The Church

There are four evidences that argue powerfully for the reality of the resurrection. The fourth evidence is the sudden and meteoric rise of the church. The sudden and meteoric rise of the church argues for the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. Let me explain...

Let’s pretend when New Day first started (in 2008) that within 5 weeks we had 10,000 people attending our church. That would be pretty amazing, right? And it would demand an explanation, right? People would want to know why 10,000 people started attending. They would conclude that there was some special reason for something so amazing to have occurred.

Well, in the same way, we have to ask ourselves why the first century church started and then exploded with growth? What made it come into existence (and so forcefully)? What caused this movement to begin? Friends - it makes no sense apart from Jesus’ resurrection. As Dr. Daniel Fuller has rightly stated, “To try to explain the church without reference to the resurrection is as hopeless as trying to explain Roman history without reference to Julius Caesar.”

Think about it...A rabbi named Jesus appears from a lower-class region. He teaches for three years, gathers a following of people, gets in trouble with the authorities, and gets crucified along with 30,000 other Jewish men who are executed during this time period. But somehow, within a brief period of time after Jesus’ death, the Christian faith spread rapidly throughout Palestine and then beyond until it finally permeated the entire Roman Empire. Its origin can be traced directly back to the city of Jerusalem in Palestine about A.D. 30 (right around the time Jesus died and his disciples and others claimed he rose from the dead and that they saw him alive). It took root and thrived in the very city where Jesus was crucified and buried. As a result of the first sermon, in which Peter asserted that Christ had risen from the dead, 3,000 people believed (Acts 2:41). In a short time the number had risen to 5,000 (Acts 4:4). Only five weeks after Jesus was crucified, an estimated 10,000 (and rising) Jews are following him and claiming that he has risen from the dead. Could all these converts have been made if Jesus had not been raised from the dead?

And it’s not just the huge numbers that have to be explained...

We also have to account for the decision by early Christians to change “the day of worship” from the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) to the first day of the week (Sunday). The early Christians were devout Jews who were fanatical in their observance of the Sabbath. The Jews feared breaking the Sabbath, believing they would incur the wrath of God if they violated the strict laws concerning its observance. So what happened that caused these Jewish men and women to turn their backs on all their years of religious training and tradition? Christians have an answer: They changed their day of worship to Sunday in honor of the anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus (which took place on a Sunday). Apart from the resurrection, we have no logical answer for why they would do this.

The evidence that the resurrection is responsible for the start of the church is so strong, that in all my reading I've come across not one alternate theory for the start and meteoric rise of the church. It seems critics are silent on this evidence. The “cat” of conclusive evidence has their tongue on this point. 

The Changed Lives

There are four evidences that argue for the reality of Jesus' resurrection. The third is the evidence of changed lives.

The numerous (and suddenly) changed lives of Jesus’ followers strongly argue for Jesus’ resurrection. Let’s review some of the people Paul listed in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 as eye witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. I mean, if Jesus really did appear alive after his death, that’s probably an event that would change someone’s life, right? Well did it? Let's take a look...

1. The Apostle Peter ("...he appeared to Cephas...")

In John 18, when Jesus is on trial and about to be crucified, in fear for his life, Peter denied 3x that he even knew who Jesus was. That is, he was afraid to stand up to even a handful of people in the high priest’s courtyard. But then, after Jesus died, in Acts 2 we find Peter standing up to thousands and thousands of people, boldly proclaiming that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world. We have to ask ourselves: What accounts for this sudden change in Peter? Well, as 1 Corinthians 15:5 states: Jesus was seen by Peter. We have nothing else to point to, to account for this sudden change except that Peter saw Jesus alive after his death.

2. The Other Apostles ("...then to the Twelve...")

When the authorities captured Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Bible tells us that “all the disciples deserted him and fled” (Matthew 26:56). After Jesus was crucified, the fearful disciples hid themselves in an upper room and locked the doors (John 20:19). These disciples were also skeptical when they first heard about the empty tomb. One of them (Thomas) refused to believe until he personally touched Jesus’ wounds. But within days something happened to utterly change this group of cowardly followers into a bold band of enthusiasts who were willing to face a life of suffering for the cause of Christ. What happened? The most logical explanation is that after Jesus’ resurrection “He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. (1 Corinthians 15:5). Nothing else can account for this sudden change except that they saw the risen Jesus.

3. Jesus’ brother James ("...then he appeared to James...")

Neither James nor any of Jesus’ younger brothers believed in Jesus during His lifetime (Mark 3:21, 31-35; John 7:1-10). But after Jesus died, his brothers show up in the Christian fellowship in the upper room in Jerusalem (Acts 1:14). Not only did James become a Christian but also an apostle (Galatians 1:19) and a pillar of the church in Jerusalem (Galatians 2:9). And we find him lead pastor of the Jerusalem church in Acts 21:18. Church history reveals that James was stoned to death illegally by the Sanhedrin sometime after AD 60 for his refusal to recant his belief in his brother’s resurrection and that he was the Son of God.

And here’s something really interesting: Not only did James become a Christian and get involved in preaching, but so did Jesus’ other brothers (Jesus’ brothers are included in a list of itinerant preachers in 1 Corinthians 9:5). Now how is this to be explained? What would it take to make you believe that your brother is the Lord, so that you would die for this belief, as James did? What would it take for you to believe that your brother had risen from the dead so that you stopped doubting and starting preaching as Jesus’ other brothers did? Can there be any doubt that the reason for this remarkable transformation is to be found in the fact that “then he appeared to James” (1 Corinthians 15:7).

4. The apostle Paul ("...last of all he appeared to me also...")

He was a rabbi, a Pharisee, a respected Jewish leader. He hated the Christian heresy and did everything in his power to stamp it out. He tells us that he was even responsible for the execution of Christian believers. Then suddenly he gave up everything. He left his position as a respected Jewish leader and became a Christian missionary. He entered a life of poverty, labor and suffering. He was whipped, beaten, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked three times, in constant danger, deprivation and anxiety. Finally, he made the ultimate sacrifice and was martyred for his faith at Rome. What can account for this sudden and drastic change? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:8 stating, “I also saw him.”

Even though the evidence strongly points towards the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, those who are uncomfortable with miracles, propose a different theory for why the disciples lives were so radically changed. It’s called the swoon (or apparent death) theory. This theory states: Jesus didn’t die on the cross. He was still alive when he was placed in the tomb, but he somehow escaped and convinced his disciples that he had risen from the dead. But if that’s true we have the following problems:

1. The Romans, who were professional executioners, didn’t break Jesus’ legs to speed death because they knew he was already dead. 
2. It’s not just the Christian record of Jesus’ life that says he was dead - so do several non-Christian records. The historians Josephus, Tacitus and Thallus all record that Jesus died by crucifixion. So does the Jewish Talmud (a source NOT considered friendly to Christianity). 
3. Jesus was embalmed in seventy-five pounds of bandages and spices. Do you think Jesus (who had been whipped and crucified) could stay still enough to trick Joseph of Aramathea and Nicodemus as they embalmed him? Could Jesus have just laid there perfectly still while they poured spices in his open wounds? Could he had hid his breathing from them? 
4. How did Jesus stay alive for three days being in the poor physical condition he was in after being crucified? And how did he move the estimated two-ton rock up and away from the inside of the tomb and then get by the elite Roman guards? 
5. And in the pitiful physical condition he was in - How did he convince the scared, scattered, skeptical disciples that he was a conquering king who had triumphed over death? Would this have inspired the disciples to do the things they did and to lay down their lives? 

The evidence of the changed lives argues powerfully for the reality of the resurrection, while alternative theories are harder to believe than the resurrection itself! 

The Appearances

There are four evidences that argue for the reality of the Jesus' resurrection. The second is the evidence of Jesus' postmortem appearances. The postmortem appearances of Jesus to both individuals and groups of people, argue for the reality of the resurrection. Eye witness testimony is the most powerful kind and concerning Jesus' resurrection that's exactly what we have!

The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. NLT 

Question: Did you catch what Paul said in v.6? He said that most of the 500 people that Jesus appeared to were still living. In other words, Paul is saying: if you don’t believe me go interview the people yourselves!!! And this was possible for Paul wrote First Corinthians just 15-20 years after the death of Jesus when the majority of the witnesses to his resurrection were still alive. Think about it! How is it that this letter (1 Corinthians) has survived some 2,000 years and is still being circulated as true if these witnesses didn’t exist? Wouldn’t the letter be discredited and disregarded if no one could confirm that what Paul wrote was true?

Now even though we have powerful eye witness testimony confirming Jesus’ postmortem appearances by individuals and groups, those not comfortable with miracles have proposed an alternate theory - what they call the hallucination theory. The hallucination theory states: Jesus didn’t really resurrect from the dead. Peter, the other apostles, the group of 500, Jesus’ brother James and the apostle Paul all hallucinated that Jesus was alive. But let me ask you: How likely is it that well over 500 people all had the same hallucination?

Jesus appeared not just one time, but many times; not at just one place, but at a variety of places and under a variety of circumstances; not to just one individual, but to different persons; not just to individuals, but to various groups; not just to believers, but to unbelievers and even enemies. Again: How likely is it that they all had the same hallucination?

Also, if the 500-plus eyewitnesses did have the unprecedented experience of seeing the same hallucination, then why didn’t the Jewish or Roman authorities simply parade Jesus’ body around the city? That would’ve proved that everyone was simply hallucinating and that Jesus didn't actually rise from the dead. That would've put an end to Christianity once and forever. Well, they would have loved to do so, but they couldn’t because the tomb was empty!

The Empty Tomb

There are four evidences that argue for the reality of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. The first is the evidence of the empty tomb.

When the soldiers who had been guarding Jesus’ tomb reported to the chief priests that an angel had rolled away the stone and that Jesus’ body was missing, they told the soldiers, “...You are to say: His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.” Matthew 28:13 NIV In giving this response, the chief priests confirmed that Jesus' tomb was indeed empty, which supports the disciples claim that he rose from the dead.

But let’s consider the chief priests version of what happened...If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead and their account for what actually happened is correct, we have some serious questions to ask that resurrection critics have absolutely no answer to. For example...

Why would the disciples steal the body and then lie about it? What was their motive? If stealing Jesus’ body got them prestige, wealth or increased social status then we can logically account for why they stole Jesus’ body and claimed he rose from the dead. But did the disciples get any of these things? No! As a reward for their belief in and preaching of Jesus’ resurrection they were tortured and flogged, and they finally faced death by some of the cruelest methods then known: 

• Peter, Andrew, James son of Alphaeus, Philip, Simon and Bartholomew were crucified.
• Matthew and James son of Zebedee were killed by the sword. 
• Thaddaeus was shot to death with arrows. 
• James, the brother of Jesus was stoned to death 
• Doubting Thomas was killed with a spear 

These men were subjected to every conceivable method of stopping them from talking. But they wouldn’t stop purporting that Jesus was raised from the dead! Rather they laid down their lives as the ultimate proof of their complete confidence in the truth of their message - that the tomb was empty because God raised Jesus from the dead.

Even critics can’t believe that the disciples would die for a lie that they knew was a lie. Misguided people may die for a lie they think is the truth, but they will not die for a lie they know is a lie. And the New Testament writers were in a position to know the real truth about the resurrection (i.e. if they had stole the body they would’ve known their claim that Jesus resurrected from the dead was a lie).

Therefore, I ask you: What answer can resurrection skeptics give for why the disciples would steal the body and then lie about it? There is none!!! Here’s three more perplexing questions that shoot holes in the credibility of the story that Jesus’ disciples came at night and stole the body while the guards were sleeping... 

1. How likely is it that all the Roman guards fell asleep while on duty when the punishment for doing so was death? 

2. How likely is it that the Roman guards stayed asleep while a huge stone was rolled away which would’ve broke the seal they had placed on it? 

3. Finally, if the Roman guards were sleeping as the Jews claimed, then how would the sleeping guards have known that the disciples came stole the body? 

I think this whole explanation (that Jesus’ disciples stole his body) is a strong argument in favor of the resurrection. After all - this fabrication was invented to account for an empty tomb - and the empty tomb supports the disciples claim that Jesus rose from the dead.