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It is widely accepted and documented throughout history that Jesus lived, taught and ministered in and throughout the areas of Galilee and Judea, and died by crucifixion in Jerusalem at the hands of the roman authorities at that time. Those facts aren’t controversial in history but are documented by valid Christian and non-Christian authors. However, the question of whether Jesus rose from the dead on the third day as the gospels claim is the difference between those that believe in Jesus as the Christ and those that believe he was just another man in the annals of history.

Scripture proclaims in 1 Peter 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” It is a strong statement of victory and alive hope for believers everywhere because of the recorded resurrection of Jesus in the gospels. 1 Corinthians 15:14 pins the believers hopes on the resurrection as the reason to have confidence as it states, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”

These passages and the gospel we preach as Christians is dependent upon the resurrected Jesus. So, the great question is, did Jesus rise again out of that tomb of death on the third day? More clearly, is this a dead religion or a living hope that we have in Jesus?

A quick google search will offer for you five top anti-resurrection theories to explain away Christian’s proclamation of a risen Jesus. Here they are:

  1. STOLEN BODY THEORY

This theory suggests that Jesus' disciples or others stole the body from the tomb, claiming he had risen to create the resurrection narrative. 

  1. SWOON THEORY

This theory suggest that Jesus did not die on the cross but fainted or swooned, and later recovered in the tomb, leading to the false impression of a resurrection. 

  1. MISTAKEN IDENTITY THEORY

This theory suggests that someone else was crucified in place of Jesus, and the disciples were mistaken in their belief that they saw Jesus. 

  1. WRONG TOMB THEORY

This theory suggests that the women who went to the tomb went to the wrong one, leading to the belief that Jesus had risen. 

  1. HALLUNCINATION THEORY

This theory suggests that the disciples experienced mass hallucinations or visions, leading them to believe they saw the risen Jesus. 

Again, google summarizes our Christian view simply in this way.

THE TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN VIEW:

The traditional Christian view is that Jesus was resurrected, and the tomb was found empty, as a physical manifestation of his victory over death. 

 

Of course, the traditional Christian view is in stark contrast to these theories so we must ask ourselves the question, where will our faith lie?

Let’s look at the evidence the bible shows us that help build the basis of our beliefs but ultimately still always ends with a choice of where you will place your faith. Because we are not merely asked to ascribe to a certain belief as Christians but to place our faith in Jesus.

Here’s some simple biblical evidence of the resurrection as recorded from Lukes’s gospel roughly 2,000 years ago.

SIMPLE BIBLICAL EVIDENCE OF THE RESURRECTION:

  1. SPICES INSTEAD OF STREAMERS

Luke 24:1 records the events of the morning of the resurrection which states,

“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.” It is clear from this passage that the women that went to the tomb were expecting a dead Jesus. They didn’t go to the tomb with streamers and dancing, they went to the tomb with mourning and spices to anoint Jesus’s dead body in a sign of love and respect to him as a was the custom at that time. If this had been a made-up story that the disciples had conspired to create then why were they doubting the words of their saviour Jesus that he would rise on the third day? By this inclusion, it acknowledges even the disciples doubted and thought they had a dead saviour and a dead hope. It’s also important to note there is no recoded survivors anywhere in history of a roman crucifixion.

  1. STONE ROLLED AWAY

It goes on to say in Luke 24:2, “They found the stone rolled away from the tomb”. Remembering this large stone was placed over the entrance of the tomb and also guarded by Roman soldiers because of the fear that someone would steal Jesus’s body and claim he rose from the dead. This is a big development for a tomb that had the stone sealed with a roman seal and guarded by highly trained roman guards. Mark 16:3 records the women wondering as they walked towards the tomb, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?". This is clearly a shocking development in the accounts when they find the stone rolled away.

  1. SAVIOUR MISSING

In Luke 24:3 it is recorded when the women enter the tomb of Jesus, “but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.”. This is a problem for every critic of the resurrection. The simplest way to disprove the resurrection of Jesus is to reveal his dead body. What is even more confirming of the resurrection is that Jesus’s disciples went on to proclaim and preach the resurrected Jesus in that same area in Jerusalem weeks later. If this was a hoax or a lie surely it could have been easily quashed and disproven by the people that lived in Jerusalem at that time by simply taking people to the tomb and showing people, the dead Jesus. We know that all bar one of Jesus’s disciples never denied the resurrection of Jesus and later went on to be martyred for it. It’s very unlikely they would have all given their life to preaching for and then dying for a fabricated story.

  1. SUPERNATURAL CONFIRMATION

Luke 24:4-6 records, “While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen!”

There is a supernatural proclamation by angels recorded in this story that explain this event not as a mystery but as a miracle. If there was not a supernatural provision to properly explain this then I’m sure there would be many unanswered questions but there is in this account.

  1. SAID HE WOULD DO IT

Luke 24:6-8 goes unto add, “Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.” This is an important point of evidence because when someone says they are going to die and rise again on the third day and then their body is missing, and angels proclaim his resurrection then that is a big problem for sceptics of Jesus. Essentially, the angels remind the women in this passage that he said he would do it and he has now done it.

  1. SHARED BY WOMEN

Another important factor is hidden in Luke 24:9-10, “9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.” Women were not seen as equal to men at that time in history, they were not as educated as men and were not seen as reliable witnesses at that time. If this story is fabricated it is puzzling why the disciples would use women witnesses in this story as that would have been widely dismissed by others. This would have made their testimony of this event harder in that society had it not been the true and verified way in which they resurrection of Jesus was first proclaimed to the disciples by women. As a side note, I love how Jesus has a history of elevating the downtrodden and using them to proclaim important news like the women proclaim the resurrection and shepherds proclaiming the birth of Jesus.

  1. SEEMED LIKE NONSENSE

Finally in Luke 24:11-12 it states about the disciple’s response to the women, “But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.” Why would the disciples include an embarrassing and humbling detail that even they didn’t believe the resurrection initially if this was a made-up story. Surely, they would have added that they expected this outcome because of the clear teaching of Jesus that he would do this and then when this news was proclaimed by the women that they would celebrate and welcome the news. However, this humiliating detail is included in the gospels which further points to the validity of the account.

 

We know that the gospels record that Jesus goes onto meet the disciples in person and meet with over 500 other believers in the days afterwards. He then ascends to heaven with a command to go and spread this message across the world and make disciples. His disciples go onto live a life dedicated to this message and die a martyr’s death for it. Billions of people throughout history have since believed this message and accepted Jesus as their God and saviour.

There is no middle ground with Jesus. You can believe the resurrection is true or you can believe it isn’t. I love how C.S Lewis puts it, “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

There is a lot of evidence but ultimately the choice is there for every person to answer. Regarding the resurrection of Jesus, where will you place your faith?

For me, my response is found in 1 Peter 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”