usually offer some help. That is the main reason a documentary series on “Andient Aliens” is possible. The Bible is filled with stories about angels, messengers from God, who are probably from another part of the universe.

In the book of Ezekiel chapter 10, there is a record of a vision that the prophet had. In modern thinking, the prophet saw objects that could be flying saucers. They certainly were unidentified flying objects:

I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling beryl. (verse 9)

When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them. (verses 16 and 17)

I recommend that you read more in the Book of Ezekiel. There is more information than I quoted here.

And then we have the big one. If Jesus was real, and not a fictional character, how did he get down here to live with us? That opens up questions like; Where did he get the ideas that he taught us? and Where is he now?

We all know the Christmas story; an angel messenger from God visited a young woman named Mary, and told her that she would become pregnant, but not through an interaction with a man. We don’t know where that messenger came from, but that prediction happened, as described. After the baby was born, the family was visited by Magi, wise men from the East, who studied supernatural or extra-terrestrial things. And remember, they knew the location of the baby and his family because they saw something in the sky, his star. Apparently they studied things like that:

Wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2: 1 and 2) 

Who were those Magi, and where did they come from? They seemed very convinced that a visitor could come down to us, on this planet, from another place.

There is more in the story of Jesus. He taught ideas that were different from other religious teachers, and he seemed to have unusual powers. Also, we know that he was executed, but we also know that his followers met with him a few days later, and they were sure that he had returned from the dead. About a month and a half, Jesus met with his closest folloers and gave them instructions, and then something strange happened:

As they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1: 9 to 11)

Messengers, apparently angels, told the shocked and stunned followers of Jesus that he would return in the same way that he went up.

It is interesting as our modern societies become more secular and free of God and religion, we seem to be fascinated by stories about visitors to our planet from other places. We have books, and movies, and popular television shows, and who doesn’t like Christmas?

It’s almost as if we are looking for something, and we have a longing for something that we have lost. I think we should feed out hunger. We may be shocked, someday, to learn about reality that we have rejected. Maybe that visitor from another world has something important to tell us.

What can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.  although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools (Romans 1: 19 to 22)

There is a lesson here, for us, in our modern times.