The Resurrection
Jesus rises again from the dead
The statement that “on the third day (after his death) Jesus rose again” is central to the Gospel story. If Jesus rose again from the dead then He is the most important person in the world, and if not, he is nothing.
Realising this, people have attacked the story of the resurrection repeatedly down through the centuries. But still it survives, is re-told and believed by millions across the world.
What evidence is there that the resurrection actually took place?
- The Empty Tomb
- Jesus appeared alive to his disciples
- The effect of the resurrestion at that time
- The effect of the resurrection since
- Conclusions
The Empty Tomb:
Out of all the facts surrounding the resurrection story, one is generally accepted by everyone. On the first Easter Sunday morning the tomb (grave) in which the body of Jesus had been laid was empty!
A number of possible explanations have been offered for this. Perhaps the disciples stole his body (the official explanation at the time), or one of a number of other theories have been put forward to explain this undisputed fact. Several of these are considered on the page of alternative resurrection theories.
Whatever the explanation the fact remains that the tomb was empty. If it had not been it would have been so simple for anyone to point to the tomb and say “Look here is his body! How can you say he has risen?”, and the story would have died before it began.
Yet no one did produce the body – because everyone involved had to admit, the tomb was empty!
Jesus appeared alive to his disciples:
Jesus did not simply disappear. Having risen from the dead we are told he appeared on several occasions to those who knew him. Again, attempts have been made to explain these away. Perhaps they were hallucinations, or Jesus was a ghost?
But the attempted explanations simply do not fit the facts. The accounts we have are from eye witnesses.
Some of these were hostile eye witnesses. Not everyone who testifies to the resurrection was keen to do so. At the time James - Jesus' own brother - was not a believer, yet Jesus appeared to him (1 Cor 15 v 7). Saul of Tarsus, who later became Paul the great Christian preacher was very hostile, persecuting the church, until he met the risen Jesus.
Then there were the Women witnesses. No one manufacturing a story such as this would cast women in the lead role. At that time women could not even testify in a court of law because they were not believed to be reliable. Yet they were the first to meet the risen Jesus (Matt 28 v 9; Mark 16 v 9; John 20 v 11), even holding on to him (John 20 v 17). This could only have been reported in this way because it is the truth.
The disciples met him. On one occasion he met with ten of them, Thomas was not there. A week later he came when they were all there and Thomas was especially invited to see his wounds and touch his scars to be sure who this was. Jesus ate with them (Luke 24 v 41-42), they touched him and spoke to him. They were convinced that this was Jesus raised from the dead.
Jesus met with two of them as they walked 11 km home to Emmaus (Mark 16; Luke 24). He met especially with Simon Peter (Luke 24 v 34) and he had breakfast on the beach by the sea of Galilee with seven of the disciples.
On one occasion Jesus appeared to up to 500 people at the same time. Paul mentions this in 1 Cor 15 stating that (at that time) most of those who were present were still alive. The implication of his statement being “Don’t take my (Paul’s) word for it – go and ask them what happened”. These witnesses were still available for anyone to question.
Jesus said to the disciples "You are witnesses to these things..." (Luke 24 v 48) and they went out and told the world.
The effect of his resurrection at that time:
This is indirect evidence, but no less valid for that. Jesus disciples did not just accept the news of Jesus resurrection and quietly return to their old jobs and old lives. Within a few short weeks these same disciples who had run away frightened when Jesus was arrested, stood in public in the same city where he had died and proclaimed the resurrection in the face of the authorities who had killed him. Even when they were arrested themselves and dragged before the courts they persisted in declaring that Jesus was alive.
In due time all but one of the original twelve disciples were put to death for what they believed. Hundreds of others went to their own crosses or were thrown to the lions rather than denounce what they were convinced was true.
If Jesus had not risen, we must account for the fact that frightened insignificant people would declare as a fact what they must otherwise have known to be a lie. Only one explanation accounts for it all – Jesus was really alive.
The effect of the resurrection since then:
Since those early days the resurrection has been declared and celebrated down through 2000 years. The church has grown and, world wide, continues to grow. Many have tried to discredit this account. Yet across the world millions of people can testify to having had an encounter with the living Lord Jesus. Few of these are quite like the encounters of the first disciples who met Jesus in the flesh, but still they testify to lives changed and transformed by the power of God in their lives.
Conclusion:
The notes above are only a very brief account of the resurrection. You must decide for yourself, the evidence is there for all to see, and very clearly says...