Five Reasons to Believe Jesus Rose From The Dead
There are many reasons to believe that, after Jesus was crucified and buried, he rose from the dead. Here are five things to consider.
The Precautions of the Romans - On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”
Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard (Matthew 27:62-66).
After Jesus’s death, the disciples were scared, demoralized and didn’t understand. So, to think they could break through the guards, break the seal, roll the stone away and steal the body undetected is unreasonable and highly unlikely.
The Faith of the Disciples - Right before Jesus was crucified the disciples were demoralized and afraid. After he rose from the dead, they became powerful evangelists, willing to be beaten, burned, beheaded, stoned, crucified for what they had witnessed. Why would they be willing to do that? Why would they be willing to lose their lives for something they knew was a lie? They wouldn’t.
Jesus’s Post-Resurrection Appearances - After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days (Acts 1:3). Also, ...he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born (1 Corinthians 15:5-8).
Modern Day Atheists Converted - There are many accounts of modern day Atheists setting out to prove the hoax of Jesus’s resurrection. Notably, Frank Morrison (Who Moved The Stone?), Lee Stroebel (The Case for Christ) and Josh McDowell (Evidence That Demands A Verdict), all of them Atheists who set out to disprove the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and all of them coming to the ultimate conclusion of the reality of the resurrection, all giving their lives to Jesus and going on to become strong witnesses and evangelists.
The Body Was Never Found - If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead and if the body wasn’t stolen, then what happened to it? All the Romans would have had to do was produce the body and that would have settled the lie that Jesus rose from the dead. Furthermore, the Roman guards reported all of this to the chief priests who, after consulting together, gave a large sum of money to the soldiers and told them to say that Jesus’s disciples came at night and stole Him away while they slept. But why would the disciples steal the body and then be willing to die for something they knew was a lie? They wouldn’t.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:12). Jesus paid that price on our behalf, then God raised him from the dead to demonstrate his power over death. You can trust it.
