WHO IS JESUS CHRIST?
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DID JESUS RISE FRM THE
DEATH?
According to
eyewitnesses, a man named Jesus Christ demonstrated his power over death. They
tell us that after he died on a cross and was buried, Jesus suddenly appeared
to them alive on the third day. Then he was seen by other followers, including
500 people on a single occasion. Soon word spread everywhere that Jesus had
risen from the dead. But could Jesus’ resurrection simply be a 2000 year old
legend? Or is it based upon verifiable historical evidence?
If Jesus didn’t rise
from the dead, then the foundation for the Christian Faith would forever be
destroyed.
Jesus Predicts His Own
Death and Resurrection
Seven hundred years
before Christ, the prophet Isaiah had written about a future Messiah, who would
suffer and die for our sins, but later be restored to life. Echoing the
prophecy in Isaiah 53, Jesus claimed that he was the Messiah who would be
betrayed, arrested, condemned, spit upon, scourged, and killed. But then three
days later he would come back to life. (See Mark 10:33). Everything Jesus
taught and claimed depended on his resurrection from the dead. If Jesus didn’t
rise as he promised, his message of forgiveness and hope for eternal life would
be meaningless. Jesus was putting his words to the ultimate test of truth.
Bible scholar Wilbur
Smith explains, “When he said He would rise again from the dead, the third day
after He was crucified, He said something that only a fool would dare say if He
expected the devotion of any disciples – unless He was sure He was going to
rise.”
A Horrific Death And
Then . . . ?
Exactly as Jesus
predicted, eyewitnesses report he was betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas
Iscariot. Then in a mock trial under the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, he was
condemned, scourged, kicked, spat upon, brutally whipped, and finally crucified
on a wooden cross.
Jesus suffered on the
cross for approximately six hours. Then, at 3:00 in the afternoon Jesus cried
out, “It is finished” and died. Suddenly the sky went dark and an earthquake
shook the land.
Pilate wanted to verify
that Jesus was dead before allowing his crucified body to be buried. So a Roman
guard thrust a spear into Jesus’ side. The mixture of blood and water that
flowed out, according to eyewitnesses, was a clear indication that Jesus was
dead. Once his death was certified, Jesus’ body was taken down from the cross,
tightly wrapped in linen and buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb. Roman guards
then sealed the tomb with a large stone and were under strict orders to watch
the tomb 24 hours a day.
Jesus’ disciples were so
utterly devastated by his death on the cross that they fled for their lives,
fearing they too would be captured and killed. But then something happened . .
.
According to a New York Times
article,
“Shortly
after Jesus was executed, his followers were suddenly galvanized from a baffled
and cowering group into people whose message about a living Jesus and a coming
kingdom, preached at the risk of their lives, eventually changed an empire.
Something happened … But exactly what?”
Morison Examines the Evidence
Morison wanted to know what actually happened that changed Jesus’
followers and started a movement that has made such a profound impact on our
world. He realized there were five possible explanations:
• Jesus didn’t really die on the cross
• Jesus’ body was stolen
• The disciples were hallucinating
• The account is legendary. Or,
• It really happened
Morison began examining the facts patiently and impartially to see
where they would lead him.
1. Was Jesus Dead?
Morison first wanted verification that Jesus was really dead when
placed in the tomb. He learned that Jesus’ death was considered factual for
nearly 1800 years. Then about 200 years ago, a few skeptics postulated that
Jesus didn’t die on the cross, but merely lost consciousness, and was revived
by the cool, damp air of the tomb. This became known as the “swoon theory.”
Morison wondered if Jesus could have survived the cross. He
researched both Jewish and Roman contemporary history and discovered the
following facts supporting Jesus’ death:
• All the accounts affirm he died
• Pilate verified he died
• During the lifetime of the eyewitnesses no one disputes his
death
• Secular and contemporary historians, Lucian, Josephus, and
Tacitus cite his death as factual
Morison became convinced that Jesus was truly dead, a fact almost
universally accepted as true by trusted scholars and historians. Morison
concludes, “That Jesus Christ died on the cross, in the full physical sense of
the term…seems to me to be one of the certainties of history.”
2. Was Jesus’ body stolen?
Morison wondered if the disciples faked the resurrection story by
stealing Jesus’ body, and then claiming he was alive. That might be plausible
if the tomb was in an obscure area where no one would see them.
However, the tomb belonged to a well-known member of the Sanhedrin
Council, Joseph of Arimathea. Since Joseph’s tomb was at a well-known location
and easily identifiable, any thoughts of Jesus being “lost in the graveyard”
would need to be dismissed.
Not only was the location well known, but the Romans had assigned
guards to watch the tomb 24 hours a day. This was a trained guard unit
comprised of four to 16 soldiers. Josh McDowell notes, “The Roman Guard unit
was committed to discipline and they feared failure in any way.” It would have
been impossible for anyone to have slipped by the guards unnoticed and then
move the stone. Yet the stone was rolled away, making it possible for
eyewitnesses to enter the tomb. And when they did, the body of Jesus was missing.
If Jesus’ body was anywhere to be found, his enemies would have
quickly exposed the resurrection as a fraud. Tom Anderson, former president of
the California Trial Lawyers Association, summarizes the strength of this
argument:
“With
an event so well publicized, don’t you think that it’s reasonable that one
historian, one eye witness, one antagonist would record for all time that he
had seen Christ’s body? … The silence of history is deafening when it comes to
the testimony against the resurrection.”
So, with no body of evidence, and with a known tomb clearly empty,
Morison accepted that Jesus’ body had somehow disappeared from the tomb.
3. Were the Disciples Hallucinating?
Morison wondered if the disciples might have been so emotionally
distraught that they hallucinated and imagined Jesus’ resurrection.
Psychologist Gary Collins, former president of the American
Association of Christian Counselors, explains that, “Hallucinations are
individual occurrences. By their very nature, only one person can see a given
hallucination at a time. They certainly aren’t something which can be seen by a
group of people.”
Hallucination is not even a remote possibility, according to
psychologist Thomas J. Thorburn. “It is absolutely inconceivable that … five
hundred persons, of average soundness of mind … should experience all kinds of
sensuous impressions – visual, auditory, tactual – and that all these …
experiences should rest entirely upon … hallucination.”
The hallucination theory, then, appears to be another dead end.
What else could explain away the resurrection?
4. Is it just a Legend?
Some unconvinced skeptics attribute the resurrection story to a
legend that began with one or more persons lying or thinking they saw the
resurrected Jesus. Over time, the legend would have grown and been embellished
as it was passed on. But there are three major problems with that theory:
A. Legends simply don’t develop while multiple eyewitnesses
are alive to refute them. One historian of ancient Rome and Greece, A. N.
Sherwin-White, argued that the resurrection news spread too soon and too
quickly for it to have been a legend. Even skeptical scholars admit that
Christian hymns and creeds were recited in early churches within two to three
years of Jesus’ crucifixion.
B. Legends develop by oral tradition and are not supported
with contemporary historical documents. Yet the Gospels were written within
three decades of the resurrection.
C. The legend theory doesn’t adequately explain either the
empty tomb or the fervent conviction of the apostles that Jesus was alive.
Morison’s original assumption that the resurrection account was
mythical or legendary didn’t coincide with the facts.
5. Did the resurrection really happen?
Having eliminated the main arguments against Jesus’ resurrection
due to their inconsistency with the facts, Morison began asking himself, “did
it really happen?” Instead of looking for evidence against Jesus’ resurrection,
he wondered how strong the case was for its actual occurrence. Several facts
stood out.
Women First
Each eyewitness account reports that Jesus suddenly appeared
bodily to his followers, the women first. Morison wondered why conspirators
would make women central to the plot. In the first century, women had virtually
no rights, personhood, or status. Morison reasoned that conspirators would have
portrayed men, not women, as the first to see Jesus alive. And yet we read that
women touched him, spoke with him, and were the first to find the empty tomb.
Multiple Eyewitnesses
The disciples claim they saw Jesus on more than ten separate
occasions. They say he showed them his hands and feet and told them to touch
him. He ate with them and later, on one occasion, appeared alive to more than
500 followers.
In Caesarea, Peter told a crowd why he and the other disciples
were so convinced Jesus was alive.
“We apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Israel and
in Jerusalem. They put him to death by crucifying him, but God raised him to
life three days later … We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose
from the dead.”
Morison realized that these early sightings of a risen Jesus by
so many of his followers would have been virtually impossible to fake.
Consistent to the End
As Morison continued his investigation, he began to examine the
motives of Jesus’ followers. He reasoned that something extraordinary must have
happened, because the followers of Jesus ceased mourning, ceased hiding, and
began fearlessly proclaiming that they had seen Jesus alive.
As if the eyewitness reports were not enough to challenge
Morison’s skepticism, he was also baffled by the disciples’ behavior. These
eleven former cowards were suddenly willing to suffer humiliation, torture, and
death. All but one of Jesus’ disciples were slain as martyrs. If they had taken
the body, would they have sacrificed so much for a lie? Something happened that
changed everything for these men and women.
It was this significant fact that persuaded Morison the
resurrection must have really happened. He acknowledged, “Whoever comes to this
problem has sooner or later to confront a fact that cannot be explained away …
This fact is that … a profound conviction came to the little group of people –
a change that attests to the fact that Jesus had risen from the grave.”
Professor J. N. D. Anderson and author of “Evidence for the
Resurrection” concurs, “Think of the psychological absurdity of picturing a
little band of defeated cowards cowering in an upper room one day and a few
days later transformed into a company that no persecution could silence – and
then attempting to attribute this dramatic change to nothing more convincing than
a miserable fabrication … That simply wouldn’t make sense.”
Why Did it Win?
Finally, Morison was bewildered by the fact that “a tiny
insignificant movement was able to prevail over the cunning grip of the Jewish
establishment, as well as the might of Rome. He explains,
“Within twenty years, the claim of these Galilean peasants had
disrupted the Jewish church… In less than fifty years it had begun to threaten
the peace of the Roman Empire. When we have said everything that can be said…
we stand confronted with the greatest mystery of all. Why did it win?”
By all rights, if there were no resurrection, Christianity
should have died out at the cross when the disciples fled for their lives. But
the apostles went on to establish a growing Christian movement.
Whatever one believes about the validity of Jesus’ resurrection,
clearly “something happened” after his death that has made a lasting impact on
our world. When world historian H. G. Wells was asked who has left the greatest
legacy on history, the non-Christian scholar replied, “By this test Jesus
stands first.” What is that legacy? Let’s look at just some of Jesus’ impact:
• Time is marked by his birth, B.C.– before Christ; A.D. –
in the year of our Lord
• More books have been written about Jesus than about any
other person
• About 100 great universities were established to spread
his teaching — including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Columbia, and
Oxford
• Jesus’ teaching that all people are created equal laid
the bedrock for human rights and democracy in more than 100 countries
• The high value Jesus placed on each person regardless of
sex or race led his followers to promote the rights of women as well as abolish
slavery
• Humanitarian works such as the Red Cross, World Vision,
Samaritan’s Purse, Mercy Ships and the Salvation Army were founded by his
followers
A Surprise Conclusion
In the book he finally wrote, Who Moved the Stone, Morison
documents the evidence that led him to a belief in the resurrection. Morison is
not alone. Numerous other skeptics who examined the evidence for Jesus’
resurrection, also became convinced and accepted it as the most astounding fact
in all of human history.
Oxford professor and former skeptic C. S. Lewis, who had once
doubted Jesus’ very existence, was also persuaded by the evidence for Jesus’
resurrection. He writes,
“Something perfectly new in the history of the Universe had
happened. Christ had defeated death. The door which had always been locked had
for the very first time been forced open.”
But there is even more. . .
Jesus on Trial
Dr. Simon Greenleaf decided to put Jesus’ resurrection on trial
by examining the evidence. Greenleaf helped Harvard Law School gain widespread
credibility. He also wrote the three-volume legal masterpiece A Treatise on the
Law of Evidence, which has been called the “greatest single authority in the
entire literature of legal procedure.” The U.S. judicial system today still
relies on rules of evidence established by Greenleaf.
Greenleaf wondered if Jesus’ resurrection would hold up in a
court of law. Focusing his brilliant legal mind on the facts of history,
Greenleaf began applying his rules of evidence to the case of Jesus’
resurrection. The more Greenleaf investigated the record of history, the more
evidence he discovered supporting the claim that Jesus had indeed risen from
the tomb.
He documents his case for Jesus’ resurrection in his book,
Testimony of the Evangelists. So, what was that evidence? Greenleaf observed
several dramatic changes that took place shortly after Jesus died, the most
baffling being the behavior of the disciples. He argues, “it would have been
impossible for the disciples to persist with their conviction that Jesus had
risen if they hadn’t actually seen the risen Christ.” Applying his own rules of
evidence to the facts, he accepted the resurrection as the best explanation for
the events that took place immediately following Jesus’ crucifixion.
Many other legal experts, including former Chief Justice of
England, Lord Darling, agree with Greenleaf’s verdict on the case for Jesus’
resurrection. Darling writes,
“There exists such overwhelming evidence…factual and
circumstantial, that no intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in a
verdict that the resurrection story is true.”
So what does Jesus’ resurrection mean to you and me? Prior to
his crucifixion, Jesus explained why his resurrection is so important to us. He
told one of his followers, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who
believes in me will live, even after dying.”
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, his words wouldn’t have any
meaning to our lives. But if his resurrection really happened, then Jesus is
the only one who can answer life’s most important questions:
Who am I?
Why am I here?
Where am I going after I die?
Did Jesus Say What Happens After We Die?
If Jesus really did rise from the dead, then he alone must know
what is on the other side. What did Jesus say about the meaning of life and our
future? Are there many ways to God or did Jesus claim to be the only way? Read
the startling answers in “Why Jesus?”
Why Jesus?
https://jesusonline.com/receive-jesus/relevant-today/unabridged/
Many think that Jesus
Christ wants us to become religious. They think Jesus came to take all the fun
out of life, and give us impossible rules to live by. They are willing to call
him a great leader from the past, but say he is not relevant to their lives
today.
Josh McDowell was a college student who thought Jesus was just
another religious leader who set up impossible rules to live by. He thought
Jesus was totally irrelevant to his life.
Then one day at a student union lunch table McDowell sat next to
a vibrant young coed with a radiant smile. Intrigued, he asked her why she was
so happy. Her immediate reply was, “Jesus Christ!”
Jesus Christ? McDowell bristled, firing
back:
“Oh, for God’s sake, don’t give me that garbage. I’m fed up with
religion; I’m fed up with the church; I’m fed up with the Bible. Don’t give me
that garbage about religion.”
But the unfazed young coed calmly informed him,
“Mister, I didn’t say religion, I said Jesus Christ.”
McDowell was stunned. He had never considered Jesus more than a
religious figure, and didn’t want any part of religious hypocrisy. Yet here was
this joyful Christian woman talking about Jesus as someone who had brought
meaning to her life.
Christ claimed to answer all the deep questions
about our existence. At one time or another, we all question what life is all
about. Have you ever gazed up at the stars on a pitch-black evening and
wondered who put them there? Or have you ever seen a sunset and thought about
life’s biggest questions:
·
“Who am I?”
·
“Why am I here?”
·
“Where am I going after I die?”
Although other philosophers and religious leaders have offered
their answers to the meaning of life, only Jesus Christ proved his credentials
by rising from the dead. Skeptics like McDowell who originally scoffed at Jesus’
resurrection, have discovered that there is compelling evidence that
it really occurred.
Jesus offers life with real meaning. He said that life is much
more than making money, having fun, being successful, and then ending up in a
graveyard. Yet, many people still try to find meaning in fame and success, even
the greatest superstars.
Who is Jesus Christ
What is Jesus Chist?
In Christianity, Jesus is believed to be the Son of God as written in the Bible's New Testament, and in mainstream Christian denominations he is God the Son, the second Person in the Trinity. Christians believe him to be the messiah, or a saviour, (giving him the title Christ) prophesied in the Bible's Old Testament.
Note
Jesus as Son of God ( Matthew 3: 17) :
And a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, 13 with whom I am well pleased."
God the son ( Matthew 3: 17) :
And a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, 13 with whom I am well pleased."
