Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?

Four verifiable facts attest to the historical truth of the resurrection of Jesus.

First, there was an empty tomb.

No serious scholar today denies that the tomb Jesus had been placed in was found to be empty. The disagreement today surrounds how Jesus’ tomb came to be vacant.

If the tomb had not been empty, the Sanhedrin could have easily silenced the people who were declaring that Jesus had risen from the dead by simply opening the tomb and demonstrating that Jesus was still there. They obviously knew where the tomb was because they had conscripted a hundred soldiers to guard the tomb. But when the Sanhedrin also found the tomb to be empty, they argued that the followers of Jesus had stolen the body of Jesus.

So, there was an empty tomb.

Second, the earliest followers of Jesus were willing to die for declaring that Jesus had risen from the dead.

If the disciples had stolen the body, they might have been willing to tell stories about Jesus rising from the dead for a while. But it remains inconceivable that they would knowingly allow themselves to be executed for preaching that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead if they knew the resurrection was an elaborate hoax that they themselves had created.

So, the early followers of Jesus were willing to die for saying that Jesus rose from the dead.

Third, everyone agrees that Christianity sprang into existence almost instantaneously in the middle of the first century. But why did Christianity come into existence so suddenly?

Christianity gained tremendous ground among its earliest followers because those earliest disciples truly believed that God had raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead.

Again, no one denies that some significant event took place following the crucifixion of Jesus. Are there any possible interpretations other than the literal resurrection of Jesus?

• Some explain the sightings of Jesus following His death as hallucinations. While this might explain why one person said they saw Jesus alive after His death, this would not explain why hundreds of people said that they saw Jesus alive after His crucifixion.
• Others explain the sightings of Jesus following His death by stating that Jesus was not fully dead when He was placed in the tomb. But this explanation flies in the face of the fact that the most talented executioners in modern history declared under oath that Jesus was indeed fully dead.
• Last, in the past, others have explained away the resurrection by denying that Jesus actually lived at all; but this view is not taken seriously in secular academia any longer.

The fact of the matter is that if the resurrection occurred, it has serious implications for the accepting or rejecting of Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God.