WHAT PROOFS DO WE HAVE THAT THAT JESUS REALLY WAS RESURRECTED?.
What proofs do we have that Jesus really was resurrected?
Let’s begin with some facts that even secular scholars agree on:
1. After Jesus was crucified, He died and was buried in a tomb.
2. Jesus’ disciples were in despair, and they went into hiding.
3. Three days after Jesus’ crucifixion, His disciples experienced what they
believed were literal appearances of Jesus.
4. At the same time as these occurrences, Jesus’ disciples stopped hiding and
started to proclaim their Risen Messiah.
5. The Christian church began to flourish.
6. Two skeptics, Paul and James (Jesus’ brother) became Christians after
experiencing what they believed was the risen Jesus.
Could the disciples have stolen Jesus’ body?
There was no way they could have stolen Jesus’ body. The Roman guards posted in
front of Jesus’ tomb were rigidly trained soldiers who faced the death sentence
if they failed to do their job. Also, can you imagine the timid, scared
disciples concocting such a plot, risking their lives to steal Jesus’ body,
hide it, and then proclaim a lie to the world? There would be no purpose in
this action.
Herod (Act 12:1,2), Bartholomew was flayed to death, and Philip, Thomas,
Matthew and Jude all died in martyrdom. Would they all have been willing to
face persecution, hardship, alienation, even death, for a concocted lie?
The Pharisees and Sadducees tried to bribe the Roman guards into saying that
the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body while they were asleep. They were even
guaranteed that they would not be punished for doing so (see Matthew 28:11-15).
There was just one problem of logic with this story: If the guards were
sleeping, how did they know that the disciples stole Jesus’ body?
Some argue that Jesus’ disciples were hallucinating when they “saw” Jesus,
risen from the dead. Here again, we have a problem. One, even two people can
hallucinate, but how can more than five hundred people hallucinate about the
same thing? (see 1 Cor 15:6)? Even atheistic experts agree that this many
people can not hallucinate about the same thing at the same time.
Others say that the story of Jesus’ resurrection is a legend, fabricated
centuries after the fact. A few years ago, Professor E.L. Sakenik, a Jewish
archaeologist, excavated a Christian tomb in the clay limestone hills around Jerusalem. The tomb
housed ossuaries (stone boxes) containing the bones of dead people. On all four
sides of these ossuaries, he found charcoal-drawn crosses. In the tomb, pottery
was found of a type known as Herodia, as well as a coin minted by Aggrippa I in
the year 41 A.D. This is evidence that this was a Christian tomb, dating 41
A.D., just 10 years later after Jesus’ crucifixion.
Two of the ossuaries had the name Jesus inscribed on them. On one ossuary the name Jesus was followed by iou, which is
the Greek version of Yahweh, the name of God. In other words, the inscription
read:” Jesus is God”. The other ossuary that bore the name Jesus had the Greek
letters aloth following it. This is a Hebrew word written in Greek letters,
meaning ascended one. In other words: “Jesus, the ascended one” or “Jesus, the
Risen one”.
century believed and proclaimed that Jesus was risen from the dead! Jesus’
resurrection is not a legend. It is not a myth. It is not a fabricated lie. It
is a fact.
After witnessing their Risen Savior, Jesus’ scared disciples could no longer be
silenced. They were all willing to die horrible deaths, for they knew that
they, too, would soon be resurrected at Jesus’ Second coming! Are you willing
to die for your Risen Savior?
"The proof we have is ourselves, the love, joy and tears we feel when we think of him and what he has given for us.
This is what I believe to be the proof."
________________
more than enough proof that Jesus was resurrected."
Dave
________________
before hundreds of people. He joined His apostles in a room & they were
able to touch his nail-scarred hands & feet & feel the wound in His
side. He then ascended into the clouds & many saw this. To me, if the Bible
says it, it's proof enough for me."
Bee
________________
Road {Luke 24:13-27}, 10 of his disciples,{ Judas
was dead and Thomas wasn't there, in John 20:19-24} and eleven disciples 8 days
later {Thomas was there, in John 20:26-29}. According to John 21:1-23, he met
with 7 disciples, and 1 Corn. 15:6 tells of 500 followers seeing him at once.
He appeared to James{1 Corn. 15:7}, all the disciples at the Ascension {Acts
1:3-11} ,Paul {1 Corn. 15:8} and finally the apostle John {Rev. 1:9-18}
they were. The grave was empty, no body stole his body, he was seen and he was
touched, he ate with them, he talked with them. Jesus said he would rise and he
did. His resurrection assures our resurrection.
There would be still be the sting in death if he remained dead. He was the first fruits of resurrection{1Corn.15:20} for he
paved the way for us. If He had remained dead we would have nothing. We have no
hope, no faith and no comfort. Praise God, he is alive today. There no way you
could feel what we do if he was dead."
________________ "First of all there is a documentation record that goes back to within one generation of the Apostles. That is, the originals of these documents and or parts of them, are in modern man's
possession. This refutes claims that the story was 'made up' in somewhat latter
times.
We have the biblical record itself which is consistent with the
ancient documentation that has been discovered.
Then, there were about 500 living witnesses - people who saw and spoke to Jesus
AFTER the resurrection, and bare witness of this fact to thousands of others.
The documentation record is consistent with the verbal record passed on by
these thousands who formed themselves into churches.
There are 'holes' in the accounts given by the Jews at the time. For a Roman
soldier to sleep at his post meant death. Yet the Jewish rulers convinced the
soldiers to make that admission publicly. It is unlikely they would have done
so if they had not already been told by their superiors that 'it would be
alright' The soldiers would not of their own volition 'make up' a story that
would get them executed. This was just a desperate attempt by the leaders to
cover up the truth.
The tomb was not only guarded by soldiers but had been sealed by the Romans. To
break a Roman seal meant death and to do so in front of soldiers would be quite
foolhardy.
The circular 'cover' of the tomb weighed about 4 tons and its removal would not
be quietly achieved. Even if the soldiers WERE asleep (highly unlikely), the
noise made by a team of horses and or the grunting of a significant group of
men would have awakened them. They would have been CLOSE enough to the tomb for
their rather short range weapons, a pilum (spear), to be used if necessary.
Consider also that the 'seal' included a stout iron spike driven into the rock
of the cliff face preventing the tomb 'cover' from being moved. Any attempt to
remove that spike would have also been noisy.
The tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea in which Jesus was laid has been discovered
and identified by his markings within. The round slab of rock used to cover the
tomb was also discovered lying flat on the ground nearby (weighed 4 tons). The
ruins of what appeared to be a stone hut type building of Roman design was
shown to have been built around the slab and it was speculated that perhaps the
Romans secured the site since it would have been rather important to early
Christians. All this was excavated from under about 15 ft of rubble fallen from
the cliff and had not been seen or touched for many centuries.
Perhaps most significantly, the rusted remains of the iron spike sealing the
tomb (fairly well preserved because of the dry climate) was still in the cliff
face and had been sheared off. An engineer calculated a force in excess of 80
tons would be needed to shear an iron spike of that thickness. Actually this is
another 'proof' of the correct identification of the tomb. There was no manmade
tool of that day that could have done this.
To my knowledge there are only two other explanations for the lack of a body in
that tomb apart from the biblical record of a resurrection. One, that the whole
story was made up - disproven by the documentation going back to within one
generation of eye witnesses. Two, the one offered by the Jews that the
disciples spirited the body away while the soldiers slept - and they lacked a bulldozer
and stun grenades.
The biblical record claims an angel came in all his glory, made the earth quake
when his feet landed, rolled the stone aside without apparent effort and sat on
it, putting the wind up the soldiers to such an extent that they fell on their
faces and trembled with fear.
If there is another plausible explanation I would like to hear it."
________________
"The holy scripture tells us He rose on the 3rd day. We accept on faith that the Scripture is inspired by GOD and the
HOLY SPIRIT reaffirms that in our hearts. FAITH IS SOMETHING WE BELIEVE BUT NOT
SEEN BY MAN'S EYES accept it by faith. scientists themselves cannot dispute the
word of GOD as being a myth. we know HIS HOLY SPIRIT IT IS TRUE. IN HIS
NAME"
PASTOR BAGONZA ROBERT
REDEEMED CHURCH
PO.BOX 1920
MBARARA UGANDA