The Resurrection – Fact or Fiction? – Part II

In today’s devotion we will share four more convincing reasons why the resurrection of Jesus is clearly the best option on what happened to Jesus after he died.

First, there are the transformation of the early disciples and a willingness on their part 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. Yes, many people have died for a lie, but they did so believing it was the truth. If the Resurrection had not happened, obviously the disciples would have known it. Therefore, they would not only have died for a lie—here’s the catch—but they would have known it was a lie. It would be hard to find a group of men anywhere in history who would die for a lie if they knew it was a lie. Stephen died by stoning, James of Zebedee died by the sword at the hands of Herod, James the brother of Jesus died, and Peter and Paul died at the hands of Nero.

Second, there are multiple post-resurrection eyewitnesses. We have 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, the women at the tomb accompanying Mary, the Roman guards, the eleven disciples, the two men on the road to Emmaus, over five-hundred disciples, and to James and Paul.

Third, there are embarrassing details of the resurrection. Historically speaking, embarrassing details add veracity to a historical claim. The fact that women were the first witnesses to the resurrection is one embarrassing detail. All the Gospels note that the first individuals to discover the tomb empty were women. 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.  Also, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin (the same Sanhedrin that executed Jesus) had to give Jesus a proper burial. Finally, the fact that the disciples were fearful and fled, all serve as embarrassing factors for the resurrection account.

And fourth, is the case of the missing motive. J. Warner Wallace has noted in his lectures and books that when a conspiracy is formed, three motivating factors are behind such a move—power, greed, and/or lust. 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, 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’ resurrection had occurred.

These five arguments from yesterday and today make, in my opinion, an amazingly convincing case for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.