“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.” John 20:1. “Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.” John 20:11-12.
Then Mary turned and saw Jesus standing behind her. He instructed her, “Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” John 20:17. Jesus had resurrected three days after being crucified just as he claimed he would. He would go on to appear before over five hundred people before his ascension to heaven.
Without the resurrection, Christianity doesn’t have any substance. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14-19, “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
The Pharisees were acutely aware that Jesus’s resurrection would mean that he was indeed who he claimed to be and so they petitioned Pilate to have his tomb guarded by Roman soldiers (Mathew 27:62 – Mathew 28:15). It is highly unlikely that the disciples would have been able to overcome the soldiers who guarded the tomb since Roman soldiers were well trained and the penalty for letting a prisoner escape was death, hence, they would have been very motivated adversaries. The disciples on the other hand were fisherman for the most part, disorganized and cowardly. Furthermore, they had dispersed after Jesus was arrested and fled in fear. They also didn’t have the money that would have been required to bribe the guards since that had already been done by the Pharisees.
After the resurrection, the Pharisees made a concerted effort to quiet the news about Jesus and persecuted those who followed Christ, however their assault on the early Church could not quell the truth. A Pharisee named Saul was traveling to Damascus to arrest Christians there, when suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. “He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’ The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anything.” Acts 9:4-9.
Saul was an educated man. Born a Roman citizen, he was raised in the Greek culture of Tarsus and educated in Jerusalem, where he studied the Jewish scriptures and religious law under the distinguished rabbi Gamaliel “the Elder” who was a member of the Sanhedrin (Acts 22:3). His father was a Pharisee and Saul’s ancestry was Jewish from the tribe of Benjamin. He was a respected Pharisee and power and position were his, if he continued on his path within the religious hierarchy. He had plenty to gain by denying Jesus.
Yet his encounter on the road to Damascus changed his life forever. Saul became Paul, perhaps the greatest apostle of Christ to ever live. He baffled the Jews by proving that Jesus was the Messiah and wrote over half of the New Testament. Paul’s writings predate the gospels and many scholars place them within the first decade after the crucifixion. He endured many hardships including prison and finally death for his belief in the risen Christ. He was beheaded in AD 65, only 30 years after Christ was crucified.
The disciples went from cowardly and scattering when Jesus was arrested, to bold after seeing him after he rose. They were convincing enough that the church grew rapidly, even converting 3,000 people in one day (Acts 2:41). They were so committed in their belief of the risen Christ that most endured torture and died for it. It is difficult to believe that someone would endure torture and execution for something they believe. It is incomprehensible that someone would tolerate it for a lie.
The reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ has impacted humanity more than any other event in history. Those who attempt to diminish his historicity overlook the non-biblical sources that mention him. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (Jewish Antiquities) and Roman historian Tacitus (Annals of Imperial Rome) both mention the existence of Jesus as a historical figure that was crucified by Pontius Pilate and neither are sympathetic to his cause. There are several other non-biblical accounts about Christians that may not directly mention Jesus however, none of them consider that he was made up.
Yeshua Hamashiach, the Messiah, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The humble and gentle Jesus of Nazareth who was obedient to death – even death on a cross! “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11.
When Christ ascended into heaven, he was taken up in a cloud and the disciples watched him go. “They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking up into the sky?’ This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:10-11. He is preparing a place for us in the Father’s house. Know in your heart that he is coming soon.
