The Case for the Resurrection

"And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless."
- 1 Corinthians 15:14

In my previous post 'The Swooning Saviour" I outlined the fact that Jesus did indeed die when crucified. Therefore, the next logical question which must be considered is: "Did Jesus really return to life?"

The resurrection of Jesus is the central claim of Christianity. Theologian Gunther Bornkamm writes that 'without the message of Jesus' resurrection there would be no church, no New Testament, and no Christian faith even to this day.' (Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, p1,015)

What evidence is there to support the claims of Jesus' resurrection?

1. The Eyewitness Testimony
Paul's first letter to the Corinthians was written between AD55-57. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul is making a case for the risen Christ. He writes that the resurrected Jesus was seen by Peter (or Cephas), then by the twelve (v5), by over five hundred others (v6) and by James (v7).

Paul is not shy in mentioning the names of specific witnesses. This is significant because he is writing at a time when these witnesses were still alive. If people doubted Paul's claims of the risen Christ, they could go and ask the named witnesses. It's as if Paul is saying, "If you don't believe me, here's a list of people who will back me up; go ask for yourselves!"

This would be a brave move had he invented the resurrection story.

Lee Strobel writes:

"The amount of testimony and corroboration of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances is staggering. To put it into perspective, if you were to call each one of the witnesses to a court of law to be cross-examined for just fifteen minutes each, and you went around the clock without a break, it would take you from breakfast on Monday until dinner on Friday to hear them all. After listening to 129 straight hours of eyewitness testimony, who could possibly walk away unconvinced?"

2. The Transformed Disciples
After Jesus' death the disciples were despondent, disappointed and disillusioned. They were afraid of the Jewish leaders and went into hiding. Their hopes that Jesus was the Messiah were now dashed and their leader was now dead.

Yet, not long after Jesus' death we find the disciples publicly preaching that Jesus had been resurrected. Furthermore, they declared this message with great boldness in front of the very Jewish leaders from whom they had been hiding.

Something happened that changed the disciples outlook from discouragement to faith.

Strobel writes:

"The earliest Christians didn't just endorse Jesus' teachings; they were convinced they had seen him alive after his crucifixion. That's what changed their lives and started the church. Certainly, since this was their centermost conviction, they would have made absolutely sure that it was true."

3. The Empty Tomb & the Inability of Jewish Leaders to Refute the Claims
This point is simple. The Jewish leaders could have nipped Christianity in the bud by going to the tomb of Jesus and pointing to His lifeless corpse.

The Jewish leaders did many things to attempt to stop the disciples from preaching about the resurrected Christ. They had the disciples whipped, beaten, jailed and thrown out of cities. Why?

Wouldn't it have been more effective for them to go to the tomb of Jesus, take the corpse and show it to the people of Jerusalem in a public procession? This simple act would have instantly nullified the disciples preaching.

Obviously this option was not available to them, as the tomb was empty.

4. The Commitment of the Early Church
Skeptics would argue that the tomb was empty because the disciples stole and hid Jesus' body. However, consider the fact that many of the apostles were martyred for their Christian faith.

• Stephen was stoned.
• Matthew was killed by the sword.
• Luke was hanged.
• It is believed that Mark died after being dragged behind horses through the streets of Alexandria, Egypt.
• According to church tradition, Peter was crucified upside down because he did not consider himself worthy to die in the same was as Jesus.
• James son of Zebedee was beheaded.
• Thomas was speared.
• Barnabas was stoned to death.
• Jude was killed with arrows.

Now ask yourself the question, 'Would all these men hold fast to their claims if they knew them to be a hoax?' That is not only improbable, it is ridiculous to think that all these men would die for a message that they knew to be a lie.

In summary I believe that the resurrection of Jesus is both reasonable and rational, and thereby provides a confident foundation upon which the Christian faith is built.