What would you say about a man who said, “I have come down from heaven...God the Father in heaven sent Me... If you will believe in Me you will live forever...The words I speak are spirit and they are life...I am the light of the world, if you follow Me you will not walk in darkness, but you will have the light of life...I can free you from sin... ” Some may respond to such claims by saying, “This guy is a lunatic, have him committed. This guy is a liar and a fraud, have him arrested for misleading simple people and giving them a false hope. ” What if that man then said one more thing, “Kill Me and in three days I will rise again, ” and then, he actually did it?

The man who made all these statements was Jesus. C. S. Lewis said that a man who would make such claims had to either be a liar, a lunatic or speaking the truth as one with authority. If Jesus made such claims and was lying, then he was more than just a liar, he was a devil from hell. To purposely mislead people into thinking they would live forever in heaven if they believed his words would be an unbelievable act of evil. He would be anything but a “good man.“ If Jesus made such claims and was a lunatic, thinking that he was the Son of God but was not, then he was on the same level as a man who thinks he is a poached egg. But if the claims that Jesus made are true, then He is the Son of God...He is the Lord of glory!

Of all the things that Jesus said or did, the greatest evidence that He was who He claimed to be is His resurrection from the dead. I don’t know about you, but if a man predicts His own death and resurrection and then actually does rise from the dead, He has my attention! Therefore, if one is going to doubt the validity of Jesus’ claims, then that one must deal with the evidences for His resurrection.

Jesus clearly predicted His own resurrection. (See Matthew 16:21, 17:9, 17:22-23, 20:18-19) If you are skeptical, you are not alone. There have been many other skeptics of Christianity, of the claims of Christ. But the honest skeptics who have investigated the facts surrounding the life of Christ, came to the conclusion that Jesus Christ was not a lunatic - or a liar - but the very LORD of glory! They became believers, followers of Christ. What facts convinced them? The evidence for the resurrection.

One such skeptic was Josh McDowell. He set out to disprove Christianity but as he studied the facts surrounding the life of Jesus he came to be a believer, saying, “I could not explain away the most significant event in history, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” The resurrection of Christ confronts skepticism. The resurrection of Christ confronts ambivalence.

Three facts must be reckoned with when investigating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1) The empty tomb, (2) The transformation of the Apostles and (3) The fact that the preaching of the resurrection originated in Jerusalem.

1. THE EMPTY TOMB

Jesus was a well known figure. His fame had spread throughout the Palestinian area about Jerusalem. His burial sight was well known. Matthew documented it as the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. (Matt. 27:50) This is very relevant, for had Matthew’s account been contrived, eyewitnesses would have easily discredited it.

The chief priests invented the story that the disciples stole the body. Such a fabrication would not have been necessary if the tomb had not been empty. And if the tomb had not been empty, the preaching of the Apostles would not have lasted one day. All that the Jewish authorities needed to do to put an end to Christianity was to produce the body of Jesus. But no corpse was ever found!

2. THE CHANGED LIVES OF THE APOSTLES

During the trial of Jesus, the Apostles deserted Him in fear. Yet 10 of the 11 Apostles died as martyrs, believing and proclaiming that Christ had risen from the dead. How can this be explained? Christianity originated in Judaism, every book in the New Testament was written by a Jew. Jewish bias against Jesus was massive, yet these Jewish followers of Jesus accepted a shamefully hung “criminal” as their Messiah, worshipped Him as God the Son, and endured suffering, imprisonment and even death as proclaimers of His resurrection. The book of Acts records that the primary message of the Apostles and the early church was the resurrection of Christ from the dead. (Acts 1:22, 2:23-32, 3:15, 4:2, 4:10, 4:33, 10:39-40, 13:29-30, 13:33-37, 17:3, 17:31, 23:6-7, 24:14-15)

“Is it thinkable that these people would die so willingly for a mere myth? Each of the disciples, except John, died a martyr’s death; the cause they tenaciously clung to was their belief of seeing Jesus alive again after His passion.” (McDowell) What else can explain this transformation in the Apostles, except that they had seen Christ alive again! If the disciples were liars (concerning seeing Christ alive again) then they were also fools, for they died for that belief.

3. THE APOSTLES BEGAN PROCLAIMING THE RESURRECTION IN JERUSALEM

The preaching of the resurrection was the main theme of the early church. They began preaching the resurrection in Jerusalem. This is significant since this is the very city in which Jesus was crucified. This was the most hostile city in which to preach the resurrection. All the evidence was there for everyone to investigate. If it were not true, it could have easily been refuted. Legends take root in foreign lands or centuries after an event, but the Apostles preaching of the resurrection took place in the city of the event immediately after it occurred. Anyone studying the resurrection must somehow explain these three facts.

SKEPTICS’ ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN THESE FACTS

1. THE WRONG TOMB - Skeptics say the women visited the grave early, it was dark, they were very emotional and they visited the wrong tomb! Overjoyed to see it empty, they rush back to tell the disciples that Christ had risen. The disciples in turn proclaim this abroad.

But the Apostles would have investigated the situation and corrected the women’s mistake. In actuality, the Gospels record the fact they did just that. They didn’t believe the women’s story and went to investigate. The tomb site was known not only to the followers of Christ but, also, to their opponents. If the body still remained in the tomb while the Apostles began preaching, the authorities simply would have to go to the right tomb, produce the body, march it down the streets and put Christianity to silence forever.

2. THE HALLUCINATION THEORY - Skeptics say the resurrection of Christ occurred in the minds’ of the disciples. In their emotional turmoil they wanted so much to see Jesus again, they thought they did.

But the appearances of Jesus, after His death, occurred to a variety of people. Hallucinations are subjective and individual. No two people have the same experience. In the case of Jesus’ resurrection, over five hundred people have the same account. (I Cor. 15) Hallucinations of this nature occur to those who intensely want to believe, yet in the case of Jesus, Thomas and James were hostile to believing the resurrection was true. Yet they claim to have seen Him alive also.

And skeptics still must account for the empty tomb. If the Apostles dreamed up the resurrection and then began to preach it boldly as truth, all the authorities needed to do was produce the body and that would have ended the Apostles’ dream.

3. THE SWOON THEORY - Skeptics say Jesus never died on the cross but merely passed out and then three days later, revived, exited the tomb and appeared to His disciples who believed He had risen from the dead. This theory was developed in the nineteenth century, but today it has been completely abandoned for several reasons.

It is physically impossible that Jesus could have survived the tortures of the crucifixion. Crucifixion was an excruciating experience. The cause of death by crucifixion was multifaceted and torturous! These factors included exhaustion, asphyxia, dehydration, and congestive heart failure.

That Jesus could have survived such agony on a Roman cross, to limp out of the tomb by His own power, is improbable enough! That His bruised and grievously wounded appearance could have been hidden, so that He could deceive despairing disciples into believing He was “The risen Lord of Life” and conqueror of death, is absurd! A man in such a condition could hardly have inspired disciples.

The Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus were experts in executing this type of death penalty. Because the bodies were to be down before sundown, they took precautions to ensure that He was dead. They thrust a spear in His side and “out came blood and water.” When blood and water come out separately, it indicates the blood cells had begun to separate from the plasma which will only happen when the blood stops circulating.

Jesus was covered with eighty pounds of spices and embalmed. It is unreasonable to believe that after three days with no food or water, Jesus would revive. Even harder to believe is that Jesus could toll a two-ton stone up an incline, overpower the guards, and then walk several miles to Emmaeus. Even if Jesus had done this, His appearing to the disciples half-dead and desperately in need of medical attention would not have prompted their worship of Him as God.

4. THE STOLEN BODY THEORY - Skeptics say that Jewish authorities and Roman authorities stole the body or moved it for safekeeping.

If the authorities had the body, why did they accuse the disciples of stealing it? In Acts 4, the Jewish authorities were angered and did everything they could to prevent the spread of Christianity. Why would they not have simply produced the dead body of Jesus and silence Christianity forever? Throughout the preaching of the Apostles, the authorities never attempted to refute the resurrection by producing a body.

5. THE SOLDIERS FALL ASLEEP AND THE DISCIPLES STOLE THE BODY THEORY - This idea has existed since the day of the resurrection. Matthew records that the chief priests met and devised a plan and they gave the soldiers a large sum of money telling them, “You are to say, his disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.” (Matt. 28:12-13)

If the soldiers were sleeping, how did they know it was the disciples who stole the body? How is it possible that the disciples could sneak past the soldiers and then move a two-ton stone up an incline without waking the soldiers?

The tomb was sealed with a Roman seal. Anyone who moved the stone would break the seal, an offense punishable by death. Why would the depressed and cowardly disciples suddenly be brave enough to face a detachment of soldiers, steal the body, and then lie about the resurrection when they ultimately would face a life of suffering and death for their contrived message?

The gospel of John records that the grave clothes were found “lying there as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself separate from the linen.” (20:6-7) This means the disciples had to sneak past the guards, roll away the stone, unwrap the body, rewrap it in their wrappings, and fold the head piece neatly next to the linen! In a robbery, the men would have flung the garments down in disorder and fled in fear of detection.

CONCLUSION: These five explanations are totally inadequate to account for the empty tomb, the transformation of the Apostles and the birth of Christianity in the city of the crucifixion. The conclusion is impossible to avoid. The tomb of Jesus of Nazareth is empty! Jesus Christ did rise from the dead and the implications of this event are monumental!

“Easter is not primarily a comfort, but a challenge,” wrote J.N.D. Anderson, late Dean of the School of Law at the University of London. “If it is true, then it is the supreme fact of history, and to fail to adjust one’s life to its implications means irreparable loss.”

Christ‘s resurrection from the dead confirms all His claims. Romans 1:3-4 says, “Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seen of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

The evidence for the resurrection confronts all skepticism. Jesus is alive! The evidence for the resurrection confronts all ambivalence. It does matter whether or not I bow before Him and trust Him as Lord and Savior. The facts of the gospel, the death and burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, calls for...yes, demands a response from you...from all of us!

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