John Stott said, "Perhaps the transformation of the disciples of Jesus is the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection."
I would have to agree. Before Christ rose from the dead the Bible tells us that the disciples were running away scared. After the resurrection they preached with such fervor and boldness that they too would be killed for their belief. These disciples would die gruesome and horrific deaths. Historical documents tell us that these disciples were sawed in half, crucified upside down, beheaded, burned at the stake, fed to the lions, and put in prison for long periods of time. They were told their life would be spared if they would only stop preaching Jesus resurrection. Logic would say if this was a lie, or if they had stolen the body, that one would crack under the immense pressure. But none of them did. Let me give you just a few examples.
First, there was Thomas. Thomas refused to believe Jesus was alive until he saw Jesus. He did not believe in the resurrection. Yet, in the gospel of John chapter 20 we read that Jesus appeared to Thomas and challenged him to feel his wounds. When Thomas sees and feels Jesus wounds he cries out, "My Lord, My God". Jesus didn't correct his proclamation and Thomas went onto die a martyr's death preaching Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead.
Second, there was Peter. Peter was a courageous man who vowed to follow Jesus to death. The night Jesus was arrested, Peter was the one who took up the sword to fight with Jesus. But Jesus corrected him and would not let him fight. He later would deny Jesus three times and run and hide scared for his own life. But after seeing Jesus resurrected body Peter became a bold witness for the resurrection. He was the disciple who preached at Pentecost when 2000 people converted to Christianity. He was arrested several times and eventually crucified upside down for proclaiming Jesus had risen from the dead.
Third, there was James the brother of Jesus. Although not a disciple, he was a skeptic. He despised his brother and that Jesus stood for. But after Jesus rose from the dead, James became a bold witness for Christ. He was convinced his half-brother Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, the second in the Trinity. IN James 1:1 he described himself as a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. He would become the first pastor at the church in Jerusalem.
All these are great examples, and there are plenty more. Even the historian Josephus (not in the Bible, and not a Christian) pointed out that the disciples of Jesus were transformed by preaching Jesus resurrection. The evidence is there. Some will argue that these men were misled because they desperately wanted to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. Now that we are in modern times we can look back and see these people were just uneducated and wanting something to believe in. With all the technology and advances in science that we have today, it is inconceivable to believe a man would rise from the dead.
CS Lewis calls this chronological snobbery. He points out that Jews and Greeks were wise enough to question the validity of a man rising from the dead. Thomas would not believe until he saw Jesus, which is proof that the disciples and people in biblical times were not as naive as we like to make them out to be.
N.T. Wright wrote in his book "Who Was Jesus" that there were many messianic movements or would be Messiahs in the time of Jesus. However he quotes, "in not one single case do we hear the slightest mention of the disappointed followers claiming that their hero had been raised from the dead. They knew better. Resurrection was a private event. Jewish revolutionaries whose leader had been executed by the authorities, and who managed to escape arrest themselves, had two options: give up the revolution, or find another leader. Claiming that the original leader was alive again was simply not an option. Unless, of course, he was."
The reason the disciples claimed that Jesus rose from the dead is because they had seen his risen body!
Tomorrow we will look at the establishment of the Christian church as the fourth evidence of the resurrection.
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Evidence # 2: The Enemies of Jesus did not refute the Resurrection
Now that we have determined that the tomb was empty we can look at the second piece of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Evidence #2 is: The enemies of Jesus did not refute the resurrection.
When someone tells a lie, people are quick to point out they are wrong. But that never happens in the the historical books we read. In fact, the book of Acts in the N.T. shares how the apostles preached the resurrection and started the Christian church. The apostles were mocked and beaten. They were called names and arrested, some were even killed for preaching the resurrection. But what we never read is that the Jews or anyone in Jerusalem or in any other cities where the gospels were preached stood up to challenge the resurrection. They attacked the apostles character, but not their message. When Peter preached his sermon in Acts 2 at Pentecost, there was no refutation given against Christ resurrection. Why? Because the evidence was clear, the tomb was empty.
The great theologian John Stott said it this way, "The silence of the enemies of Christ is as eloquent a proof of the resurrection as the apostles' witness."
Not one person rebuttal or came against the disciples to say the tomb is not empty, Jesus never was died on the cross, it was someone who looked like Jesus that was actually killed on the cross, etc... Why? Because there were no facts to help disprove that Jesus was alive! Tomorrow we will look more at the disciples willingness to be killed for the message.
When someone tells a lie, people are quick to point out they are wrong. But that never happens in the the historical books we read. In fact, the book of Acts in the N.T. shares how the apostles preached the resurrection and started the Christian church. The apostles were mocked and beaten. They were called names and arrested, some were even killed for preaching the resurrection. But what we never read is that the Jews or anyone in Jerusalem or in any other cities where the gospels were preached stood up to challenge the resurrection. They attacked the apostles character, but not their message. When Peter preached his sermon in Acts 2 at Pentecost, there was no refutation given against Christ resurrection. Why? Because the evidence was clear, the tomb was empty.
The great theologian John Stott said it this way, "The silence of the enemies of Christ is as eloquent a proof of the resurrection as the apostles' witness."
Not one person rebuttal or came against the disciples to say the tomb is not empty, Jesus never was died on the cross, it was someone who looked like Jesus that was actually killed on the cross, etc... Why? Because there were no facts to help disprove that Jesus was alive! Tomorrow we will look more at the disciples willingness to be killed for the message.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Evidence # 1: The Empty Tomb
The first reason I believe in the resurrection is because the evidence of the Empty Tomb. Usually the Roman Soldiers would leave a prisoner on the cross for a few days and allow the birds and beasts to prey on the body. But the Biblical account tells us that a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus to bury in his tomb. The tomb itself was most likely a cave cut out of rock and according to Scripture, no one had ever been lain in before (Luke 23:53).
Our best account of the empty tomb comes from the witnesses who wrote the Bible. One can disregard this evidence if they choose to believe the Bible is a bunch of fables and made up stories. But that would be too easy. You see, there outside Biblical accounts from other historians like Jospehus (a Jew), Pliny the Younger, and more that help us piece together the entire story. These other historians testimony only confirm the Biblical account. So for one to deny to the Biblical account simply because they think the Bible is untrustworthy... well they still need to explain why the tomb was empty.
Here is what we know. Because of who Jesus was all the Jews and Romans living in Jerusalem knew where the body of Jesus was laid. We also know that there was a large stone rolled in front of the tomb and sealed shut. (Matthew 27:64-66) This seal would keep man and beast out of the tomb. This sealing would take place in the presence of Roman guards who would then guard the tomb. It would take many strong men to move that stone.
Jesus had predicted that he would rise from the dead and they wanted to prevent His disciples from stealing His body and claiming that Jesus was alive, so they placed guards around the tomb. Unfortunately, this plan backfired on the Jews as they provided additional witnesses to Christ resurrection.
The first witnesses to find the empty tomb were women who were not strong enough to move the stone away on their own. Also, the point needs to be made that in a Jewish court a woman's testimony was not allowed. It would make no sense the authors of Scripture to say it was the women who first found the empty tomb unless it was a true. It would only undermine the credibility of their testimony.
Finally, it is vitally important that we understand that the Christian church began in the very city where Jesus was crucified and buried. All one had to do to stop the Christian church was go to the tomb where Jesus was laid and point out that he was still there.
J.N.D Anderson, a lawyer and professor of oriental law at the University of London, made a very important point. He said, "Have you noticed that the references to the empty tomb all come in the Gospels (first four books of the N.T.), which were written to give the Christian community the facts they wanted to know? In the public preaching to those who were not believers, as recorded in the book of Acts of the Apostles, there is an enormous emphasis on the fact of the resurrection but not a single reference to the empty tomb. Now, why? To me there is only one answer There was no point in arguing about the empty tomb. Everyone, friend and opponent, knew that it was empty."
But it wasn't the empty tomb that made the disciples believe in the resurrection of Jesus. If there was only an empty tomb, but no sightings of Jesus, no one would have concluded that Jesus rose from the dead. Also, if there were only sightings of Jesus but no empty tomb, then we would conclude that the people were having hallucinations. But because there was an empty tomb and sightings the church started and the disciples concluded the Jesus rose from the dead. We will look more at the testimony of the disciples later, but the fact of the matter is - no reliable historian argues that the tomb of Jesus is empty. The Christian church would have never come about if the skeptics would have just went and produced the body. But that never happened because the tomb was empty!
Our best account of the empty tomb comes from the witnesses who wrote the Bible. One can disregard this evidence if they choose to believe the Bible is a bunch of fables and made up stories. But that would be too easy. You see, there outside Biblical accounts from other historians like Jospehus (a Jew), Pliny the Younger, and more that help us piece together the entire story. These other historians testimony only confirm the Biblical account. So for one to deny to the Biblical account simply because they think the Bible is untrustworthy... well they still need to explain why the tomb was empty.
Here is what we know. Because of who Jesus was all the Jews and Romans living in Jerusalem knew where the body of Jesus was laid. We also know that there was a large stone rolled in front of the tomb and sealed shut. (Matthew 27:64-66) This seal would keep man and beast out of the tomb. This sealing would take place in the presence of Roman guards who would then guard the tomb. It would take many strong men to move that stone.
Jesus had predicted that he would rise from the dead and they wanted to prevent His disciples from stealing His body and claiming that Jesus was alive, so they placed guards around the tomb. Unfortunately, this plan backfired on the Jews as they provided additional witnesses to Christ resurrection.
The first witnesses to find the empty tomb were women who were not strong enough to move the stone away on their own. Also, the point needs to be made that in a Jewish court a woman's testimony was not allowed. It would make no sense the authors of Scripture to say it was the women who first found the empty tomb unless it was a true. It would only undermine the credibility of their testimony.
Finally, it is vitally important that we understand that the Christian church began in the very city where Jesus was crucified and buried. All one had to do to stop the Christian church was go to the tomb where Jesus was laid and point out that he was still there.
J.N.D Anderson, a lawyer and professor of oriental law at the University of London, made a very important point. He said, "Have you noticed that the references to the empty tomb all come in the Gospels (first four books of the N.T.), which were written to give the Christian community the facts they wanted to know? In the public preaching to those who were not believers, as recorded in the book of Acts of the Apostles, there is an enormous emphasis on the fact of the resurrection but not a single reference to the empty tomb. Now, why? To me there is only one answer There was no point in arguing about the empty tomb. Everyone, friend and opponent, knew that it was empty."
But it wasn't the empty tomb that made the disciples believe in the resurrection of Jesus. If there was only an empty tomb, but no sightings of Jesus, no one would have concluded that Jesus rose from the dead. Also, if there were only sightings of Jesus but no empty tomb, then we would conclude that the people were having hallucinations. But because there was an empty tomb and sightings the church started and the disciples concluded the Jesus rose from the dead. We will look more at the testimony of the disciples later, but the fact of the matter is - no reliable historian argues that the tomb of Jesus is empty. The Christian church would have never come about if the skeptics would have just went and produced the body. But that never happened because the tomb was empty!
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