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EVIDENCE FOR FAITH
Bible Correspondence Course
Lesson 10: Jesus’ Resurrection
By Alan Jones and Kevin Sulc
In our last lesson, we examined a
sampling of the many predictions made
concerning the Messiah that were fulfilled
by Jesus of Nazareth. One of those
predictions was that the Messiah would
“prolong His days” after being crushed for
man’s sins (Isa 53:10). Jesus Himself
predicted that He would rise again on the
third day (Mt 12:38-40; 16:21; 20:18-19).
The resurrection was one of the
major arguments used to convert people to
Jesus, beginning with the very first sermon
(see Acts 2:22-37). Paul affirmed that
Jesus was declared to be the Son of God
with power by His resurrection (Rom 1:4).
But, what evidence is there that
Jesus arose from the grave? Is He the Son
of God or a fraud? Luke, in his history of
the beginning of Christianity, stated that
there are “many convincing proofs” that
support the truthfulness of Jesus’
resurrection (Acts 1:3).
In previous lessons, we established
that the Bible is historically reliable. Let
us examine for ourselves the “many
convincing proofs” it offers that Jesus is
alive to see if they are enough to persuade
us that He is risen and is the Son of God.
Jesus’ Death and Burial
Death by crucifixion- Before a resurrection can be proven, it must first be
established that a death occurred. Crucifixion was the common form of execution
in Roman times. It was rare for anyone to
escape with their lives, even if they were
left on the cross only for a short time. In
Jesus’ case, the fact of death is undisputed
by those who watched His great suffering.
John said that he witnessed the soldiers
refrain from breaking Jesus’ legs to hasten
His death because He was dead already
(John 19:31-35). Pilate inquired of the
centurion in charge of the crucifixion
because he was surprised to hear that Jesus
had died so soon.
The centurion
confirmed Jesus’ death (Mark 15:44-45).
Even Jesus’ enemies acknowledged His
death when they said to Pilate, “when the
deceiver was alive…” (Matthew 27:63).
The Burial- The body of Jesus was laid in
a new tomb. (John 19:38-42) It was
common to bury up to eight people in a
tomb, but no one had been laid in this
tomb yet. There could be no confusion
about the number of bodies in the tombeither Jesus’ body was there or it was not.
The tomb was located in a garden at the
site where Jesus was crucified. There was
no long transport of the body in which to
carry out any deception. The tomb was
also hewn out of a rock and so had one
way in and one way out (Matthew 27:60).
It was not a cave with secret entrances for
someone to enter so that they could steal
Jesus’ body. The method of burial (a
hundred pounds of spices and linen
wrappings- John 19:38-40) was such that
Jesus, even if He were alive when taken to
the tomb, would not have been unable to
unwrap Himself. Finally, the tomb was
sealed with a large stone that three women
could not move by themselves (Mark
15:46; 16:3-4).
Again, if Jesus had
somehow survived the crucifixion, He
would have been much too weak to move
the stone Himself and then announce a
“resurrection”.
Security- At the request of the Jewish
leaders, Pilate placed a Roman guard at
the tomb to keep Jesus’ disciples from
stealing His body and then perpetrating the
hoax of resurrection (Matthew 27:62-65).
Since Roman guards faced the death
penalty for failing to do their duty (see
Acts 12:19; Matthew 28:14), they would
be vigilant in manning their post. Also, a
cord was stretched across the stone,
sealing it, making any tampering with the
grave obvious as well as punishable by
Roman law (Matthew 27:66). The actions
taken by the Romans to prevent a fake
resurrection, actually help us to believe
that a genuine resurrection happenedbecause despite them, soon the tomb was
empty!
Evidences For the Resurrection
The Empty Tomb- When Peter and John
heard from Mary Magdalene that the tomb
was empty, they ran to investigate (John
20:1-8; Luke 24:12). They made a careful
survey of the tomb and were able to testify
about what they saw: linen clothes in one
place and the face cloth in another, but no
body to be found! Not only did the
disciples claim the tomb was empty, but
both the Jewish leaders and the Roman
guards admit this fact by the story they
concocted to explain the empty tomb
(Matthew 28:1-15). What a story it was!
How believable are witnesses who tell
what happened while they were asleep?
How could the disciples move the stone
without waking up the guards? Why
would the disciples try to steal the body?
They were afraid (Mathew 26:56) and did
not even expect Jesus to rise (John 20:9).
Eyewitness Testimony- Luke states that
Jesus showed Himself alive over a forty
day period following the resurrection
(Acts 1:3). Here is a brief summary of
His appearances:
1. Several women (Matthew 28:9-10)
2. Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:19, John
20:12-17)
3. Peter (Luke 24:34)
4. Two disciples on the road to Emmaus
(Mark 16:12-13, Luke 24:13-32)
5. Ten apostles (Thomas absent; Luke
24:36-49; John 20:19-23)
6. All eleven apostles (Mark 16:14-18;
John 20:26-31)
7. Seven disciples at the Sea of Galilee
(John 21)
8. The 11 at a mountain in Galilee
(Matthew 28:16-20)
9. 500+ disciples (1 Corinthians 15:6)
10. James (1 Corinthians 15:7)
11. The 11 at the ascension (Mark 16:1920; Luke 24:50-55, Acts 1)
12. Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9, 1 Corinthians
15:8)
Jesus appeared enough times to
enough people to convince us that He conquered death. If each of these eyewitnesses was given just six minutes to testify, we would hear over 50 hours of
testimony! As you read the above accounts, note the proofs that He was in the
flesh and He was the same person they
knew and loved. His voice and miracles
were recognized. His crucified body was
seen and touched. He ate fish and bread.
Other Evidences- Fifty days after the
death of Jesus, on the day of Pentecost, the
apostles began preaching the resurrection
right there in Jerusalem where the body of
Jesus had been buried (Acts 2). Three
thousand were converted. How could this
be, if the resurrection was a hoax?
The Jewish leaders never did
produce the body of Jesus to silence the
preaching of the Christians. All they did
(and apparently could do) to try to stop
them was beat, threaten, and kill (Acts
5:40; 7:59-60). If Jesus’ enemies could
not disprove the resurrection, who can?
And what about the changed
lives?
As noted above, thousands of
Jews left Judaism. Jesus’ own brothers
were not believers (John 7:5), but became
believers (Acts 1:14). The apostles deserted Jesus at His arrest, but suddenly
were willing to suffer and to die for Him.
And, Saul of Tarsus changed from the
leading persecutor of Christians to one of
Christ’s leading spokesmen. What could
possibly explain these changes besides
Jesus actually being raised from the dead?
Conclusion
The resurrection is the keystone of
Christianity because it is the ultimate
proof that Jesus is the Son of God
(Romans 1:4) Thomas saw and believed.
He exclaimed, “My Lord and my God.”
Jesus said, “Blessed are they who did not
see, and yet believed.” (John 20:28-29).
What do you think about the “many
convincing proofs”? What is your verdict?
Are you convinced that Jesus rose from
the dead? Is He your Lord and your God?
Questions for Lesson Ten:
Name: ____________________________
True or False?
(Answer after reading the Scriptures in the lesson)
_____ 1. Jesus’ resurrection is one of the key
arguments for Christianity.
_____ 2. Even if Jesus did not resurrect, He is still
the Son of God.
_____ 3. The Bible is a reliable source of evidence
for Jesus’ resurrection.
_____ 4. The evidence shows that maybe Jesus just
went unconscious and later revived.
_____ 5. Since Jesus was laid in a new tomb, there
is no doubt about whether or not His body
was in the tomb.
_____ 6. Since Jesus’ tomb was hewn out of a
rock, the disciples could have entered
through a secret entrance and stolen
the body.
_____ 7.The Jewish leaders, by their insistence that
Jesus’ tomb be guarded and sealed
actually took steps that make the
resurrection more believable.
_____ 8. Peter and John immediately believed
Mary Magdalene’s story about the empty
tomb.
_____ 9. The Jewish leaders did not believe the
Roman soldiers when they told them what
had happened at the tomb.
_____10. There is very little eyewitness testimony
supporting Jesus’ resurrection.
_____11. Jesus always showed Himself to one
person at a time, so His appearances are
hard to confirm.
_____ 12. The disciples never could tell if Jesus
was a ghost or was in the flesh.
_____ 13. Jesus’ body, voice, and mannerisms
made him clearly recognizable to those
He appeared to.
_____ 14. Jesus did miracles after His resurrection
similar to what He did before His death.
_____ 15. The evidence shows that the witnesses
to the resurrection just hallucinated.
_____ 16. The first preaching of the resurrection
was done far from Jesus’ tomb.
_____ 17. The treatment that the Jewish leaders
gave the Christians to stop their
preaching is evidence for the
empty tomb.
_____ 18. It is reasonable to believe that thousands
were willing to commit their lives, even
to the point of suffering and death, to a
cause they knew was a lie or a hoax.
_____ 19. It is reasonable to believe the disciples
stole the body while the guards slept.
_____ 20. The disciples understood that Jesus
would rise from the dead before
it happened.
_____21. Both money and political influence had
to be promised to the guards before they
agreed to tell the “stolen body” story.
_____22. Saul’s sudden conversion makes sense if
he did not see Jesus on the road to
Damascus.
_____ 23. Jesus’ resurrection by itself is enough
proof that He is the Son of God.
_____ 24. Faith in Jesus comes from the evidence
we read in the Scriptures.
_____ 25. Jesus is your Lord and God.