The resurrection of Jesus Part 1

Is there evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ or was it a hoax made up by his followers?

If the resurrection of Jesus Christ didn’t happen then Christianity is a hoax, Jesus was a liar, and our faith is a waste of time. The Apostle Paul said, “ And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” ( 1 Cor 15:14 ESV).

Since the entire Christian Faith is based on the resurrection, God has given us evidence so that we might be able to use our minds and come to a logical conclusion that the resurrection is based on true historical evidence and is not a fable that requires a mystical faith.

Before discussing the resurrection of Christ it is important to establish that we are discussing an event that took place 2000 years ago. There were no television cameras watching the tomb and none of the eyewitnesses are alive today to be interviewed. With that being said there is still evidence to be presented and as a jury, we are able to see the evidence and come to a logical conclusion as to what happened. This is the same method that historians use in determining the truthfulness of any event that took place in the past. After considering the evidence for ourselves we have to decide. Does the evidence we have indicate that the resurrection is highly probable or was it the biggest hoax ever pulled off in the history of mankind?

I would now like to present the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

1. Jesus died on the cross. The first piece of evidence for the resurrection is the death of Jesus.

This may seem like a given to someone that was raised in the Christian Faith, yet it's an important fact when discussing the resurrection. Throughout time there have been scoffers who claim that Jesus was only injured on the cross and recovered while in the tomb. This is known as the "swoon theory". The death of Jesus on the cross is attested by many independent sources from the time period of Christ. Josephus, who was not himself a Christian, records that Jesus was condemned under Pilate to die on the cross. Roman historian Tacitus writes that Jesus suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius under the command of Pilate. The Jewish Talmud also records that during the eve of the Passover Jesus was hanged on the cross.

I also present the writings of the New Testament as evidence. The books of the New Testament are also historical records from the time period of Christ all written by independent sources, some of whom were eyewitnesses to the crucifixion. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John record the death of Jesus on the cross (Matt 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19). The Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth recited a very early creed of the church when he wrote, "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3).

The Romans guards that were present at the cross were convinced Jesus was dead. Consider the testimony of John, the disciple who stayed at the cross. John recorded, "So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him." But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water." (John19:32-32 ESV). The soldiers would break the legs of the men as an act of mercy to speed up the process of dying. (The only way to stay alive on the cross was to lift oneself up with his legs in order to catch another breath). When they came to Jesus he was already dead so they didn't break his legs, but just to be certain, they pierced his side with a sword. The presence of water and blood pouring out indicates the watery fluid from the lungs and heart.

2. The women were the first eyewitnesses to report Jesus was alive.

This is another important piece of evidence for the resurrection. One of the things that historians look at when investigating reports from the past is knowns as the "criterion of embarrassment". In other words, are the people recording the events so committed to telling the truth about those events that they will not change the information, even if the information is embarrassing. What could be more embarrassing then the followers of Jesus locked up in an upper room out of fear, not believing that Jesus would be raised from the dead, and having the women be the first ones at the tomb? In this time period, the testimony of women was not admissible in the court of law, which makes the account of the resurrection even more interesting.

If the writers of the New Testament were writing propaganda they would not have had women be the first eyewitnesses the resurrection.

The only reasonable explanation as to why the New Testament records women finding the tomb empty, and being the first to see the risen Lord is because that's exactly the way it happened. The Gospel of Luke tells us, "and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them" (Luke 24:9-11 ESV). The disciples, even after hearing the report from the women DID NOT BELEIVE THAT JESUS HAD RISEN! It wasn't until Jesus appeared to the disciples that they believed. Even then, he had to convince them that he wasn't a spirit. He said, "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Luke 24:39). To convince the disples Jesus even sat and ate broiled fish with them so that they might believe he was not a spirit (Luke 24:42).

3. The tomb was empty.

The third piece of evidence to consider is the empty tomb. After Jesus died there was a man named Joseph who was from the town of Arimathea. He took the body of Jesus with the permission of Pilate and buried him in a tomb that no one else had ever been buried in ( Matthew 27:57-61, Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:40-55, John 19:39-42). The Pharisees were afraid that the disciples would come and steal the body of Jesus and fabricate a lie so they persuaded Pilate to seal the tomb and set guards in front of it to make sure that no one could steal the body. (The interesting point here is that the disciples were not even convinced of the resurrection until they were physically able to touch Jesus).

An empty tomb doesn't prove that a miracle took place. Certainly there are other reasons that a tomb could be empty.

Here's why the empty tomb is important in our understanding of the resurrection. First, the Jewish leaders believed that the tomb was empty. They paid a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers to lie and tell people that His disciples came at night and stole the body (Matt 28:11-15). This scheme is also found in the writings of Justin Martyr and Terullian. Even the enemies of Christ had to admit that the tomb was empty! Second, the body of Jesus was buried in the city of Jerusalem, the same city where the Church began preaching the good news about the death and resurrection of Christ. If the tomb was not empty and Jesus was not raised from the dead the disciples could have been easily silenced by someone simply producing the body.

4. The Conversion of James

The book of James is often an overlooked book in the New Testament, yet the fact that James is in the canon of Scripture is a testimony to the resurrection. Mary, the mother of Jesus, did not stay a virgin. Jesus had siblings, one who was named James. "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas" (Matt 13:44 ESV )? What is interesting about this piece of evidence is that Jesus' brother James did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah until after the resurrection. The Gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus' family "thought he was out of his mind" (Mark 3:21).

After the resurrection, the Apostle Paul records that Jesus appeared to James, then to all the Apostles (1 Cor 15:7). This passage in 1 Corinthians 15 is where Paul is reciting an early creed of the church, dating back to mere months after the resurrection. The early date of this creed gives it more authenticity when studied by historians, and the majority of scholars, Christian and skeptic alike accept the writings of Paul in this passage as an accurate historical document. The reason this creed makes a distinction between the Apostles and James is to not confuse James, the brother of the Lord, with the Apostle named James.

Later in the book of Galatians the Apostle Paul tells the church of a visit that he had with James, the Lord's brother, and in this verse, he calls him an apostle (Gal 1:19). This evidence indicates that something happened after the crucifixion that convinced James, the brother of the Lord that Jesus wasn't merely a man but that He was the promised Messiah. I argue that it was the appearance of the risen Lord to his brother James that caused James to be transformed from a skeptic to a believer and later write the book of James and serve the New Testament church as an Apostle.

To Be continued.....