For a few brief moments I want to explain why I think Jesus did in fact rise from the dead proving He is the Son of God and worth following. When the resurrection is talked about among skeptics many questions arise. It is natural to question the resurrection of Jesus.. after all, dead people normally don't come out of their grave on their own do they?
We have already seen in this series that Jesus was a historical figure and the He really died on the cross. Let me also give you some reasons why we can be confident Jesus rose from the dead.
THE EMPTY TOMB:
There have been thousands of claims by people in Jerusalem that they know where Jesus' tomb is. Do you know why there are so many? Because no one has ever found Jesus' body! No one can prove the other one wrong. In other words if Jesus was still in his grave, we could just find the tomb he was buried in and point it out. If someone asked me to prove that my Grandmother was dead, I would say follow me to the cemetery and I will show you where she is buried. Easy enough I think.. but no one has ever been able to do that with Jesus because He isn't there.
DISCIPLES STOLE THE BODY OF JESUS:
Ok so you are convinced that Jesus has never been found, but what about the disciples stealing his body to make it seem like He raised from the dead? Valid question. Well we know from the Bible and other sources that Jesus had a pretty big following in his day. There was much talk about whether he was divine or not. Because of this there was much discussion and debate as He was crucified what would happen next. To make sure the disciples would not steal Jesus' body, after it was placed inside the tomb, there was a large rock rolled over the hole of the tomb. This was a common thing for certain tombs to be covered like this. Also, the Bible says that there were Roman soldiers guarding the tomb to make sure no one messed with Jesus. The Roman Government knew that Jesus was popular and didn't want his body disturbed, hence the extra precautions to guard it. It is hard to believe that the disciples or anyone else could have stolen Jesus' body.
TRANSFORMATION OF JESUS' FOLLOWERS:
Say the disciples did steal Jesus' body just for kicks and giggles. Do you think they would worship a dead person and be willing to give up everything to follow him. Heck no! Would you give up everything to follow a dead person? Of course not.. where would you go? :) And why would you want to follow Jesus if he was dead when he claimed he was divine? If Jesus didn't rise from the dead He was a liar and probably crazy too for saying He would. We have to remember that after Jesus' resurrection all of his disciples were willing to die for their belief in it. They obviously all thought that Jesus was really God and believed in the resurrection themselves otherwise why would they give up their lives for a lie? I mean these guys were tortured by guys like Nero and other Caesars (read about it in your history books) and they were still willing to give their lives for Jesus. The bottom line is this: you don't give up your life, especially get tortured for something you know is not true or something you don't firmly believe in. It is pretty clear that the disciples (Jesus closest followers) gave up their lives for something they were pretty sure about. Not only did the disciples give up their lives but thousands of Christians were killed for their beliefs and today that number is in the millions.
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS:
What is the best kind of evidence when trying to prove a case? Eyewitness evidence. The Bible states that there were over 500 eyewitnesses that saw Jesus. Just think if 500 people saw a person committing a crime, they would be pronounced guilty in a heartbeat at a court of law. The fact that 500 people saw the risen Jesus themselves is a pretty strong case that it was a true event. One or two eyewitnesses can be iffy but 500? Come on that pretty darn good!
SUNDAY WORSHIP:
Before Jesus' time the tradition of the Jewish people for thousands of years was to meet on Saturdays to worship God. All of the sudden after thousands of years of firm traditions, now Sundays are when people meet in churches. Why? Because Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday and that is why the change happened. Listen, we all know people that have traditions. They seem impossible to change no matter how silly some can be. People live and die by traditions and the Jewish people are no different. Why would the Jewish people change their day of worship from Saturday to Sunday unless they had a valid reason to do so? Again if you want, you can check out books on ancient history that will tell you about this change. This is all historical evidence.
JESUS, THE UNLIKELY HERO:
Here is what is all boils down to. If the writers in the Bible were making up this story why would they make Jesus out to be kind of lame? I don't mean any disrespect to Jesus nor do I think He is lame but if you were making up a story of someone you were going to follow and worship wouldn't you make him look like a stud? If I were to make up my own story I would make Jesus 6 feet four inches, 225 pounds of straight muscle, who ends up saving the day by beating up all the bad guys up with lasers bringing peace to all. Or better yet as Pastor Mark Driscol said, "if the resurrection was made up I would say the requirements for getting into heaven is to eat chicken wings and take naps instead of believing in Jesus!" But instead we have the Jesus of the Bible who was made fun of by most, rejected by his own followers, and killed by Roman soldiers in a way that is usually reserved for criminals. The writers of the Bible making this story up? I don't think so. If they did why pick such an unusual and unlikely story? Just make Jesus look cool or something.
I have given what I think are solid reasons why you should at least consider Jesus. If you really want to have purpose in life and know the truth, the least you can do is ponder the arguments for the resurrection of God. This is the single most important thing in the Christian faith. I know that because I am a Christian and I do trust in Jesus and believe about his death on the cross, burial in the grave, and his bodily resurrection. I have a relationship with God and know that when I die, I too will be raised by his power and go to heaven. If I didn't think Jesus rose from the dead, I would be a moron for following him. I rather be doing something else. The Bible says that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can get to heaven without going through him since He is God. I hope that you will choose to follow Jesus and trust in him with your life. "For whoever calls upon the name of Jesus, will be saved." - Romans 10:13
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