Most people believe that life has a spiritual dimension. Maybe you belong to a church or mosque. Maybe you meditate. Maybe you consider the awe you feel in the mountains or the peace of a forest trail as a spiritual experience. Maybe art gets you in touch with something more meaningful than your daily grind. You may not be able to define it, but you likely think some reality beyond the physical exists.
The Christian faith, though, focuses on human bodies. Christians hope that their bodies will be raised from the dead. Everything rests on the belief that Jesus Christ rose physically from his grave.
If this didn’t happen, the Bible says, you shouldn’t believe in Christianity: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17). Without the resurrection, our sins aren’t forgiven. We’re not at peace with God. If the resurrection didn’t happen, the Bible says, Christian faith is a fraud.
So, is there any reason to believe in the resurrection of Christ? People make extraordinary claims all the time. You’ve heard about people who say they saw UFOs or ghosts or Bigfoot. The resurrection supposedly happened 2,000 years ago in an obscure part of the Roman Empire. Why should this extraordinary claim be taken seriously?
Jesus’ Empty Tomb
Jesus’ disciples didn’t expect him to be resurrected. When he was crucified, they scattered and lost hope. When Mary Magdalen found the tomb empty, she assumed his body had been taken by someone (John 20:2). No evidence suggests, therefore, that they made this claim up. They found an empty tomb and didn’t know what to think.
The Bible also says that the soldiers guarding the tomb told the Jewish leaders what had happened (Matt. 28:11). The leaders paid the guards to say that the disciples stole the body (Matt. 28:12–13). So, the enemies of Jesus also knew the tomb was empty.
All the evidence suggests that everyone at the time knew the tomb was empty. The only question was how to account for it.
Jesus’ Appearances After the Resurrection
As mentioned above, Paul claims that over 500 people saw Jesus after he died. Even one eyewitness can be enough to convict someone of a crime. If more than 500 people saw the risen Jesus, it’s very hard to explain away. Paul’s letters are the earliest New Testament documents, so he’s referring to relatively recent events. He claims many of the witnesses were still alive, which means his readers could still ask them to confirm what Paul said.
These appearances, according to the Bible, weren’t just visual. There’s no evidence for the theory that Jesus’ disciples shared a mass hallucination. The risen Jesus ate with the disciples and handed them food (Luke 24:30; John 21:13). He invites them to touch him (Luke 24:39; John 20:27).
Clearly, if the Bible claims that Jesus’ tomb was empty, it intends to portray his appearances as physical. These appearances explain the empty tomb better than any other theory.
The Creation of the Church
Why didn’t Jesus’ followers disband and disappear from history, like those of others who claimed to be the Messiah? Why did their despair at his death give way to hope? Why did they commit their lives to the belief that Jesus rose from the dead? Why were so many willing to die for this belief? What accounts for all these effects on his disciples?
The most plausible explanation is that something extraordinary happened. The New Testament writers claim that the resurrection makes sense of these things. Any other explanation is speculative and implausible. The evidence in the main historical documents we have—the New Testament—accounts for what happened. It best explains the existence of the church.
Jesus wants us to trust in the resurrection so that we’ll trust in him. He invites us to examine the evidence so we can, like Thomas, worship him as our Lord. The resurrection proves to us that Jesus is the Son of God, that he’s forgiven our sins, and that we’ll also rise again—to live with him in glory and joy forever.
This is an excerpt from Core Christianity’s resource, Can I Trust In The Resurrection? It is available for FREE here: Free Core Download.
