Did Jesus Christ Rise from the Grave? Evidence of the Resurrection

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).  

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!

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Dig Deeper: What does the Gospel of John say about Mission following the resurrection of Jesus?

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Evidence that God exists

Have you heard athiests, agnostics, curious thinkers challenge a Christian with, 'Give me evidence that God exists'? Have had the challenge recently from Twitter user @hughring wanting evidence for the claims of Christianity. Interestingly, if we want to enter into an evidentialism kind of debate, lets look at both sides of the equation. @hughring is a professed atheist and so believes that there is no 'God who created the heavens and the earth'. He wants me to provide evidence of the existence of God so that I can clearly justify my belief system and prove to him that my beliefs are not insane, illogical and outrageous. So will Hugh provide me with the same evidence of his belief in the non-existence of God? Will Hugh outline to me in a logical, scientific and intellectual way, evidence that show his holding of an atheist viewpoint is right? Why should I have to provide evidence of the existence of God, while someone can say that Christianity is fictional and be free from making any valid reasoning to why they hold to that assumption?

I know what people are thinking. So, will you give us some evidence on the existence of God anyway? Some of the atheists are saying, 'C'mon - prove to me that God really exists and that your whole faith and religion isn't just a pile of controlling, authoritarian legalism.' The fact is, whether or not I have the ability to clearly and soundly argue the existence of God does not change the truth about whether or not God exists. It will merely provide some with ammunition for rebuttal and provide others with some ideas about what they already believe.

Ahh, the existence of God. Theologian and famous Christian minister John Wesley broke up Christianity into four sources saying that within Christianity the following four tenets were imperative, and they were:
1. Reason
2. Tradition
3. Experience
4. Scripture
He argued, amongst others, that a wholistic Christian worldview was made up all of these four sections. Reason is one subsection that atheist's pounce on and demand from the Christians. Reason (http://www.dictionary.com/) 'is a statement presented in justification or explanation of a belief or action'. This is most important for atheists as empirical evidence is what is valued the most; scientific arguments/evidence for any belief/idea. The 'reason' the Christian uses to share with others, to justify and explain their belief is 'faith'. This of course is not enough for the atheist to justify such a large claim, that God exists. Maybe you're right. Maybe its a cop-out. Though many know that through faith in the Lord Jesus (that is genuine trust/belief) in Jesus is all the reasoning they need. Now, to have to provide scientific, intellectual, step by step analysis of the existence of God to prove God's existence is a presumptious, arrogant stance that scientists take. They shrug off faith like its a mosquito with malaria, and spit and shout loudly that scientific, empirical evidence is what is needed. I stammer and whinge and say, 'No! Faith's enough, in and of itself.'

Tradition highlights to the Christian the importance of the past and can help inform theology into the future, including the proof of the existence of God. 'Tradition' here is being defined as, 'a living and active process of passing on the Christian faith, rather than as a static source of revelation, indepedent of Scripture' (McGrath, 2001: 185).Quoting from Alister McGrath:
   ' "tradition" implies not merely something that is handed down, but an active process of reflection by which theological or spiritual insights are valued, assessed, and transmitted from one generation to another' (: 186). Some atheists would call this 'organized religion' and throw the baby out with the bath water. The tradition side of understanding Christianity and the existence of God is about looking and appreciating the validity of particular ideas/theology that has come from the past. We think of statements such as the Apostle's Creed and the Athanasian Creed forged within the think tanks of followers of Jesus in days gone by. But, does any of this provide evidence for the existence of God? When encapsulated wholistically with Scripture, experience and reason, tradition highlights to us, one of two options - millions of Christians and theologians got it all wrong and handed down pathetic excuses for religiosity, or there is merit and validity to the tradition of the past. It's admittedly not a strong argument, but is a justification nonetheless.

The same is said of 'Experience'. Millions of people testify their lungs out about the existence of God, through a faith response to the message of Christ. The atheist is quick to label experiential stories of supernatural experiences as either mental illness, illusions, hypnosis, lack of sleep, paranoia... the list goes on... If we labelled each and every Christian with these, quite often over the top, bogus justifications for someone's lack of true experience, then we have emerged into the 21st century on the back of millions of liars and millions of sick people who have for some reason shared with humanity a belief that is irrational and nonexistent. The millions of believers with these 'valid for them' experiences of faith have also been some of the most influential people in science, politics, religion, entertainment, the world has ever seen. I understand that a million people saying something is right, still does not necessarily make something right, though we cannot brush off the experience of many people with broad offensive comments about the validity of someones experience. Each experience should be weighed on its own merits, and possibly weighed up to the rigours of cohesiveness with biblical writings and scientific analysis.

The evidence that God exists, for a Christian is found in the continuing revelation of the power and significance that is found in the biblical writings. While atheists are fast to jump onto specific bible verses about the vengeance of God or the specific commands to a specific people at a specific time, the Christian has time and time again witnessed the outworking of Scripture in their lives. Whether it be the quiet reassurance that 'I will always be with you', or the supernatural sense of the peace of the Holy Spirit when we read, 'Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ' or the challenge we feel when we read, 'Go into all the world and make disciples'. The Scriptures and validity of them, and significance of them could obviously be unpacked with much more detail and eloquence than provided here, but suffice to say, the evidence for the existence of God comes partly though the faithfulness of the Christian Scriptures known today as the Bible.      

I'm happy for informative, constructive comments below (no matter what system of belief or non-belief you adhere to), so we can keep the discussion going. I finish with something lighthearted from Albert Einstein...
'Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former'.


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