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| The Garden Tomb, Jerusalem. |
In the past few days, I have read several articles that question the claims of Easter — ‘There is no evidence of the resurrection,’ the proponents write, ‘it is a fabrication, the Biblical text is not reliable…’ On the contrary, the existing evidence presents a solid argument.
Testimony of Women
The Gospel writers record that the first witnesses of the empty tomb were women:
Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. (Luke 24:10 ESV)
In the first century, a woman’s testimony did not count; if the story had been fabricated, Luke and the other Gospel writers would not have cited the testimony of women in their accounts.
Change in the Disciples
A further indicator of the resurrection was the change in the disciples. After the death of Jesus, they shut themselves into a room for fear of the Jews (John 20:19). The resurrected Jesus appeared to them that evening (Thomas was absent) and another two times as a group, as well as appearing to Peter individually (Luke 24:34). After Pentecost, the apostles became powerful advocates of the Gospel of the risen Messiah, often subjecting themselves to persecution and the risk of death. What changed these fearful disciples into bold witnesses?
Encountering the Risen Christ!
Post-Resurrection Appearances
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15 that Jesus appeared first to Peter, then to the disciples, then to more than 500, to James, to all the apostles, and lastly to him. The Gospel writers include His appearances to Mary Magdalene and other women, and the two on the way to Emmaus; in all, there were at least 11 appearances of Jesus before His ascension.
An Unlikely Story
Furthermore, inventing the resurrection would have been foreign to Jewish thinking. The Jewish expectation of the Messiah was not for Him to be executed on a cross but to deliver them from Roman occupation. Dying on the cross was not only defeat but also a sign of God’s curse according to the Old Testament. The disciples were most likely thinking they had been wrong in assuming Jesus was the Messiah after His death; what happened to failed Messianic movements was either disbandment or the selection of a new leader. In this regard, the most likely explanation of the resurrection was that it happened.
The Witness of Paul
A further argument for the resurrected Christ was the paradigm shift in Paul’s thinking. A devout Orthodox Jew, Saul, as he was known, was a murderer of Christians. What converted this zealous Christian hater into Christianity’s most prolific writer and advocate?
He encountered the living Christ by hearing His voice! (see Acts 9: 1–9)
Realising He was actively persecuting the risen Messiah, Paul radically embraced the message he had been trying to destroy; he was used as a ‘chosen vessel’ to propagate the teaching of Christianity through his revelations from God.
Changed Lives
Millions of lives have been utterly transformed by getting to know the Risen Christ through faith. Those who have experienced the power of Christ testify of broken addictions, restored relationships, healed diseases, and countless other supernatural interventions by a loving and caring Saviour.
The Christian faith hinges on the truth of the resurrection. The evidence overwhelmingly proves that Jesus, the Messiah, rose from the dead. Because He rose, believers too will rise in the newness of life.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11: 25–26 NIV)
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