What I have attempted to put forth here is a systematic explination of why I believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I've tried to stick strictly to the facts but have interjected a couple logical arguments of natural consequence.
To begin with, in order to assert that Jesus died and rose again, He first obviously had to have lived. This is no longer a topic of debate among non-liberal scholars of repute due to the large amount of ancient non-Christian sources who confirm Jesus' existence, some of which include The Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Sanhedrin, Folio 43a, 33-34 (a book of Jewish oral tradition dating back to the 2nd century), 1st century roman historian Flavius Josephus' The Antiquities of the Jews, 18:63-64, p.86 (Hendrickson Publishers, 1987; eighteenth printing), Philo of Alexandria, Cornelius Tacitus, Gaius Suetonius Tranquillas, Emperor Trajan, Pliny the younger, and a total of as many as 43 authors wrote about Jesus within 150 years of His death.
From this we can historically conclude that Jesus' life was not the stuff of legend, nor did He fake His own death or have a body double, but could He have been revived? First, you need to understand that the Romans had perfected killing. Pax Romana (Roman Peace) was accomplished by asserting their authority and making examples out of others, often hanging bodies at the city gates for all comers to beware of Roman rule. And the crucifixion of Jesus was a way to keep the peace between them and the Jews. So you have the means, and the motive, of the two major powers ensuring that Jesus did in fact die on the cross of Calvary outside of Jerusalem. I'll mention in passing that the Swoon/stunned/drugged/fainted theory has long since been refuted, as articulated by Dr. William D. Edwards in The Journal of American Medical Association.
Now we come to the five reasons I have for believing in the supernatural resurrection of Jesus.
#1 The Empty tomb. Neither the Jews nor the Roman authorities contested the fact that Jesus' tomb was empty tomb two days after His death. In order to debunk this myth all the hostile witnesses would have had to do was produce His body, but this never happened. So it wasn't that they simply went to the wrong grave (the women who found the empty tomb were the same ones who helped bury Him) and this was a public trial, nothing was done in secret. The grave was purchased, Jesus was buried, and Roman guards (who could be put to death for falling asleep or losing a prisoner) were placed around the entrance of the tomb, which had a large stone blocking the entry with a Roman seal on it. There is no way anyone could have gotten in or out without being detected, but the fact remains, His tomb was empty.
#2 Eye witness accounts of 500+ people who saw Jesus just days after He was killed on the cross. Again, you need to understand that the 27 New Testament books are historically validated, so when I quote them it's not circular reasoning. The figures, events, and places spoken of have been confirmed and do not run contrary to contemporary 1st century historical records. These were letters written by individuals, to groups of people, before they were in "The Bible".
- Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
- Peter, 2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power andcoming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
- John, 1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.
- Luke, Luke 1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
If the authors had been contriving stories and passing them off as fact, the recipients would have said, "wait a minute, we didn't see him. That's not what we heard. No one saw him after His death." But that simply was not the case. We have no record of anything that runs contrary to that of the eyewitness accounts recorded in the Bible. So ask yourself, would Christianity have taken root if the disciples were saying things that their audiences knew was exaggerated or false, even though historians agree with the basic claims that they made?
#3 The enduring transformation of the Apostles. If the twelve Apostles of Jesus had not seen Him after His death they would not have had the faith needed in order to press on. On the eve of His crucifixion, and the day of, all 12 of Jesus disciples deserted Him. The New Testament authors do not give us a glorifying account of the Apostles actions (even though they were writing about themselves!), they did not act like heros. In fact, they left another to purchase his grave and the women prepare Him for burial. Yet, after seeing Jesus alive again, they proclaimed Jesus' Lordship to their death, as recorded in the bible, history, and notably in Fox's Book of Martyrs. Stephen was stoned to death in A.D. 34. James was beheaded in A.D. 44. Philip was scourged, thrown into prison, and afterwards crucified in A.D. 54. Matthew was slain with a halberd in the city of Nadabah in A.D. 60. James was beat and stoned by the Jews; and finally had his brains dashed out with a fuller's club. Matthias was stoned at Jerusalem and then beheaded. Mark was taken and crucified on a cross. Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria. Jerome saith that Peter was crucified, his head being down and his feet upward, himself so requiring, because he was (he said) unworthy to be crucified after the same form and manner as the Lord was. Paul gave his neck to the sword. Jude was crucified at Edessa in A.D. 72. Bartholomew was beaten and then crucified. Thomas was martyred by being thrust through with a spear. Luke was supposed to have been hanged on an olive tree. Simon was crucified in A.D. 74. Which of these formerly cowardly men would have died for that which they knew was a lie?
#4 There are approximately sixty different fulfilled Old Testament Prophecies regarding the Messiah. I've chosen only to include a few specifically dealing with His death and resurrection that were outside of His control.
- The Messiah will be forsaken by His disciples: Zachariah 13:7 “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares the Lord of hosts. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. Matthew 26:31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ Matthew 26:56 But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.
- The Messiah will be pierced: Zechariah 12:10 when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
- The Messiah will be given sour wine to drink. Psalm 69:21 They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. Matthew 27:34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. Matthew 27:48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.
- The Messiah's bones will not be broken. Psalm 34:20 He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. John 19:33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
- They will cast lots for the Messiah's cloths: Psalm 22:18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. John 19:23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.”
Many have tried to fulfill these prophesies themselves and disprove what I'm trying to assert. Sure someone could lose their friends, get stabbed, be given sour wine to drink, not break a bone, and have someone cast lots for their cloths. In fact, I could say that I have fulfilled the first four, but I wasn't a Jew, born in Bethlehem, by a virgin, from the line of David, while the temple was still standing. As I said, these are specific prophesies that in their proper context are pointing the Old testament Jewish nation to their coming Messiah and they were fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus.
#5 External evidence, as I cited earlier, affirms that Jesus appeared to be alive after he had most certainly been crucified. Non-Christian Jewish, Greek, and Roman historians alike (specifically Josephus, Philo, The Talmud, Tacitus, Pliny the younger) assert that large numbers of people were becoming followers of Christ (Christians) because they believed that this guy they called Jesus was raised from the dead even though Christianity was undergoing heavy persecution. This persecution caused Christians to flee Jerusalem to all areas of the Mediterranean. Since many of the New Testament books were not written until decades after Jesus' death one cannot argue that these men got together and corroborated on a story. Paul wrote a letter from Rome, John from the island of Patmos, James from Jerusalem. Furthermore there are too many dissimilarities, not inconsistencies, for someone to say that the myth of Christianity was a well crafted plan, if fact the dissimilarities add credibility, as any lawyer in a courtroom will tell you when two witnesses testimony is word for word the same. But if you could take away the resurrection of Jesus, Christianity would fall apart. It proves that He is who He said He was, which is why He was killed.
So let's briefly take a look at who He said He was:
- Mark 14:61 Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, andcoming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death.
- John 5:16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus,because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” 18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was hebreaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
- John 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 1960 pp. 40-41
Jesus was either a liar, it which case He would have been inconsistent at some point in either His words or actions, yet we have no evidence to suggest that this might be true.
or
Jesus was a lunatic, again, who would have been inconsistent at some point instead of being an incredibly articulate, influential, and respected teacher.
or
Jesus was and is God, as He said He was.
This is why I believe in the resurrection of Jesus. This is why I am a Christian.
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