How do we
know that Jesus rose from the grave?
Mary
Magdelene and another Mary went to the tomb to pay their respects to Jesus. A
violent earthquake shook the surroundings and the stone was rolled back from
the tomb of Jesus. As the story goes, an angel visits them and tells them that
Jesus is not there and that in fact he had risen from the grave (See Matthew
28:1-17).
Such a dramatic
turn of events. Jesus Christ of Nazareth had been crucified at the hands of an
angry religious mob just three days earlier. He was put in a cave, and a large
stone was rolled in front of the grave site, and guards were put on watch. The first Easter was upon us.
Though, how
can we authenticate the validity of such a miracle? I mean, some may say, the
resurrection of Jesus was merely a fabricated story passed down over
generations. Others are still searching for the bones of Jesus; so far to no
avail.
I want to
suggest to you three evidences for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
EVIDENCE OF THE RESURRECTION No.1 – Jesus said it would happen and it did.
Jesus not only predicted his resurrection but also emphasized his
rising from the dead would be the sign to authenticate his claims to be the
Messiah. See the below Scriptures for instance.
Matthew’s Gospel - Mt 12:38-40; Mt 16:21, Mt 17:9; Mt 17:22,23; Mt 20:18,19; Mt 26:32, Mt 27:63
Mark’s Gospel - Mk 8:31-9:1; Mk 9:10; Mk 9:31; Mk 10:32-34; Mk 14:28, Mk 14:58
Luke’s Gospel - Lk 9:22-27
John’s Gospel - Jn 2:18-22; Jn 12:34; Chapters 14-16
For
instance, Matthew 17:22-23 says, ‘When they came together in Galilee, [Jesus]
said to them, “The son of man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.
They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.”
These words
of Jesus were circulating in the province of the day, and were surely why some of the
religious leaders of his day were sceptical of who he was. I mean, who walks around saying that after they die, they will come back to life in three days?
Wilbur M. Smith says: ‘That Jesus said he
was going up to Jerusalem to die is not so remarkable, though all the details
he gave about that death, weeks and months before he died, are together a
prophetic phenomenon. But when he said that he himself would rise again from the
dead, the third day after he was crucified, he said something that only a
fool would dare say, if he expected longer that devotion of any disciples,
unless – he was sure we was going to rise. No founder of any world religion
known to men ever dared say a thing like that!’
EVIDENCE OF THE RESURRECTION No.2 – There were eye-witnesses to Jesus resurrection
Granted that
the first evidence of the resurrection by itself, is not a strong apologetic to
convince anyone that that Jesus did in fact rise from the grave. The second
evidence I would like to suggest, is that there were numerous eye-witnesses to
the resurrection of Jesus.
So who were
some of the eye-witnesses to this extraordinary resurrection?
Two women named Mary saw him when they hurried away from his tomb (Matthew 28:1-10, John 20:10-18). Eleven of his disciples saw him on a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20). Mary Magdalene saw him on that Easter morning (Mark 16:9). Two people met walking in the country on the road to Emmaus. Ten of his disciples saw him in the City of Jerusalem. The disciple Thomas touched his scars after the resurrection. His disciples saw him by the sea and had breakfast with him (John 21). Over 500 saw him after he was resurrected.
J. N. D. Anderson said: ‘The
most drastic way of dismissing the evidence would be to say that these stories
were mere fabrications, that they were pure lies. But, so far as I know, not a
single critic today would take such an attitude. In fact, it would really be an
impossible position. Think of the number of witnesses, over 500. Think of the
character of the witnesses, men and women who gave the world the highest
ethical teaching it has ever known, and who even on the testimony of their
enemies lived it out in their lives. Think of the psychological absurdity of
picturing a little band of defeated cowards cowering in an upper room one day
and a few days later transformed into a company that no persecution could
silence – and then attempting to attribute this dramatic change to nothing more
convincing than a miserable fabrication they were trying to foist upon the
world. That simply wouldn’t make sense.’
How about this quote from John Montgomery: ‘It passes the bounds of credibility that the early Christians could have manufactured such a tale and then preached it among those who might easily have refuted it simply by producing the body of Jesus.’
EVIDENCE OF THE RESURRECTION No. 3 – The Empty Tomb
An angel said to the two Marys
who were present at the tomb of Jesus - 'He is not here, he has risen...’ (Matthew
28:6). The tomb was empty. God had rolled away the stone. Now, how is this
conclusive evidence that Jesus did in fact rise from the grave? I mean, could the
disciples simply have stolen the body?
This is called the falsehood theory. The theory is that the disciples were deliberately deceptive (Berkhof, 1939: 348) in that they stole the body of Jesus and then spoke out that Jesus had risen. Berkhof says, ‘It is extremely unlikely that the faint-hearted disciples would have had the courage to palm off such a falsehood upon a hostile world. It is impossible to believe that they would have persisted in suffering for such a bare falsehood’ (: 348).
This is called the falsehood theory. The theory is that the disciples were deliberately deceptive (Berkhof, 1939: 348) in that they stole the body of Jesus and then spoke out that Jesus had risen. Berkhof says, ‘It is extremely unlikely that the faint-hearted disciples would have had the courage to palm off such a falsehood upon a hostile world. It is impossible to believe that they would have persisted in suffering for such a bare falsehood’ (: 348).
As Paul Althus poignantly declares, ‘The resurrection proclamation could not have been maintained in Jerusalem for a single day, for a single hour, if the emptiness of the tomb had not been established as a fact.’
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There is much more to speak of in relation to the resurrection of Jesus. One could begin to consider the meaning of the resurrection of Jesus to his followers today. One could discuss how Jesus rising from the grave differs from other religions. With all of that and more left unsaid, let me finish with a few Scriptures highlighted by Jesus himself, during his earthly ministry.
He declared that he was the resurrection and the life (John
11:25). He said he had the power to lay down his life and to take it up again
(John 10:18) and he even predicted that he would rebuild the temple of his body
(another reference to the resurrection) (John 2:19-21).
Finally, through faith, we can have the power and the presence of the resurrected Jesus living inside of us!
Finally, through faith, we can have the power and the presence of the resurrected Jesus living inside of us!
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Dig Deeper: What does the Gospel of John say about Mission following the resurrection of Jesus?
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