What evidence is there that Jesus really did rise from the dead?
CHRIS BRANSDON
Here’s a quick recap of some of the points that Alli picked up in her talk on the resurrection. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet, check it out on the EQUIP at Home Page (begins at 11:01).
1. The written accounts of the New Testament writers are trustworthy according to the standards of historians.
1 Corinthians 15 is one of the earliest accounts of someone who claimed to see Jesus risen from the dead. It was written just 15 to 20 years after the event. That might seem like a long time in our world of instant communication, but back then, for Paul to write something down so quickly gives it some serious cred. It means his story could be fact checked with the living witnesses he mentions by name.
For comparison, there are historical accounts written by classical writers hundreds of years after they happened! Yet, historians still believe that people in these accounts (like the philosopher Socrates) really existed. How much more convincing, then, would the New Testament writings be?!
A key question is: how reliable are the New Testament accounts of Jesus’ resurrection?
2. The New Testament writers give us a long and diverse list of witnesses to back up their story.
In a world that didn’t really value the words of women, the early church did something very unusual: it listened to them! The New Testament writers tell us without any embarrassment that women were the first to find the empty tomb, and they presented their testimony as factual. If the New Testament writers were trying to make this up, the harsh truth is, they would not have included women as part of the story.
In addition to these women recorded in the gospels, Paul names hundreds of people, either individually or in groups, who saw the risen Jesus. You might argue that they were all hallucinating! But the gospel accounts claim that Jesus appeared to different people at different times across a period of 40 days.
A key question is: how would you explain away the testimony of such a wide range and number of witnesses?
3. The change in the disciples
On the evening that Jesus was arrested, all of his followers deserted him. The gospel accounts paint a picture of a defeated band of followers who go into hiding when their Lord is crucified.
A popular theory is that these same disciples stole Jesus’ body so that they could save face. But for this to work out, you’d have to argue that the guys who were hiding on Friday, suddenly got the nerve to knock out armed guards, roll away a giant stone, and get away with a body on Saturday, hide it by Sunday, and face the Roman authorities with a story about the resurrected Jesus that they were willing to die for by Monday!
The idea of bodily resurrection would have been just as fantastic to the disciples as it is to us. They weren’t easier to fool than we are - just ask doubting Thomas. Something happened to turn them into believers who were suddenly ready to die for their story. That something was seeing the risen Jesus.
A key question is: how would you explain the disciples’ sudden boldness in preaching the risen Jesus (and eventually dying for the story)?
These are just a few starting points for you to consider, or to help you start conversations with your friends. The truth is, the more you look into it, the more you’ll find that the resurrection is harder to disprove than it is to prove!
But to finish, I want to encourage you to remember the bigger picture. The New Testament writers spend a lot of time reasoning with the crowds that Jesus really is the risen Lord. But for them, it’s not just about proving that it happened, but about making people see the consequences of it.
The most convincing part of 1 Corinthians 15 isn’t the eyewitness accounts, it’s the hope that Paul, and all Christians have, because the resurrection is true:
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are lots of people in our world who feel that it is impossible to know the future, and for whom hope is a very slippery thing. But for those who trust in the risen Lord Jesus, the reality of the resurrection means that we can stand firm, and nothing will move us. The most convincing evidence for the reality of the resurrection will be seen as we display patient hope and fearless love while we wait for Jesus to return.