The Resurrection of Jesus

Did it Really Happen? Does it Really Matter?

Come Resurrection Sunday, or Easter as most people call it, Christians around the

world celebrate the bodily resurrection of Jesus. They sing those familiar hymns,

with lines such as “Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia! Earth and heaven in

chorus say, Alleluia! Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!” But really, not

everyone believes that Jesus, let alone anyone else, could come back from the

dead. Even some pastors don’t take these verses literally. They might teach it

because it is a tradition, that it is based on a myth or that it brings some comfort to

parishioners. Certainly, skeptics don’t believe it. They might refer to the story of

the resurrection of Jesus as a myth, an example of wishful thinking, a product of

hallucinations, or a pious fraud on the part of the disciples.

But did the resurrection of Jesus really happen? Does it really matter? 1 Peter 15-

16 tells us, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to

give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and

respect.” We should be able to explain, using reason, not feelings, what we believe

and why we believe it. So, why should we believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

There are some things, such as one-time historical events, that can’t be proven

scientifically. You can repeat the incident. But you can make a reasonable

argument for the resurrection of Jesus. And this argument is more reasonable than

any alternative explanation.

Some skeptics might suggest that the resurrection was not a historical fact, but a

legend, a story that developed over the years. This is a very weak argument.

Legends can’t develop overnight. They develop years after the event. And the

record of the events (The Gospels) were written within a decade or two of the

events, far too early for such legends to develop.

Another argument against the resurrection of Jesus was that the story was

fabricated by his disciples. This argument doesn’t make much sense either. People

will lie if the lie will benefit them in some way. They lie to get rich or to gain

power. But all of the disciples suffered for what they were teaching and all but

John died as martyrs. Would you suffer and die for what you knew was a lie? I

doubt it.

Then there is the idea that the disciples stole the body of Jesus and claimed that

Jesus rose from the dead. This is unlikely considering the disciples were not the

heroic types who would steal a body from a grave that was guarded by Roman

soldiers. The disciples abandoned Jesus and scattered when Jesus was arrested.

They were in hiding, thinking that perhaps they were next to be arrested. Peter was

ready to move on with his life saying that he was going back to the fishing

business (John 21:3). Imagine what might have been going through the minds of

the disciples at that time. “We really thought he was the one, the Messiah. But then

John the Baptist was killed, and then Jesus. Now the authorities are probably going

to come after us. And that loudmouth Peter who cut off that soldiers’ ear is

probably at the top of the authorities list of their most wanted criminals.” I don’t

think this was the time for them to plan and execute a commando raid on a heavily

guarded tomb to steal a body. They probably were more likely to be planning an

escape from Jerusalem altogether. No, the disciples weren’t going to try to steal the

body and claim that Jesus rose from the dead and then suffer and die for what they

knew was a lie.

What about the enemies of Jesus? Could the Jews have stolen the body of Jesus?

No, because when Peter preached his sermon on Pentecost and spoke of the risen

Christ, all the Jews would have had to do was to produce the body of Jesus and

debunk Peter’s claim of a resurrection. If that happened, we would never have

heard of Jesus or any of his disciples. The Christian message would have died

before it spread beyond the walls of Jerusalem.

What about the women who were the first to discover the empty tomb? Could the

women, on their way to the tomb to prepare Jesus for permanent burial gotten lost

in the early morning fog and gone to the wrong tomb, an empty one? Unlikely,

since there was an angel at the tomb who announced that Jesus wasn’t in his tomb,

that he had risen. You would have to think that the angel got lost in the fog, also.

Besides, when the women reported to the disciples what they saw, the disciples ran

to investigate their claim. You would have to believe that they too got disorientated

and went to the wrong tomb, which just happened to have an empty burial shroud

inside.

Then there is the theory that Jesus never died in the first place. Claimants argue

that Jesus was only unconscious when he was placed in the tomb, not dead. People

have been buried alive. With no stethoscopes, electrocardiograms to measure heart

rhythms, no electroencephalograms to measure brain waves, he might have been

alive when he was placed in the tomb. And once in the cool, quiet tomb, he was

able to rest, and regain consciousness. Then he might have unwrapped himself and

moved the stone away and escaped the guard under the cover of darkness. This

might be a good story line for an adventure movie but doesn’t make much sense.

Before his crucifixion Jesus had to endure a horrible beating, a scourging. This

included being whipped with a whip that had metal pieces bone fragments in it so

that his flesh would be torn from his body. Some condemned prisoners didn’t

survive the scourging. Jesus was in such terrible shape that he couldn’t even carry

his cross to his crucifixion. Besides this scourging, he wasn’t executed by amateurs

but by professional soldiers. They had seen death many times and knew it when

they saw it, and just to be sure he was dead, they thrust a spear into his side. If your

military specialty was “executioner”, you wanted to do a thorough job so that your

annual performance evaluation looked good, and you get that promotion you want.

There was no doubt that he was dead when he was wrapped up and placed in a

sealed and guarded tomb.

When skeptics are desperate for arguments to disprove the resurrection of Jesus,

they resort to most any idea. The twin theory argues that Jesus may not have been

the one who was crucified, but a twin. But Jesus was guarded by Roman soldiers

from the time he was taken into custody until his death and afterwards. There was

no chance for a twin or anyone else to sneak in and take his place. Nor could a

“twin” steal his body and claim to be the risen Lord.

Then there is the question about spices and body wrapping of Jesus after his death.

Could a person who had been badly beaten and wrapped in cloth have unwrapped

himself? Houdini couldn’t have escaped this tomb. When his disciples entered the

empty tomb and found it empty, the spices and wrappings were still there. And the

wrappings were in the same shape as if the body had passed through it, as if by a

miracle. Would a thief take the time to unwrap the body? Most thieves want to get

in and out as quickly as possible. And why would they leave behind the spices that

were quite valuable?

If the resurrection story was nothing more than a conspiracy of lies, isn’t it unlikely

that not a single conspirator divulged their secret?

Then you have the multiple testimonies of those who saw the risen Christ. How

can a skeptic reasonably explain the testimonies of so many people? Jesus was

seen by more than 500 people on at least eight occasions over a forty-day period.

He appeared to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11), the “other woman” (Matt. 28:9-

10), to Peter (Luke 24:34), to two disciples (Luke 24:13-32), to ten

apostles (Luke 24:33-49), to doubting Thomas (John 20:26-30), to seven

apostles (John 21), to all the apostles (Matt. 28:16-20), to all the apostles

again (Acts 1:4-9), to 500 brethren (I Cor 15:6), to James (I Cor 15:6), and to

Paul (I Cor 15:7). Paul said that there were people still alive in his day who could

attest to the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.

But could these eye-witness testimonies have been nothing more than

hallucinations? Not many people are subject to hallucinations, and hallucinations

are very individualistic. Groups of people don’t have the same hallucinations.

Groups of people don’t have the same hallucination in different times and places.

Besides, hallucinations oftentimes occur when there is an expected, long-desired

event. People will sometimes see what they strongly desire to see. But the disciples

and others weren’t expecting these appearances. They were ready to move on with

their lives.

Then one must ask, if Jesus never rose from the dead, why did the disciples gather

for worship on Sunday rather than the Sabbath? The early church members were

mostly Jewish who observed the 7th day Sabbath. Something must have led them

to change the day of worship to the first day of the week.

If Jesus never rose from the dead, how else can you explain the early growth of the

church and even the large number of priests who “became obedient to the

faith” (Acts 6:7)? And these priests were not “friendly” to Jesus or his message

when he was alive. Something very dramatic must have happened for them to

change their views about Jesus.

If Jesus never rose from the dead, what else can explain how a small group of timid

men could dramatically change to the point of turning the world upside down (Acts

17:6)? What changed Peter who denied his Lord before a servant girl’s

questionings, into a man who could preach the Gospel before the powerful

Sanhedrin (Acts 4:7)?

What changed James, the Lord’s brother into a believer and later the leader of the

Jerusalem church? And what changed Paul the persecutor of the church into its

apostle to the Gentiles?

Why would apostles pray, Maranatha, “Our Lord, Come,” (I Cor. 16:22) if he was

still in the grave?

The only reasonable explanation as to what happened to Jesus is that he was

severely beaten and executed by professional executioners, and that he rose again

from the dead, just as Scripture says.

But is it so important that he rose from the dead, as Scripture says? Yes. If he

hadn’t then we can’t trust the Bible. If we can’t believe what it says about the death

and resurrection of Jesus, how can we believe the rest of it?

If Jesus didn’t die and didn’t rise from the dead, then our faith is in vain, and the

religion of Christianity is a hoax (I Cor. 15:15). If the resurrection story is myth,

then millions of people have been duped over the centuries. We might as well shut

down all the churches, Bible colleges, and seminaries. The Vatican would have to

have a large yard sale in St. Peters’ Square to sell all of the artwork, sculptures,

ancient documents, etc. Todays’ Christians, anticipating the second coming of the

Messiah, would probably convert to Judaism and wait for his first coming. Some

Jews might mock us, saying, “We told you so.”

If Jesus did not die and rise from the dead, then our view of Jesus must change.

Like a scandalized televangelist who is exposed for being a fraud, we must

conclude that Jesus himself was a fraud. Jesus told us that he would lay down his

life and raise it up again (John 2:19). He gave us the sign of Jonah, saying that he

would be in the grave for three days, then rise up again (Matt. 12:40). He said that

he must suffer, die and rise again (Mark 8:31). He said that he had the power to

lay down his life and to take it up again (John 10:18). If he didn’t do these things,

as he said he would, then he was a pathological liar, not God in the flesh. Jesus

would be just one of many false Messiahs to have come along.

As C.S. Lewis said, Jesus was either a lunatic, a liar, or the LORD. This

Resurrection Sunday, you can sing songs of his resurrection with greater

confidence knowing that the only reasonable explanation as to what really

happened was exactly what is in the Bible. It is not a belief that has to be accepted

with blind faith. If someone expresses doubt in the resurrection of Jesus, ask him if

there is a more reasonable explanation as to what happened than what is in the

Bible. I don’t think there is one.



He is Risen . . . Maranatha.