Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?

If you have been around a church at any point of time, then you probably have heard of Easter. To some, Easter is one of two times when churches go all out with their marketing campaigns, urging any and every person in town to attend one gathering on this holy day. To others, Easter is a celebration of the most significant event in human history: the resurrection of Jesus after His death on the cross. As you can see, there is a great difference in how people may view Easter. So, which view of Easter is right? Is this just a fictitious, Christian holiday? Or, did Jesus of Nazareth really rise from the dead? Did the resurrection actually happen? And most importantly, if the resurrection happened, why does it matter?

Did the resurrection actually happen?

I will be the first person to admit that the idea of a resurrection is not normal based on my own experience attending funerals and the experience of others during funerals. Dead people do not simply rise from their caskets or graves. Yet, Christians for the last 2000 years have held to the extraordinary claim that Jesus of Nazareth came back to life after He died on the cross. (If you have never taken a moment to really think about the absurdity of the resurrection of Jesus, please do so at this point).

While considering the great unlikelihood of a resurrection, I am going to argue that Jesus rose from the grave. My argument will not be based on faith or belief or hope or wishful thinking. Rather, it will be based on “evidence”.

Before I continue, a word to the skeptics who might say that trying to prove the resurrection is very difficult because you would need to show strong scientific evidence that miracles are possible. To this claim, I appeal to the reality that I do not need to prove the possibility of miracles to prove the resurrection occurred. I simply need to establish two things: 1) Jesus died on the cross; and 2) Jesus was said to have been seen after His death. After all, this would be the burden of proof for me to tell you of a resurrection occurring today.

Now, to the first element in proving the Resurrection: Did Jesus die on the cross? 

This may seem like an elementary question to many Christians because it is assumed knowledge in Christian circles around the world. But would you believe me if I told you the followers (1 billion+ people) of the world’s second largest religion, Islam, did not believe Jesus died on the cross? You see, Muslims believe that because Jesus was Allah’s prophet, He would not be allowed to suffer such an excruciating death. So Muslims pose two alternatives to the death of Jesus: Jesus passed out on the cross; or, it was not really Jesus on the cross. 

The latter claim is quickly dismissed due to the amount of people around the cross who knew Jesus intimately. These people include His mother, Mary, and various disciples and friends. We can be sure beyond reasonable doubt that it really was Jesus on the cross.

However, the first claim is a little more nuanced. Did Jesus pass out on the cross? After all, without the death of Jesus, there cannot be the resurrection of Jesus. So, how can we be certain that Jesus died on the cross?

First, you must understand the nature of a Roman crucifixion. The torturous event of a crucifixion did not begin on the cross--it began with a public flogging with whips made of leather, bone, metal, and glass. When a prisoner was flogged with a whip, their flesh was ripped apart, causing blood to pour from the body. Sometimes, the organs would spill out of a prisoner’s body because of the intensity of the beating. Needless to say, massive blood loss occurred well before the cross (some prisoners even died during the flogging alone).

After the flogging, the prisoner would be nailed to a cross where they would be forced to push themselves up every time they wanted to take a breath. With each breath, the shredded flesh on their back would scrape against the wood of the cross deepening the preexisting wounds. Eventually, the prisoners would become so exhausted that they would not be able to push themselves up to breathe. This would result in their death by asphyxiation.

The Romans were professional killers, and they were very good at their job. They ensured that each and every prisoner sentenced to death was dead because failure to do so could result in their own death if they allowed a prisoner to escape. Therefore, the Romans developed a surefire way to expedite the death of each crucifixion victim by breaking their legs below the knee. After the legs were broken, a prisoner would not be able to push themselves up to take another breath, and death would occur soon afterward. This method is seen in the Gospels as the Roman soldiers broke the legs of the two prisoners crucified with Jesus. However, when they looked at Jesus, they did not break His legs because He was already dead. So, they did something different...which leads me to my next point.

Second, blood and water poured from Jesus’ side. When the Roman soldiers saw Jesus was dead, they checked to make sure by stabbing his side with a spear, piercing His lungs and heart. As they did, blood and water poured out which is exactly what medical experts have said would happen when a person died by crucifixion. (Further reading see here On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ (godandscience.org)) 

Now that we have established Jesus died on the cross, we can move to the resurrection. Dr. Gary Habermas (professor at Liberty University) has written much about the resurrection of Jesus, so I will borrow some of his thoughts in this section as we examine this incredible event. 

Did Jesus rise from the dead? What does the evidence say?

First, when we look at the evidence we find that Jesus’ disciples believed they had seen him after his death. This statement is verified by the Gospel accounts and contemporary historians of that era namely, Josephus. It is popular understanding the disciples believed they saw Jesus post-crucifixion.

Second, we see the disciples proclaim Jesus’ resurrection within months of the crucifixion. One of the earliest accounts of this is the book of Acts. The first mass proclamation of the resurrected Jesus is found in Acts 2 during the Day of Pentecost which was 50 days after Jesus’ crucifixion. If the disciples were making up the story, why proclaim such an unbelievable thing when everyone who saw Jesus crucified was still alive? We would expect them to fabricate this story decades later if they were lying.

Third, we see the disciples are transformed by and died for their belief in the resurrected Jesus. Something was different about the disciples when compared to the rest of the population. They lived differently, sharing all things (Acts 2). Furthermore, the disciples died as martyrs believing Jesus rose from the dead. Many people will die for a lie they believe is true. No one would die for a lie they know is a lie. So, if the disciples (who started the resurrection story) knew the story was not true, why die for it?

Lastly, we see the conversion of devout Jews to Christianity. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, why do we see many devout Jews leaving the tradition of their fathers to believe in the resurrected Jesus? In this light, the most notable conversion story in history is Saul of Tarsus. Saul was a persecutor and killer of Christians (Acts 8-9); but after an encounter with the resurrected Jesus, he became one of the greatest Christian missionaries in all of history. The only possible explanation for this change in his life is the reality of the resurrected Jesus. 

By no means is this an exhaustive list of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, but I believe it shares enough to make a strong case to reasonably believe the resurrection happened. If you disagree because you do not believe the New Testament is reliable, we can discuss that in a different post.

So what? Does the resurrection even matter?

If the resurrection of Jesus never happened, then the non-Christians among us are right to view Easter as a big marketing campaign because it really has no impact on the lives of those who already do not believe the Christian message. After all, a man died and stayed dead--this happens all the time. 

For Christians, if the resurrection never happened, the words of Paul come to my mind, “For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:16-19).

However, as the evidence suggests, the resurrection of Jesus did happen. For the non-Christians among us, this should be a time for reflection and consideration of the Christian message: There is forgiveness of sins and a new life in Jesus. God is sinless and perfect. We are sinful and imperfect people, yet God loves us so much to offer us forgiveness of our wrongdoings if we turn away from our sins and place our faith in Jesus. We become part of a new family, adopted sons of daughters of God, and heirs of the Kingdom that is to come. 

For the Christians reading this, we can rest assured knowing that our faith is not based on a fairytale. The man Jesus lived and died and rose again. We should have joy and hope because we are not still in our sins! Our sin is gone; we are righteous before God. We are part of His family and will inherit the Kingdom of our Lord.