5 Bible Facts To Defend The Resurrection Of Jesus Christ
Here are five Bible verses that clearly defend the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Death Couldn’t Hold Him
The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23) but since Jesus never sinned, death could not keep Him so since Jesus was sinless, the grave couldn’t hold Him as it says “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” (Acts 2:24). Jesus apparently knew that death wouldn’t hold Him as He told the thief on the cross ““And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). By the way, the Romans were professional killers and they knew without a doubt when someone had finally died on the cross because that was part of their job but to make sure, the Roman soldiers “But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” (John 19:33-34) so Jesus was officially declared dead by the Roman soldiers. The greatest travesty of justice that has ever occurred in human history occurred when even the thief on the cross knew that Christ “hath done nothing amiss.” (Luke 23:41b) and even Pontius Pilate declared Him innocent (Luke 23:13-22) but where is the proof of Jesus resurrection?
Secular Historians
There are dozens of secular historians that wrote about Jesus’ crucifixion. For example, Flavius Josephus (AD 37 c. 100) was a professional Romano-Jewish historian and he wrote “About this time appeared Jesus, a wise man…And when Pilate, at the denunciation of those that are foremost among us, had condemned Him to the cross, those who had first loved Him did not abandon Him (for He appeared to them alive again on the third day, the holy prophets having foretold this and countless other marvels about Him.) The tribe of Christians named after Him did not cease to this day.” (Jewish Antiquities; 18.3.3 §63). The historical writings of ancient, secular historians testify of Jesus’ resurrection including Lucian of Samosata, Cornelius Tacitus, Maimonides and amazingly, even the Jewish Sanhedrin corroborated the eyewitness accounts of early Christians. If Jesus wasn’t really crucified and died on the cross, this would be the greatest historical cover up in human history.
The Five Hundred Witnesses
When Paul was speaking before King Agrippa, he said “For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.” (Acts 26:26), meaning that Jesus crucifixion and resurrection were a matter of public record and witness. Paul spoke of Jesus’ resurrection as being fact and never questioned the authenticity of it as he wrote that “After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.” (1 Cor 15:6) and besides this, “After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. (1 Cor 15:7-8). How could five hundred eye witnesses all lie about this? How could over five hundred eye witnesses all hallucinate such a thing and all at the same time? The answer is they could not. Hundreds of eye witnesses are recorded in Scripture and we know that all Scripture is inspired by God (2 Pet 1:21; 2 Tim 3:16) and God wouldn’t get this most important of all facts wrong.
The Empty Tomb
The heavy stone that covered Jesus’ tomb wasn’t moved so that Jesus could get out; it was moved so that the eye witnesses could get in and see the empty tomb and the folded grave clothing. The tomb in which Jesus was buried was discovered empty by a group of women on the Sunday following the crucifixion and then when the tomb was found empty, the chief priests and elders bribed the Roman guards to say His body had been stolen and to have them say “Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.” (Matt 28:13) which is ridiculous because the penalty for a Roman guard falling asleep on duty was death! Jacob Kremer is a New Testament critic and scholar who specialized in the study of the resurrection and he said “By far most exegetes hold firmly to the reliability of the biblical statements about the empty tomb” and he lists twenty-eight scholars to back up his fantastic claim.
The Other Alternatives
We are left with only three choices to reach a conclusion about the resurrection of Jesus Christ; either all of these biblical authors and eye witnesses lied about it, they hallucinated, or Jesus was actually raised from the dead. I cannot reconcile the belief that all the Bible authors who wrote about the resurrection all lied about it and then persuaded more than five hundred eye witnesses to lie about the resurrection as if they hadn’t seen it or knew it was true but neither can I believe that hundreds of eye witnesses all hallucinated at the same time and all saw the very same thing. We are left with only one conclusion; Jesus was raised from the dead and that means that we too can be raised to new life at Christ’s return or after we pass away. Paul wrote that it was a fact that “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” (1 Cor 15:20) because “For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept.” (1 Cor 15:16-20). I cannot imagine Paul being beaten, whipped, chained, imprisoned, and suffering so much for something that never happened or was a lie.
Conclusion
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is an indisputable, historical event that happened more than 2,000 years ago and since this is true, you must repent and trust in Christ if you haven’t already done. Daniel wrote of this coming resurrection for the lost and the saved in Daniel 12:1-3 saying “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”
Death Couldn’t Hold Him
The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23) but since Jesus never sinned, death could not keep Him so since Jesus was sinless, the grave couldn’t hold Him as it says “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” (Acts 2:24). Jesus apparently knew that death wouldn’t hold Him as He told the thief on the cross ““And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). By the way, the Romans were professional killers and they knew without a doubt when someone had finally died on the cross because that was part of their job but to make sure, the Roman soldiers “But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” (John 19:33-34) so Jesus was officially declared dead by the Roman soldiers. The greatest travesty of justice that has ever occurred in human history occurred when even the thief on the cross knew that Christ “hath done nothing amiss.” (Luke 23:41b) and even Pontius Pilate declared Him innocent (Luke 23:13-22) but where is the proof of Jesus resurrection?
Secular Historians
There are dozens of secular historians that wrote about Jesus’ crucifixion. For example, Flavius Josephus (AD 37 c. 100) was a professional Romano-Jewish historian and he wrote “About this time appeared Jesus, a wise man…And when Pilate, at the denunciation of those that are foremost among us, had condemned Him to the cross, those who had first loved Him did not abandon Him (for He appeared to them alive again on the third day, the holy prophets having foretold this and countless other marvels about Him.) The tribe of Christians named after Him did not cease to this day.” (Jewish Antiquities; 18.3.3 §63). The historical writings of ancient, secular historians testify of Jesus’ resurrection including Lucian of Samosata, Cornelius Tacitus, Maimonides and amazingly, even the Jewish Sanhedrin corroborated the eyewitness accounts of early Christians. If Jesus wasn’t really crucified and died on the cross, this would be the greatest historical cover up in human history.
The Five Hundred Witnesses
When Paul was speaking before King Agrippa, he said “For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.” (Acts 26:26), meaning that Jesus crucifixion and resurrection were a matter of public record and witness. Paul spoke of Jesus’ resurrection as being fact and never questioned the authenticity of it as he wrote that “After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.” (1 Cor 15:6) and besides this, “After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. (1 Cor 15:7-8). How could five hundred eye witnesses all lie about this? How could over five hundred eye witnesses all hallucinate such a thing and all at the same time? The answer is they could not. Hundreds of eye witnesses are recorded in Scripture and we know that all Scripture is inspired by God (2 Pet 1:21; 2 Tim 3:16) and God wouldn’t get this most important of all facts wrong.
The Empty Tomb
The heavy stone that covered Jesus’ tomb wasn’t moved so that Jesus could get out; it was moved so that the eye witnesses could get in and see the empty tomb and the folded grave clothing. The tomb in which Jesus was buried was discovered empty by a group of women on the Sunday following the crucifixion and then when the tomb was found empty, the chief priests and elders bribed the Roman guards to say His body had been stolen and to have them say “Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.” (Matt 28:13) which is ridiculous because the penalty for a Roman guard falling asleep on duty was death! Jacob Kremer is a New Testament critic and scholar who specialized in the study of the resurrection and he said “By far most exegetes hold firmly to the reliability of the biblical statements about the empty tomb” and he lists twenty-eight scholars to back up his fantastic claim.
The Other Alternatives
We are left with only three choices to reach a conclusion about the resurrection of Jesus Christ; either all of these biblical authors and eye witnesses lied about it, they hallucinated, or Jesus was actually raised from the dead. I cannot reconcile the belief that all the Bible authors who wrote about the resurrection all lied about it and then persuaded more than five hundred eye witnesses to lie about the resurrection as if they hadn’t seen it or knew it was true but neither can I believe that hundreds of eye witnesses all hallucinated at the same time and all saw the very same thing. We are left with only one conclusion; Jesus was raised from the dead and that means that we too can be raised to new life at Christ’s return or after we pass away. Paul wrote that it was a fact that “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” (1 Cor 15:20) because “For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept.” (1 Cor 15:16-20). I cannot imagine Paul being beaten, whipped, chained, imprisoned, and suffering so much for something that never happened or was a lie.
Conclusion
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is an indisputable, historical event that happened more than 2,000 years ago and since this is true, you must repent and trust in Christ if you haven’t already done. Daniel wrote of this coming resurrection for the lost and the saved in Daniel 12:1-3 saying “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”
