Resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing.
FREDERICK BUECHNER
I have struggled with doubt for years. I’m part of the Thomas Tribe (literally, my name is Thomas). I don’t like it, but my mind just works that way. And at times, it’s been horrifying, lonely, and even deeply depressing. I’m an obsessive analyzer. I don’t know how to turn my mind off. I fixate and sometimes sink into the quicksand of doubt.
But here’s what else I can tell you. When I struggle with doubt, I go back to the resurrection. And here’s why—I can’t get around the evidence. I’ve tried. Not because I want to get around the evidence but to see if I can, to test the strength of the resurrection.
I’m thankful that the resurrection of Jesus Christ comes fully furnished with solid evidence. It’s critical that it does, because our faith hangs on this crucial event in history. Remember the apostle Paul’s shocking statement that I cited in the previous article (Resurrection: Fact or Fiction) ? “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). That’s jaw dropping. Paul is basically saying, “Hey Christians, our faith rises and falls on the resurrection.”
I hate to say it, but if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we are deceived Christians. We’ve been duped. We’ve bought a lie and we’re anesthetizing ourselves on a mere fairy-tale. So if our faith isn’t fiction, what evidence is there for the resurrection? In short, here are five lines of evidence.
First, women were the first to discover the empty tomb. Why is this critical? It is well known and unfortunate that the testimony of women in the ancient world wasn’t highly regarded. If the authors of the Gospels were making up this story, they wouldn’t have fabricated women as the first witnesses of the resurrection. Rather, they would’ve had bona fide witnesses as the first discoverers of the empty tomb.
Second, the empty tomb is evidence for the resurrection. Even after the disciples were claiming that Jesus rose from the dead, no one was able to call their bluff. And that’s because they weren’t bluffing. As we discussed in the previous article, if the disciples stole the body of Jesus, do you think they would have died for a lie? And if some nonbelievers stole Jesus’s body, they most assuredly would’ve brought it out into the open once the rumor began spreading that Jesus rose from the dead.
Third, post-resurrection appearances provide further evidence for Jesus’s resurrection. As I said in the previous chapter, Jesus appeared to His followers on several different occasions, and He even appeared to more than five hundred at one time. By doing so, Jesus was establishing visible evidence for His eyewitnesses that He had defeated the grave.
Fourth, fulfilled prophecy served as another line of evidence for Jesus’s resurrection. His resurrection was prophesied in the Old Testament (Psalm 16:9-10) and Jesus Himself prophesied His own resurrection in the New Testament (Matthew 12:40; Mark 14:58; John 2:18-22).
Finally, you can’t explain the early church and the radical life change of Jesus’s disciples apart from the resurrection. The disciples saw something. These once fearful disciples, who could hardly follow Jesus during His earthly ministry, would now willingly lay down their lives for Him. That’s because they saw a living Jesus and experienced a radical life change. His resurrection turned doubting Thomas into a great missionary, denying Peter into a bold preacher, and adversary Paul into a tireless advocate of the gospel.
The case for the resurrection is so robust that many skeptics through the ages have become sincere followers of Jesus Christ in light of all the evidence. Now that’s exciting.
Thought to Ponder: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the exclamation point to the truthfulness of Christianity.
Memory Verse: If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain (1 Corinthians 15:14).
One-Minute Apologist Video: Bobby Conway, “Proofs of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?”
Günaydın & Good morning & Guten Morgen & Bonjour & Buongiorno & ¡buenos días
🐞uĞuR BöCeĞi🐞LaDYBuG🐞
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Amen!
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The value of scripture is spiritual food and this story is hugely powerful and life-transforming whether it’s literal or not.
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Yes but its not biblical. Religion, ALL religion has evolved from sun worship and the resurrection of the sun has been documented by pagans, Egyptians and Greeks. The sun appears to stop moving for 3 days before it appears to traverse in the opposite direction. Its known as the Solstice/Belthane/Equinox. Its only modern day Christianity that bastardised worship in the name of greed. Very sad
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there is also this
http://coldcasechristianity.com/2014/is-jesus-simply-a-retelling-of-the-horus-myth/
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Yes, Isis and also Greek Dionysus. Prior to them both is pagan, from which our calandar derives.
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http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/54176/was-jesus-a-sun-god
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Zeitgeist talks about it all. You should watch it 🙂
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will check it out… thanks
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Zeitgeist explains it very well and is my source. Google/YouTube his documentary’s on religion. Its enlightening
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Rather than evidence of a hereafter, the “resurrection” of Jesus, as described in literature, appears only to be evidence that Jesus, the man, did not actually die on the cross. Perhaps instead he was in some sort of catatonic state, comatose, or drugged (by himself or by others). It is written that, while he was on the cross, his legs were not broken as was the custom to hasten the death of those being crucified; to the soldiers he already appeared dead as he was unresponsive. Whether or not this was self-induced or assisted by something he ingested is indeterminate; but necessarily unimportant. Perhaps he was skilled in some sort of far east (Buddhist?) technique for placing himself in a trance-like state. Given the reaction of his disciples, I would conjecture that he did not have any aid in the planning or execution (no pun intended) of this event.
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I tend to think that if there was anything fake or superficial about it, the disciples wouldn’t have been convicted so much as to give up there lives. They must have witnessed something very abnormal to have had that kind of reaction
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http://www.discoverthegospeltruth.wordpress.com
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This is a very good post.
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Great article! I love this, it’s so important to remember that our faith is rooted in the resurrection. Because he rose, we have life, and the evidence for it is necessary because of the importance of the event
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nice one
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Happy Easter .
This is a very interesting article, I feel it could brought some more clarity than just assuming Bible .
Please take time to read my blog titled
The Real Jesus – புரட்சியாளர்
Kindly leave your comments if you liked it.
https://ajaymarshal.wordpress.com/2017/04/14/the-real-jesus-%e0%ae%aa%e0%af%81%e0%ae%b0%e0%ae%9f%e0%af%8d%e0%ae%9a%e0%ae%bf%e0%ae%af%e0%ae%be%e0%ae%b3%e0%ae%b0%e0%af%8d/
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GREAT post!
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Christ is already between us Brother, like a child or a teen He’s between us. Pray and Wait. Amen.
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We don’t have to look for evidence. The gospel is good news. Christ isn’t the Sun or anything like that. All I wanna say, “God is not a liar.”
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I think that we cannot take the Resurrection as literal.
Read my post here and let me know what you think…
https://quickerthanthoughtortime.wordpress.com/2017/04/30/on-seeing-the-goodness-in-others/
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Great post!
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Great Post. Really well done.
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Great post really blessed me this morning. Thank you
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I think this is such a great post; really emphasizes how one can have doubt, overthink, as I do as well, and still find such truth in the Lord’s presence. I wrote a piece on Easter that I think you would enjoy 🙂 Check it out! ~ thank you!
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https://growingthrusomething.blog/2017/04/16/he-is-risen/
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I love the book, “Who moved the stone?” by Frank Morison – incredible read, but it goes step by step through the evidences. He was a doubter as well who decided if Christianity can be disproven, it has to be at the point of resurrection. Even as Paul the apostle said, that’s where the faith relies on. He was the reporter who inspired Lee Strobel’s search.
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The actions of disciples were huge in me first accepting the resurrection as reality over fiction. I just couldn’t picture these men suffering and giving their lives for a made up story.
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Whenever I think of the resurrection I get a thrill. Christ is risen!
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