There are several reasons why I believe Jesus rose from the dead. In preparing this material, I have leaned heavily on the work of Josh McDowell and others who have studied this subject intensively..
I believe the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection to be compelling, but some will still deny the resurrection. Having said that, I believe there is no truthful way to read the four gospels and to fairly account for the evidence there presented without concluding that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead.
(1) He predicted he would rise from the dead.
Because he was the Son of God, he knew about his coming death in Jerusalem. But he also knew about his resurrection. In John 2:19-22 he said that he would be raised in three days—although the disciples did not understand it at the time. In John 10:17, 18 he plainly said he had the power to lay down his own life and then to take it back up again. At the moment when Peter declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” Jesus told his disciples for the first time that he must go to Jerusalem, that he would be put to death, and that he would be raised to life on the third day in Matthew 16:21.
(2) Jesus really died.
The Romans were experts at killing. Everything they did to a victim was calculated to make him suffer unbearable pain and then to die an agonizing death. No one could have survived what Jesus suffered. He was dead when they took him down from the cross.
(3) His body was embalmed and then buried.
Jewish burial customs of that day involved a complex mixture of spices and resin that, when placed between the layers of the grave clothes hardened to produce an impenetrable shell. The primary purpose, of course, was to keep robbers and animals out, but in this case it has the additional purpose of keeping the dead man inside. It also prevented unpleasant odors from spreading. The total weight of the winding cloth with the spices and resins would be 75-100 pounds.
Jesus’ body was taken down and hurriedly prepared for burial in the last few moments before sundown since Jewish law forbade touching a dead body on the Sabbath. He was buried in a newly-dug tomb provided by Joseph of Arimathea. He and Nicodemus, along with the women, prepared the dead body for burial. Afterwards Pilate ordered the tomb sealed and then placed a squad of soldiers in front of the stone as a precaution against mischief of any kind.
Although it is not often noticed, the gospel writers actually give quite a few details regarding the handling of the body and the preparation for burial. The only possible conclusion must be that Jesus was in fact actually dead on Friday evening.
(4) The disciples didn’t expect a resurrection.
In my mind this is one of the most telling points. Even though Jesus had repeatedly predicted his resurrection, somehow that truth simply failed to sink in. Either they didn’t understand it, or they didn’t want to think about what it implied (Jesus’ death), or they forgot it in the emotion of watching him die. All four gospels make it clear that before the crucifixion, none of the disciples understood Jesus’ references to the resurrection.
(5) The women saw him first.
In our modern culture we don’t appreciate the significance of the fact that the women came first to the tomb. No first-century fiction writer would have put the women at the tomb first because women weren’t considered reliable witnesses. The only reason to say that the women saw him first is because that’s what actually happened. No one would have made up such a strange detail.
(6) No one believed it at first.
Not only did the disciples not expect a resurrection, Luke 24 makes it clear that the men didn’t believe the first reports from the women. Discounting them as unreliable, they decided to check the tomb for themselves. Remember, the disciples went into hiding after Friday because they feared for their own safety. They last thing they expected on Sunday morning was a resurrection. In the beginning, it wasn’t just Thomas who doubted. None of them believed the early reports and all of them had to be convinced over and over again that Jesus had risen from the dead.
(7) The Jews tried to cover it up.
Why try to cover up the resurrection if the body is still in the grave? The cover-up and the payoff only make sense if the tomb really was empty. Otherwise, they just trot out the dead body of Jesus and the resurrection becomes just another story with a bad ending.
(8) The stone was rolled away.
-First, the stone itself was three to six feet in diameter and weighed two to five tons. It took several strong men to roll it into place.
-Second, the New Testament uses several prepositions that indicate that the stone was not just rolled away; someone picked it up and physically moved it.
-Third, the seal on the stone could only be broken by a Roman official. Anyone else caught breaking the seal would be put to death.
Who rolled the stone away? The disciples? The Roman guards would have stopped them. The Jews? Same thing. The Romans? Not likely. They had no motivation. And who would risk death to do such a thing? Who rolled the stone away? God did, because he’s the one who raised Jesus from the dead.
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