JESUS RESURRECTION

At Easter, some might wonder what all the fuss is
about. Who cares? What difference does it make if Jesus
rose from the dead?

It makes all the difference in the world. If Christ did not
rise, then thousands of believers have died as martyrs
for a hoax.

If he did rise, then he is still alive and can offer peace
to troubled, hurting lives.

Countless scholars--among them the apostle Paul,
Augustine, Sir Isaac Newton and C.S. Lewis's believed in
the resurrection. We need not fear committing intellectual suicide by believing it also. Where do
the facts lead?

Paul, a first-century skeptics turned believer, wrote that "Christ died for our sins...he was
buried...he was raised on the third day...he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve (Disciples).

After that, he appeared to more than five hundred...at the same time, most of whom are still
living." Consider four pieces of evidence:

1. The explosive growth of the Christian movement. Within a few weeks after
Jesus was crucified, a movement arose which, by the later admission of its enemies, "upset the
world." What happened to ignite this movement shortly after its leader had been executed?

2. The Disciple's changed lives. After Jesu's arrest and crucifixion, most of the
Disciples fled in fear. Peter denied three times that he was a follower of Jesus. (The women
were braver and stayed to the end.) Yet ten out of the eleven Disciples (Judas committed
suicide) were martyred for their faith. According to traditions, Peter was crucified upside down;
Thomas was skewered; John was boiled in oil but survived. What turned these cowards into
heroes? Each believed he had seen Jesus alive again.

3. The empty tomb. Jesus' corpse was removed from the cross, wrapped like a mummy
and placed in a solid-rock tomb. A one-and-a-half to two-ton stone was rolled into a slightly
depressed groove to seal the tomb's entrance.

A "Green Beret"-like unit of Roman soldiers guarded the grave. Sunday morning, the stone was
found rolled away, the body was gone but the graveclothes were still in place. What happened?

Did Christ's friends steal the body? Perhaps one of the women sweet-talked (karate-chopped?)
the guards while the others moved the stone and tiptoed off with the body. Or maybe Peter
(remember his bravery) or Thomas (Doubting Thomas) overpowered the guards, stole the body,
then fabricated--and died for--a resurrection myth.

These theories hardly seem plausible. The guard was too powerful, the stone too heavy and the
disciples too spineless to attempt such a feat.

Did Christ's enemies steal the body? If Romans or Jewish religious leaders had the body, surely
they would have exposed it publicly and Christianity would have died out. They didn't, and it
didn't.

The "Swoon Theory" supposes that Jesus didn't really die but was only unconscious. The expert
Roman executioners merely thought he was dead. After a few days in the tomb without food or
medicine, the cool air revived him.

He burst from the 100 pounds of graveclothes, rolled away the stone with his nail-pierced
hands, scared the daylights out of the Roman soldiers, walked miles on wounded feet and
convinced his Disciples he'd been raised from the dead. This one is harder to believe than the
resurrection itself.

4. The appearances of the risen Christ. For 40 days after his death, many different people said they saw Jesus alive. Witnesses included a woman, a shrewd tax collector, several fishermen and over 500 people at once.

These claims provide further eyewitness testimony for the resurrection. As a skeptic, I realized that attempts to explain away the evidences run into a brick wall of
facts that point to one conclusion: Christ is risen.

The above does not constitute an exhaustive proof, rather a reasoned examination of the evidence. Each interested person should evaluate the evidence and decide if it makes sense.

Of course, the truth or falsity of the resurrection is a matter of historical fact and is not dependent on anyone's belief. If the facts support the claim, one can conclude that he arose. In any case, mere intellectual assent to the facts does little for one's life.

A major evidence comes experientially, in personally receiving Jesus' free gift of forgiveness. He
said, "I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come
in to him (or her)."

Worth considering?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Would you like to have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ? You can start
by saying this simple prayer:

Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I
open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank
You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the
throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.

If you prayed this prayer today, i would love to hear from you . Perhaps i could connect
you with a mentor that could help you learn how to know God in a deeper and deeper more satisfying way. Shalom!