IS IT REASONABLE TO BELIEVE THAT JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD?

We hear it every Easter, the story of the empty tomb and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But is it really reasonable to believe this? After all, if you take a shovel and dig in any cemetery you will find bones. People do not come back from the dead. Not only that, but is it really that important to believe in the resurrection of Jesus?

Well, to begin, in I Cor 15:14, Paul says that if Jesus did NOT rise up from the dead, our faith is in vain. It would also prove that Jesus was a liar. He gave his critics the “sign of Jonah” in Matt 12:40, predicting his resurrection. In Mark 8:31 he said that he must suffer, die and after three days “rise again.” In John 10:18 he claimed to have the power to lay down his life and to take it up again.

So, it is clear that if he didn’t do this, then he is a liar and Christianity is one of the greatest hoaxes in the history of scams. We should sell off our church property, close our Christian bookstores, discard all of the literature we’ve accumulated and move on with our lives.

Before we examine the possibility of his resurrection, we should first look at the question as to whether or not he really died. There is a theory that promotes the idea that Jesus never died in the first place. He was simply unconscious from the trauma and once he had time to rest in the cool tomb, he revived, rolled away the stone and made his way out of town. Perhaps he went to Egypt, assumed a different name and opened up a carpentry shop. So, did he really die?

I think it’s clear that he was dead by the time he was placed in the tomb. He was killed by professional executioners, Roman soldiers. They knew death when they saw it. He was so badly beaten before the crucifixion that he had to have someone else carry his cross for him. To make sure that he was dead the soldiers speared him in his side. As for his time in the tomb, keep in mind that he was all wrapped up in linen and the tomb opening was sealed with a huge stone. To make it even more secure, there were people guarding the tomb so that no one could steal the body and claim that he rose from the dead.

So, I think the only reasonable explanation is that he was brutally beaten, then killed by professionals. No one doubted that he was dead. Not the soldiers, his family and friends who lowered him off the cross, prepared his body for burial and the burial itself. Peter was so convinced that it was all over that he said in John 21:3, “I’m going fishing.” 

The Jews couldn’t have stolen the body. But if they had, when Peter preached about the risen Christ in Acts 2, all the Jews had to do to discredit him was to show the crown the body of Jesus.

The disciples couldn’t have stolen the body. In fact, they were so scared at the trial of Jesus, they scattered. Besides, most all of the disciples died for their belief that Jesus rose from the dead. They would not have been willing to suffer and die for what they thought was a lie.

Not only did Jesus appear to Mary Magdalene, another woman, to Peter, to two disciples in Luke, ten disciples elsewhere in Luke, to doubting Thomas, then to seven apostles, he also appeared to all the brethren, then to James and finally to Paul. Paul says that there are some people here today (I Cor 15:3-8) who can attest to this fact.

C.S. Lewis has said that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic or Lord. The most reasonable explanation as to what happened to Jesus is that he did die, as he predicted, and he did rise again. And because he did, our faith is not in vain.