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#4476
The Resurrection:
The resurrection is perhaps the most important event which proves Christ's divinity (and the Bible's credibility). Jesus was born, lived 33 years, and died. Three executioners signed his death certificate. His body was wrapped in a burial cloth mixed with about one hundred pounds of spices. The Romans had heard the rumor about the Messiah coming back to life, and knew what problems it would cause if it came true. They took every precaution against it happening.
The tomb was actually a cave. A large stone was placed in front of its entrance. The tomb was sealed with a seal (probably a cord was stretched across it and sealed with a wax stamp at each end). Ten to thirty armed guards guarded it, knowing they could be put to death if anything went wrong. However, three days later the tomb was empty. It should be noted that the stone placed in front of Jesus' tomb was so large that it required several men to carry it. Not only was the wax seal broken and the stone pushed aside, but it was moved up the road completely away from the entrance of the tomb. In addition to this, the tomb wasn't empty but still contained the grave clothes that Jesus was buried in (these were still wrapped up, as if the person inside had simply disappeared).
The NT contains six independent testimonies to the fact of the resurrection. These six men (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, and Paul) wrote 24 of the 27 books of the NT. Included in their testimonies are various eyewitness accounts as well as reports of other interviewed witnesses of the risen Jesus, including one of over 500 people at one time (1 Cor. 15:6).
Were these witnesses credible? Critical minds who have considered their testimony point out that these witnesses were both competent and honest. For example, they had no impure motives for their testimony, such as fear, money, or ambition. They had the opportunity to know the truth, were mentally capable, were not gullible, and the documents of their testimony are reliable. There were more than an adequate number of witnesses to verify truth. And there is no contrary evidence.
Simon Greenleaf, Professor of law at Harvard from 1833 to 1848 has been called the greatest authority on legal evidences in the history of the world. When Greenleaf applied legal evidences to the resurrection event, he concluded that it was an historical reality, and that anyone who examined the evidence for it honestly would be convinced this was the case.
In the 1930s a British journalist who was trained in the law, named Frank Morrison, set out to do the world a favor by once and for all exposing the superstition of Christ's resurrection. However, by using the test of evidence permitted in a court of law, he became convicted against his will of the truth of the resurrection, and detailed his findings in a book that is still in print, called Who Moved the Stone.
Perhaps the most powerful evidence is the sheer conviction of the disciples. For 40 years after the resurrection, these men traveled throughout the land telling what they knew to be true. All of them were persecuted and all but one eventually put to death for their faith as testimony to the resurrected Jesus. People simply will not martyr themselves for what they believe to be a lie. People will only give their life for what they are absolutely convinced is true.
Many of the religious and political leaders of the day had every reason to quell the Christian movement by refuting the resurrection testimony. They were unable to disprove it. John R. W. Stott insists that the silence of Christ's enemies "is as eloquent a proof of the resurrection as the apostles' witness."
The early Christian leaders were not a superstitious people, unable to determine truth from reality. They lived in a civilized world of sophisticated Greek and Roman culture. These men were fishermen, carpenters, a physician (Luke), etc., and certainly understood the laws of nature. They attested to the miracles of Jesus in that framework.
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