Proof of the resurrection
Day 26
by Gini Crawford, MSW
Some facts about the resurrection
The statement, "Jesus rose from the dead" causes different reactions in people: Many people react with the statement, "I sure don’t believe anyone can come back to life." My aunt thought that until I explained to her through God's Word, that Jesus did rise from the dead. Some people, like the Apostle Paul (who probably took Judas' place as one of the twelve Apostles), staked their entire life on the phrase, "Jesus rose from the dead." (1 Corinthians 15:1-20). I know I do.
How can we know Jesus Christ rose from the dead? I simply don't have the room to go into depth on the resurrection. However, it is very important to believe Jesus rose from the dead (Romans 10:9), so I will summarize a few facts to prove the resurrection:
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The teachings of the New Testament give us proof of the resurrection:
In the Gospels Jesus talks about His resurrection and the reality of it. Jesus' disciples didn't seem to understand or even care about Jesus' statements on the resurrection until they saw Him resurrected after knowing He died. (Matthew 16:21-23; Mark 9:31-32; Luke 9:22; John 2:18-22). The rest of the New Testament also teaches Jesus' resurrection as fact. (1 Corinthians 15; 1 Peter 1:3-5).
In the book of Acts, there is frequent narrative from the Apostles on Jesus' resurrection. The twelve Apostles (Mark 3:13-19) and Jesus' many other disciples were so sure of the resurrection, they were willingly tortured and executed for teaching that Jesus rose from the dead. Let's reason some here: Why would the Apostles have continued to lie about an event they knew to be untrue even when it meant martyrdom? From tradition they died by crucifixion, beheading or from the results of torture except for John who was boiled in oil but survived. If Jesus hadn't risen, what was the use of them keeping the lie going? There was not even a material reason, like some religious leaders profit nowadays. They lived lives of poverty, affliction, being in constant danger and humiliation; it was not unusual for them to be hungry, slandered, jailed, beaten, stoned and so on. (Acts 1:1-11, 2:22-32, 7:54-56, 13:26-31; 2 Corinthians 6:4-10).
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The empty tomb proved the resurrection:
I am sure most of you are thinking, of course the tomb would be empty since Jesus was resurrected. But for those of you who don't accept the authority of God's Word, let's look at the historical evidence of the empty tomb.
As I stated above, Christian teaching has always maintained a living resurrected Jesus Christ, hence an empty tomb. The teaching and belief of Jesus' resurrection came into existence and flourished in Jerusalem where Jesus was tortured, crucified and buried. In other words, if the tomb wasn't empty the authorities could just give tours of His body in the tomb. Yet, His body was gone so the authorities were helpless to end the reality of His resurrection. In Matthew 28:1-15 we are told the Roman guards at Jesus' tomb saw the angel and the supernatural happenings at the tomb, but were paid off to say that His disciple's stole His body. In reality, how could the disciples have stolen Jesus' body with a regiment of armed Roman soldiers guarding the tomb under penalty of death? This absurd story was widely spread by the Jews but still many Jews became Christians. The empty tomb is a substantial argument for the resurrection, isn't it? (Matthew 27:57-28:15; John 20:1-2; Acts 1:1-9).
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Jesus' grave clothes speak:
At the time of Jesus' burial His Apostles and others seemed to have no inkling that Jesus would rise from the dead. Therefore to honor Him, they carefully buried Him according to the Jewish custom - expecting Him to stay dead. The Jewish custom was to clean and straighten the body to be wrapped, then wrap the body with linen strips about a foot wide from armpits to the ankles and put spices with a gummy consistency between the folds. The spices preserved and was a glue that made the wrappings into a solid covering. The head was wrapped separately like a turban. (John 19:39-40). The tomb was cave-like with a stone covering the entrance.
Normally in the first century, if you looked in a tomb you would expect to see a body on a ledge, wrapped up in a way similar to how we would envision a mummy. However, a supernatural scenario took place in Jesus' tomb: On the third day Jesus took His life back up again from death, having an immortal body that simply passed through His burial wrappings, leaving them as a shell. (I had trouble finding the right words to convey this happening because it was supernatural.) No one stole Jesus' body and ripped the grave clothes off or just stole His body wrappings and all. Jesus was alive and His grave clothes were left to become a sign of His resurrection. (John 10:17-18; 20:1-18).
What are your thoughts on the resurrection?
Life Application
The resurrection and the life
Jesus calls Himself the resurrection and the life in John 11:25-26. What Jesus is telling us is that life exists only in Him and that the resurrection flows from the source of life, Him. Jesus is the Creator, so most definitely He has the power and authority to give us life eternal and our resurrection. (John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:13-18). If you believe in Jesus, when you die, you will be alive with a guaranteed resurrection. That's a promise we can live with, isn't it?
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26 ESV®
A favorite story of mine is when Jesus resurrects Lazarus. This resurrection is different from Jesus' because Lazarus would die again. Jesus' death and resurrection was a one-time sacrifice by the One True God that changed the course of human existence – taking us from sure death to sure life if we want that life (John 3:16). Jesus' resurrection was not simply a coming back to life as Lazarus did (which was a miracle in itself), but Jesus' resurrection is the event in history that overcame death eternally to give us eternal life. Read John 11:17-45. What if you were Mary or Martha and experienced your brother rising from the dead. What would you be feeling?
To ponder: As you go through this day or any day, life can be hard. As I write this, I am waiting to be operated on for bladder cancer. Thank God they caught it very early. No matter how my life turns out I have the hope of the resurrection and living with Jesus in my future. Believe me that gives peace! Do you believe in our God, Who became vulnerable to humans to break the bonds of sin and give us the promise of the resurrection?
Reflect on John 11:25-26.