Ten Reasons Why we should accept the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as a Historical Fact:

10 Reasons to Accept the Resurrection of Jesus as a Historical Fact

April 11, 2017

By: Brian Chilton | April 11, 2017

When I left the ministry due to my skepticism, one of the factors involved in my departure concerned the reliability of the New Testament documents and the resurrection of Jesus. The folks from the Jesus Seminar had me second-guessing whether I could trust what the New Testament said and if I could truly accept the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. In July of 2005, my life changed. I entered the Lifeway Christian Bookstore in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and read three books that changed my life more than any other book outside the Bible. I discovered Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ, Josh McDowell’s The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict, and McDowell’s A Ready Defense. I discovered that there are many reasons for accepting the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as a historical fact.

Through the years, the evidence has increasingly mounted for the historicity of Jesus’s resurrection. This article will provide 10 of the most fascinating arguments for the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This list is not exhaustive and my dealings with each argument is extremely brief. Nevertheless, I hope this list will provide a starting point for you to consider the authenticity of Jesus’s resurrection.

1. The First Eyewitnesses were Women. The first eyewitnesses of the resurrection were women. All the Gospels note that the first individuals to discover the tomb empty were women. Matthew notes that “After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb…The angel told the women, ‘Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the play where he lay” (Matthew 28:1, 5-6).[1] Women were not held in high esteem. In Greco-Roman culture, a woman’s testimony was not admissible in court. In Jewish circles, it took the testimony of two women to equate that of one man. If one were to invent a story, the last people one would place as the first witnesses would have been women, unless it were otherwise true.
2. Minimal Facts Concerning the Resurrection. Gary Habermas has popularized the so-called minimal facts argument for the resurrection. The minimal facts are those things that are accepted by nearly all New Testament scholars. The minimal facts are “1. Jesus died by crucifixion. 2. Jesus’ disciples believed that he rose and appeared to them. 3. The church persecutor Paul was suddenly changed. 4. The skeptic James, brother of Jesus, was suddenly changed. 5. The tomb was empty.” [2] These facts are nearly universally accepted by New Testament scholars, including liberals.
3. Transformation of the Early Disciples. As noted in the minimal facts, James, the brother of Jesus, was changed from a skeptic to a believer because of the resurrection. James along with his brothers did not believe in Jesus during Jesus’s early ministry (see John 7:5). However, Jesus appeared to James (1 Corinthians 15:3-9) and James became a leader in the early Jerusalem church. His death is recorded by Josephus.[3] Paul is another example of one who was completely transformed by the resurrection of Jesus. Paul had been a persecutor of the church. After witnessing the risen Jesus, Paul became a proclaimer for the church.
4. Embarrassing Details of the Resurrection. Historically speaking, embarrassing details add veracity to a historical claim. The fact that women were the first witnesses, that a member of the Sanhedrin (the same Sanhedrin that executed Jesus) had to give Jesus a proper burial, and that the disciples were fearful and fled all serve as embarrassing factors for the resurrection account.
5. Willingness to Die for What Was Known. Many people will die for what they believe to be true. But no one will die for something they erroneously invented. The disciples knew if they were telling the truth. Yet, one finds that the disciples were willing to die for what they knew to be true. Stephen died by stoning (Acts 7:54-60), James of Zebedee died by the sword at the hands of Herod (Acts 12:2), James the brother of Jesus died,[4] and Peter and Paul died at the hands of Nero.[5]
6. Documentary Evidence. The documentary evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is quite good. The historian seeks to find how many primary and secondary sources[6] can be gathered for an event to determine the event’s historicity. Concerning primary sources, the resurrection has Matthew’s account, John’s account, and Paul’s account in 1 Corinthians 15, including the additional references by James (if one accepts that James wrote the letter attributed to him) and Jude. The following are secondary sources for the resurrection: Luke, Mark, Clement of Rome, and to a lesser degree Ignatius and Irenaeus.
7. Circumstantial Evidence. Douglas Groothius notes that circumstantial evidence for the historicity of the resurrection is “namely, the practice of the early church in observing baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Sunday worship.”[7] Baptism is based upon the analogy of Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection. The Lord’s Supper is a symbol of Christ’s sacrificial death. In addition, it is quite odd that faithful Jews would move their worship from a Friday evening into Saturday to a Sunday morning unless something major had occurred on a Sunday morning. The major Sunday morning event was Jesus’s resurrection.
8. The Missing Motive. J. Warner Wallace has noted in his lectures and books that when a conspiracy is formed, three motivating factors are behinds such a move—power, greed, and/or lust.[8] The disciples would hold no power behind claiming the resurrection as history. They were running around while often being threatened by the Jewish and Roman authorities. As far as greed, they taught that one should not desire earthly possessions, but spiritual ones. Lust was not a factor, either. They taught celibacy before marriage and marital fidelity after marriage. In fact, N. T. Wright notes in his classic book, The Resurrection of the Son of God, that the disciples had no theological motivation behind claiming that Jesus had risen from the dead as they were anticipating a military hero and a final resurrection at the end of time. What motivating factors existed for these disciples to invent such a story? None! The only reason the disciples taught the resurrection of Jesus was because Jesus’s resurrection had occurred.
9. Enemy Attestation of the Resurrection. Historically speaking, if one holds enemy attestation to an event, then the event is strengthened. When one considers the claims of the authorities that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus (Matthew 28:11-15), the testimony of the resurrection is strengthened. The early belief that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus is strengthened by the discovery of the Nazareth Inscription that orders capital punishment for anyone who steals a body from a tomb.[9] In addition, several refences to Jesus and his resurrection include citations from Josephus,[10] Tacitus,[11] and Suetonius[12] among others (including the Babylonian Talmud).
10. Multiple Post-Resurrection Eyewitnesses. Finally, there is multiple eyewitness testimony pertaining to the resurrection of Jesus. Several people had seen Jesus alive for a period of 40 days. The eyewitnesses include Mary Magdalene (John 20:10-18), the women at the tomb accompanying Mary (Matthew 28:1-10), the Roman guards (Matthew 28:4), the Eleven disciples (John 21), the two men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), an indeterminate number of disciples (Matthew 28:16-20); over five-hundred disciples (1 Corinthains 15:6), to James (1 Corinthians 15:7) and to Paul (1 Corinthians 15:8-9). I am certain that there were many other witnesses that are unnamed.

Conclusion:

Many other evidences could be given for the resurrection of Jesus. Thinking about the methods of history, one must understand that there is a reason why American accept the first President of the United States as George Washington and not Spongebob Squarepants. History backs up the claim that Washington was the first President. In like manner, history backs up the reality of Jesus’s resurrection. Now the question is this: what will you do with such information? Some will try to ignore the event. Some will try to dismiss it. Others will acknowledge the factual nature of the event and worship Jesus as the risen Lord. It is my prayer that you will do the latter.

Resurrection-The Most Important Question in the World

The brilliant professor of philosophy at London University, C.E.M. Joad, was not a Christian. He was asked on a radio programme, ‘If you could meet any person from the past and ask them just one question, whom would you meet and what question would you ask?’

Professor Joad answered without hesitation: ‘I would meet Jesus Christ and ask him the most important question in the world – “Did you or did you not rise from the dead?”’

There came a day in Professor Joad’s life when he assessed the evidence, encountered Jesus himself and wrote a book called, Recovery of Belief.”-Nicky Gumble

THE RESURECTION AN ESTABLISHED FACT OF HISTORY: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a myth or even a legend but an established Fact: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that 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. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15:3-6, 20‬ ‭NIV‬‬ Professor Thomas Arnold, author of History of Rome and appointed to the chair of modern history at Oxford: “I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God bath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead.” Brooke Foss Wescott (a famed scholar of the 19th century): “There is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ.” Dr. Paul L. Maier (a prominent professor of ancient history): “No shred of evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources, epigraphy or archaeology that would disprove that the tomb in which Jesus was buried was actually empty on the morning of the 1st Easter.” Dr. Simon Greenleaf (a very famous Harvard University professor of Law): “According to the laws of legal evidence used in courts of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history.”

Ressurrection, hope for the backslider:

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The Resurrection gives Hope to every Backslider and to every Sinner

 

The day that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on was a dark day! It was a day of great suffering and humiliation for our wonderful Savior. First He was betrayed by one of His own disciples and then arrested. After he was arrested His disciples deserted Him and fled. While he was being condemned by the religious leaders, Peter one of His closest disciples denied knowing him three times. We read about this in Luke 22:60-62: “ But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.”

Knowing the character of Jesus, I am sure that when Jesus looked at Peter it was not a look of anger or disappointment but of love and tenderness. After this Jesus was brought before Pilate, then sent to Herod where he was mocked and ridiculed. He was then returned to Pilate where he was cruelly flogged and sentenced to die. He was then forced to carry his own cross and was led away to Calvary where He was crucified. While on the cross He was insulted by people passing by, by the religious leaders, and also by the soldiers. In spite of all this cruel treatment He was not resentful or bitter but He prayed, “Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). While on the cross and suffering great agony He was still thinking of others and therefore He asked John to take care of His mother (John 19:26-27) and also forgave one of the criminals that was crucified with him and assured him of Heaven. (Luke 23:40-43).

Yes, it was a day of great darkness both spiritually and also physically; spiritually because it seemed that all the demons of the kingdom of darkness had full control. They no doubt were rejoicing and laughing with glee because Jesus was now crucified. It was dark because it seemed for the moment that even God the Father had forsaken Jesus, Jesus prayed, “My God, My God why have You forsaken Me.” (Matt. 27:46). It was also physically dark because darkness had covered the whole land. We read in Mark 15:34, “At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.”

Jesus last statement before He died was “It is finished” (John 19:30). What does it mean? In the Greek the word is tetelestai Which according to Derek Prince who was also a Greek scholar means “perfectly perfect” and “completely complete”. What seemed like dismal failure and defeat was Christ’s finest hour. His work in becoming the sin bearer for all mankind was complete and perfect. Satan’s plan was to destroy Jesus but God’s plan was to save the world through Him, “ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

That was dark Friday, but then came resurrection Sunday when Jesus triumphed over the grave and death and through the power of the Holy Spirit was raised up from the dead. We read in Luke 24:1-7, “ But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” In 1Cor. 15:12-17 Paul show the importance of the resurrection of our Lord, “2 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” Paul said that if Christ has not been raised then our faith is useless and we are still in our sins! What if this was the case! What a sad world we would be living in, but thank God that is not the case, Jesus is indeed risen and therefore there is hope for every lost sinner and for every backslider!

Dear friend, you may not have yet received Jesus as your Savior and as a result may still be in your sins. May you understand today that God loves you and just as the criminal, who with Jesus was hanging on the cross, was extended mercy and saved, God would extend His mercy to you and save you. God’s Word declares in Acts 2:21, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” Call upon Him today, turn from all sin and rebellion, invite Jesus into your heart to be your personal Savior and you will then experience His peace and forgiveness.

Maybe you are a backslider and perhaps you have allowed sin to come into your life. Perhaps you have grown cold and are neglecting your walk with the Lord or perhaps you are battling with unforgiveness in your heart towards other people who you feel have hurt you. Repent of this and ask God to forgive you immediately, and forgive everybody, even your worst enemy. If you will not forgive then God cannot forgive you. Perhaps you were a church leader, or a pastor and in a moment of weakness and temptation, you fell into sin. Now you feel that God cannot forgive you, and you cannot forgive yourself then remember Peter! We read earlier how Peter had denied Jesus three times. Did Jesus hold a grudge in His heart against Peter because of this? Not at all! We see evidence of this from the angel’s message to the women who came to anoiny Jesus’ body early on Sunday morning, the big stone that was at the entrance of the cave where He lay was rolled away and when they entered the tomb they met an angel who said to them, “… “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” The angel specifically mentioned Peter’s name. How glad Peter must have been when he heard this for he no doubt was suffering from shame and guilt. He now knew that Jesus still loved him and had forgiven him. How free he must have felt!

God is a God of reconciliation, of forgiveness who has come to forgive us and to heal our broken hearts. Come to Jesus today with all your sins , with all your guilt and shame, with all your sorrows and heartaches. He is alive today, He is not in the grave and waits with open arms to receive you and restore you into fellowship again.

We have the wonderful example of Jesus standing at the door of a backsliden church and knocking found in Rev. 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me..”

Jesus said, “If anyone hear my voice..” This means you also! Will you open the door of your heart and let Jesus come into your life today?

The following is a prayer you can pray;

“Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you that you love me in spite of all my failures and sins. Now because of what Jesus did on the cross when He died in my place, please forgive me of all my sins and failures. I am sorry for all my backslidings, I repent of them all and ask you to restore back into fellowship with yourself. I invite you Lord Jesus to please come into my life, sit on the throne of my heart and be my personal Lord and Savior. Thank you for hearing my prayer, for coming into my heart and for forgiving me. Thank you, thank you Father. I pray all this in Jesus Name, Amen

Now that you have invited the Lord Jesus to come into your heart, believe that what He has promised is yours, that He has come into your heart and has forgiven you. Perhaps you may not immediately feel any difference, therefore accept it by faith. God’s Word states that “the just shall live by faith”. This means that we don’t live by our feelings. God said it and we believe His Word. Therefore regardless of how you feel you now begin to thank God for saving you and forgiving you. This you ought to do every day.
After you have invited the Lord Jesus into your heart it is very important that you share with others what you have done. Also share the good news of the Gospel with others. It is also very important that we daily spend time in prayer and fellowship with God. We should also daily read and meditate on His precious Word. A good time to do this is in the morning before you begin your day. We should also daily yield our lives to be filled and led by the blessed Holy Spirit.
It also very important to belong to a local fellowship of believers, a church home, where God’s Word is taught and where we can have regular fellowship.

May God richly bless you! May you experience this as the greatest Easter of your life as you come into a personal relationship with the resurrected Savior. May your dark Friday become a glotious Easter Sunday experience! May you continually grow in grace and in the knowledge of our precious Savior and be a blessing to many people.

 

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ-A Historical Fact!

The life and Resurrection of Jesus Christ -A  Historical Fact

Throughout the Christian world hundreds of millions of believers around the world will soon be celebrating the feast of Easter or in other words the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The celebration and commemoration of Easter has been celebrated since Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and is Christianity’s most important holiday. It is celebrated by hundreds of millions of believers around the world.

Being a Christian is not just belonging  to a religion called Christianity but it coming into a vital relationship with Jesus Christ. The coming of Jesus Christ into this world and His resurrection is not a myth or fable  but is based on historical facts. We have many substantial reasons to believe that Jesus Christ was a historical person for example there is more evidence that Jesus existed than there is of Julius Ceaser or Alexander the Great. Historians believe that these two historical persons existed because of three primary reasons: 1. Written documentation from early historians. 2. Historical impact. 3. Other historical and archaeological evidence.

At least nineteen early secular writers made reference to Jesus as a real person. One of the world’s  greatest historians, Tacitus, who was born 25 years after Jesus died and who was not a Christian affirmed that Jesus had suffered under Pilate. The 27 New Testament books are written by authors  who either knew Jesus personally or received first hand knowledge of him from others.

Alexander the Great as a real person impacted history by his military conquests but what about the impact on history and on this world until this present time by Jesus Christ. Schools, hospitals, missionary societies and humanitarian works have been founded in his name, cannibalism, idolatry, human sacrifices and cruel, sadistic practices were eliminated, Women who were considered inferior before were given their proper status in society. Slavery was abolished in Britain and America due to Jesus’ teaching on ethics and morals. Former drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes and millions of others have had their lives changed for the better and received new purpose in life by trusting in Jesus.

One of the established facts of history is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This fact  validates everything He said about Himself, about the meaning of life, and about what happens after death. His visible appearance  after his resurrection was personally witnessed by many reliable persons. Once Jesus was seen by over 500 people at the same time after His resurrection. (1Corinthians 15:6). The Jews who had delivered Jesus to be crucified and the Roman Empire with its great army could not find the body of Jesus and refute the claims of the early Christians.  Only His physical resurrection could explain how a group of frightened and discouraged men could be transformed into bold disciples who were even willing to die if necessary for that which they had seen and heard. As a result they were instruments in spreading Christianity to many parts of then known world. Only physical resurrection and the subsequent giving of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ followers could account for the existence of the church today that continues to impact the world for good.

Fulfilled Bible prophecy which defies all mathematical odds is proof of the validity of the Bible which foretells specific events in detail many years, sometimes centuries, before they occur. One of the great prophecies that has been and is being fulfilled in this century is the return of the Jews to their homeland after being scattered all over the world for approximately two thousand years.  This is a modern day miracle and was predicted in many places in the Bible. For example in Ezekiel 37:2l, we read, “…This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.”

We have many prophecies found in the Old Testament that were given many years before the birth of Christ that were fulfilled in Him. Some of these prophecies include: 1.His birth of a virgin; 2. His birth at Bethlehem; 3. His flight into Egypt;  4. His dwelling at Nazareth; 5. His healing of the sick; 5. His body being pierced without His bones being broken; 6. His rising from the dead and that His body would not see corruption. 7. The precise time frame in which He would appear. 8. There are those who proclaim that Jesus did not really die on the cross but this is not true. The whole of Isaiah 53 is a remarkable prophecy of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, for example in Isaiah 53:9 we read, “He made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death…” Also in Isaiah 53:12, “…because he hath poured out his soul unto death…” All four Gospels record His death. Also before the body of Jesus was removed from the cross, a Roman soldier  pierced His side with a spear removing all doubt to the fact that Jesus was dead. (St. John 19:34).

Many things in the Old Testament points forward to and are types of Jesus Christ. For example when God initiated the feast of Passover (Exodus 12:3-6) a lamb in perfect condition had to be killed. This represented the sacrifice of Jesus when He died on the cross for the sins of all mankind. John the Baptist exclaimed when He saw Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29).

Ancient biblical prophets performed miracles to confirm their divine authority. Many miracles were performed by Jesus Christ which were even acknowledged by His enemies confirming to us the Divine origin of the Bible.

The science of archeology have discovered many things that are an amazing confirmation to the accuracy of the Bible. The discovery of the dead sea scrolls in 1947 contained the oldest know copies of some important Old Testament books and confirmed their accuracy.  Nelson Glueck, a famous archeologist said, “It may be stated categorically that no archeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference.”

One of the greatest proofs to me that Jesus Christ is alive and that His Word is to be trusted is that I have  experienced his power and presence in my  own life. I have experienced His peace and forgiveness from all my sins when I repented and received Him as my personal Savior. I have experienced his healing touch in my body many times. I have experienced the constant comfort and fellowship of the promised Holy Spirit. Yes Jesus is not just a historical figure for me but a living reality. Death could not conquer Him, the grave could not hold Him. He is the resurrection and the life and whosoever would believe in Him, repent of their sins and receive Him as their personal Savior can also experience what I experienced as He is no respecter of persons.