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Monday, October 19, 2009

He Is Risen

Yesterday, I wrote about the deity of Jesus Christ and today I would like to focus on His resurrection from the dead. Both blogs are in response to the New Age idea that Jesus was an actual historical teacher and philosopher who, in their opinion, was not the Son of God, nor did He rise from the dead after three days in the grave.

Those who deny the resurrection of Jesus have two main schools of thought.

The first is that Jesus was not really dead when He was removed from the cross and that He was later revived to appear to have risen from the dead. If this were the case, how could He possibly revive himself or be revived by others, roll a huge stone away from the entrance to the tomb and stroll unnoticed past the Roman guards outside the tomb. A short study of the effects on the human body of crucifixion as practiced by the Romans makes the idea of survival almost in the realm of fantasy. We are also reminded that Roman soldiers were commissioned to make very sure that all executed criminals were indeed dead. A Roman soldier ensured that Jesus was dead by driving a spear through His side and no doubt through His heart. (John 19: 34) Failure to do this properly would result in the soldier’s own death for dereliction of duty.

The second argument used to deny the resurrection is the claim that someone or a group removed the body from the tomb so that it would appear that Jesus rose from the dead. If the disciples could possibly get by the Roman guards posted outside the tomb to stop just such an attempt, is it reasonable to believe that they would then fearlessly go forth to evangelize the world for the sake of a dead fraud? Those that taught the gospel had to be willing to die for its sake. Many of them did die. Would they be willing to die for a fraud? The apostles after seeing and hearing the risen Jesus turned from cowards hiding behind locked doors to fearless teachers of the gospel moving openly across the then known world. If the enemies of Jesus stole the body, an argument that is nonsensical itself, why would they not produce the corpse in order to stop the evangelical work of the apostles? The Roman guards on duty would have taken their obligation to keep the body in the tomb very seriously. Failure to stop the removal of the body by any group or individual would have been punishable by their own deaths.

Jesus was seen and heard by the apostles and many others over a period of forty days in at least ten sightings in His resurrected body. On one occasion five hundred people were witness to His presence. (1Co. 15: 6) Jesus appeared to the Apostle Paul in order to convert him from a murderous Pharisee into a veritable unstoppable force for the spread of Christianity. (Acts 9: 4)

It is interesting to note that Jesus appeared to women before men. In the last chapter of the Book of Matthew we are told that Jesus appears and speaks to “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary”. (Matthew 28:1) Given the cultural attitude toward women at the time, it is difficult to believe that the resurrection story is a fabrication. If it was a made up story, you can be very sure that the first resurrection sighting of Jesus would have been enjoyed by a man or men. (“Top Ten Reasons To Believe in the Resurrection, #5, Sarah A. Keith, 2002)

The resurrection of Jesus is absolutely central to the Christian faith. It is impossible to be a Christian without believing that Jesus rose from the dead three days following His execution. After years of study, I know what I believe and I thank God every day for the privilege of knowing the truth and the hope that my faith brings. He is indeed risen.

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