After celebrating Holy Week, one of the busiest weeks in the calendar year, there still exists many doubts, many questions, and many criticisms regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Did Jesus truly rise from the dead? Is there any evidence for the resurrection? Or, is this whole idea of a resurrection just a myth?

For some, no matter how much evidence there might be to support the idea of a resurrection they will never come to belief. However, coming back to life after being pronounced dead is not so uncommon. Just google "Lazarus Syndrome" or just google people who were pronounced dead that came back to life to see for yourself that the idea of life after death is not just some fairy tale. Hence, if people come back to life from the emergency room and from the mortuary, then it is absolutely possible that God could raise his own Son from the dead forever, right? Unfortunately, what happens in the ER or in the mortuary won't satisfy the case for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But, before you close the case on the resurrection of Jesus as unsolved or false, consider five points that favor the resurrection to be true. First, let's begin with the death by crucifixion on the cross. Did Jesus really suffer death on the cross? Of course he did! No credible academic scholar will disagree with this fact that Jesus really died on the cross. There was no way Jesus survived the cross! I repeat, there was no way Jesus survived the crucifixion! Why? Because death was guaranteed by crucifixion, and one method the Romans used to ensure death was by breaking the legs of the criminals so they couldn't lift themselves up to breathe. The two criminals Jesus was crucified along side with had their legs broken and by the time the Romans came to break the legs of Jesus, he was already dead, which prompted the Romans to verify that Jesus was dead by taking a spear and piercing his side. So, there is no doubt that Jesus really died on the cross.

The second point is the tomb. Being that Jesus died on Preparation Day, right before the Sabbath began, the Jews requested to have the bodies taken off the cross. They buried Jesus in a tomb nearby, sealed the tomb, and posted guards at the Pharisees request in order to nullify Jesus' own claim of raising his temple in three days. Hence, the Jews went above and beyond the call of duty when it came to the burial of Jesus because they themselves feared the reality of Jesus resurrecting from the dead. The Jews never requested from the Roman governor for any other crucified victim that a seal be placed on their tomb and that guards be posted on 24 hour watch to ensure no one tampered with their tomb, except for Jesus. Think about that for a second...

The third point is the empty tomb. The body of Jesus was never found! I repeat, the body of Jesus Christ was never found! What other explanation can one devise for the empty tomb; a tomb that was sealed and guarded by Roman authorities, except the resurrection...

The fourth point is the multiple attestations of the reappearance of Jesus Christ in his glorified body. Jesus reappeared to his disciples, to 500 people at one time, to doubting Thomas, and to Saul of Tarsus. The multiple appearances Jesus made after the crucifixion adds further weight to the truth of his resurrection. Furthermore, the Bible contains not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 consistent historical eyewitness accounts of the arrest, the crucifixion, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. That's really solid evidence!

The fifth point pertains to the desperate and hostile explanations created to explain away the truth of the resurrection. In Matthew 28:11-15 it says that to this day the Jews widely circulated the fabricated story that the disciples stole the body. Unfortunately, instead of acknowledging the truth of what really happened, the chief priests devised a lie that's still widely circulated today. So, if you are reading this and had doubts about the resurrection of Jesus, please remember that Satan is out to seek, kill, and destroy anything of God, especially the most revolutionary account in all of history, the resurrection of Jesus. There are millions of fabricated reports on the internet, on social media, on television, on the radio, on YouTube, and by others with an anti-theistic agenda. In order to get to the bottom of the truth, you have to go back and investigate artifacts two thousand years ago, not contemporary material. The closer you get to the scene, the better chance you have to find out the real truth, and the lesser chance the truth is corrupted by legend, myth, or false reports. 

For information on the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, we recommend Lee Strobel's Case for Christ, or N.T. Wright's exhaustive Case for the Resurrection.

#Time4Truth #God'sNotDead #TheEmptyTomb