There Is Proof Of The Resurrection - Soul Choice Ministries

There are four main proofs of the resurrection of Jesus Christ are these:

1. The empty tomb. The tomb was sealed and guarded by Roman soldiers who would lose their life if the body was stolen. You will see proof that it definitely was not stolen.

2. Many eyewitnesses saw Jesus, ate with him, touched him, and spent time with him. The N.T writings were written when most of the eyewitnesses were still living. How do we know Napoleon, or Martin Luther, or George Washington ever lived? It is because of eyewitnesses, and the literature written about them!

The question then becomes; how many and how reliable are the eyewitnesses, and how many copies of literature do we have?

We will look at the literature and manuscripts ahead which also verify his resurrection.

3. After His resurrection, the eleven apostles were transformed from living in fear of the religious leaders to boldly continue His mission even in the face severe persecution and death.

4. The 300 Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by Jesus.

First, there was the empty tomb. Let’s look at what happened. Matthew 28:1-15, “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb…for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it… and the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said…Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.”

The big cover up started the day of his resurrection.

The chief priests knew the tomb was well secured by the guards, as Pilate had said to make it as secure as you can in Matthew 27:65. Roman law was that if a prisoner escaped under their watch, they themselves would be executed. The chief priests and elders who hated Jesus didn’t disagree that the body was missing, and they knew the guards were telling the truth, that the angel said Jesus had risen.

The priests had to lie and create a story that the body was stolen in order to put a stop to the people believing in Jesus.

The second reason for proof of his resurrection is the eyewitnesses. There were over 500 people who saw him.These next verses state that the apostles were eyewitnesses of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Acts 1:3, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days
2 Peter 1:16, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
Acts 2:32, “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.” (Peter preaching)
Acts 10:39-42, And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly,not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead
1 John 1:1-3, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life. For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness
Luke 1:1-3 we were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
1 John 1:1-4, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;

Here are those listed in the Bible who saw Jesus AFTER his death and resurrection:

Mary Magdalene at the tomb (Matt. 28:1)
Mary, the mother of James (Mark 16:1)
Salome (Mark 16:1)
Joanna (Luke 24:10)
Two other women (Matt. 28:8-10)
Peter (Luke 24:34; John 21:7-8)
Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee (John 21:2-3)
The two on the road to Emmaus, one named Cleopas (Mark 16:12; Luke 24:18)
The eleven disciples as they were assembled and the doors were shut (Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-29; Acts 1:3)
Stephen in Acts 7:56, “I see the heavens open, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.”
John in the vision he had in Revelation 4:3; 5:5, long after his resurrection.
Again, the eleven disciples, this time in Galilee on a mountain (Matt. 28:16-20; John 21:1-24)
James and the Apostles (1 Cor. 15:7)
500 others (1 Cor. 15:6)
Those present at his ascension (Mark 16:19, 20; Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:4-12)
Two angels verified what the apostles saw (Acts 1:9-11)

Paul on the road to Damascus had Jesus appear in a bright light and heard him speak and identify Himself saying, “I am Jesus whom thou persecuteth” (Acts 9:1-6; 22:1-10; 26:12-18; 1 Cor. 15:8). It would have taken something as clear as Jesus himself appearing to Paul to convince him, because he was the one hunting Christians down and killing so many. He was their worst enemy, yet he was convinced it was Jesus and turned from his ways and became the most devote of all the followers of Jesus.

A third proof that Jesus rose from the dead is the Apostles boldness and willingness to die for their belief in Jesus. It’s interesting that before Christ’s resurrection, when Jesus was being arrested, they all fled as Mark 14:50 states. Peter denied him three times, and Thomas refused to believe he resurrected. After his death, John 20:19 states, “when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst.” They were seriously afraid of losing their lives, so they were hiding with the doors shut. Yet, after they saw him resurrected, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they became extremely bold in public for his testimony (Matt.20:19; 26:2; Mark 8:31; 10:34; Luke 24:7; John 20:9).

Peter preached to a large crowd, and rebuked the religious leaders saying they were the ones who delivered up, denied, and killed Jesus, and instead, desired a murderer (Barabas) to be released. He said to the high priest, chief priests, elders and rulers, “you killed the Prince of life” (Acts 2:23, 36). That’s pretty bold in front of such a large crown, even where the first crowd there were 3,000 saved, and the second crowd, 5,000 saved.

In addition, why would all but one of the apostles allow themselves to be beaten many times, placed in dungeons, and suffer brutal deaths up to 40 years later, if Jesus never really rose from the dead? Why die if it wasn’t true?

It is true that some people who believe in a false religion or cult might die for a lie but it is because they are deceived and believed the lie. The apostles were the ones who supposedly stole the body and hid it. If that were the case, they would have known they were believing a lie. But they were not deceived. Why would eleven men die for a lie that they knew was a lie, and continue living that lie even 40 years after the event?

Also, Jesus still had the nail holes in his hands and feet, which were visible to the people, and Thomas placed his hand into his side and then was convinced it was Jesus himself.

In addition, the apostles wrote of Jesus’ resurrection as early as 20 years later. Many of the eyewitnesses were still alive at that time and would have refuted their writings if they knew it was all a hoax. They would have been recognized as frauds and Christianity would not have spread as it did so mightily.

Geisler and Turek say in the book, “Jesus On Trial,” by David Limbaugh, pg. 219). “The New Testament writers refer to more than thirty people whose historical existence has been confirmed. Such references would have destroyed their credibility had they included well-known people in fabricated stories.”

People whom the writers of the New Testament named: Pilate, Ananias, Caesar, Festus, Felix, Agrippa and others.

If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then as Paul said in1 Corinthians 15:14-17, “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!”

The preaching of the cross would be of no consequence. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the focal point and foundation of what makes Christianity unique and supernatural.

In Lee Strobel’s book, “A Case for Christianity,” pg. 124 he states that “Gary Habermas in his book, ‘The Historical Jesus,’ lists thirty nine ancient sources outside the Bible that provide more than one hundred facts about Jesus’s life, teachings, death and resurrection.” He also says on pg. 72, “twenty four of the sources cited by Habermas, including seven secular sources and several of the earliest creeds of the Church, specifically concern the divine nature of Jesus.” Seven secular sources!

In the book, “Reliability of the Bible,” pg. 14, John Ankerberg says, “For the New Testament we have over 24,000 manuscripts…dating between only 50 and 300 years after originally written.”

David Limbaugh, in his book, “Jesus on Trial,” pg. 213, states, “Homers Iliad is second to the Bible in the number of existing manuscripts among ancient books. It was written in 900 B.C. Earliest copies were 400 B.C. A 500-year span with a total of only 1800 copies.” Yet the Bible has over 24,000 copies, compared to 1800, and written only 20 to 50 years after his death compared to 500 years. And the Iliad has the most copies, as other important people we believe existed only have 10 copies and many are over 900 years old.

“Evidence Demands A Verdict,” Josh McDowell lists many scholars, historians, and professors, who state that the New Testament is the most reliable and accurate source of history the world has ever seen.

This is also stated in the books, “The Reliability Of The Bible” and “Defending the Faith.”

Here are a few quotes from some scholars:

Dr. F. F. Bruce, former prof. at the University of Manchester, “There is no body of ancient literature in the world which enjoys such a wealth of good textural attestation as the N.T.” The Reliability of the Bible, pg. 14

Sir William Ramsay, “Luke’s history is unsurpassed in respect of its trustworthiness.”

Dr. Clifford Wilson – 17 volumes of archeological information “Those who know the facts now recognize that the NT must be accepted as a remarkably accurate source book.” Pg. 18

“The Bible stands investigation in ways that are unique in all literature. It’s superiority to attack, its capacity to withstand criticism, its amazing facility to be proved right after all, are all staggering by any standards of scholarship.” Pg. 22

Dr. John Warwick Montgomery – Graduated from Cornell Univ. with distinction in philosophy, Phi Beta Kappa, PhD from Univ. of Chicago – a second doctorate in theology from the University of Strasburg, France, and 7 other graduate degrees in theology, law, library science and other fields. Written 40 books, 125 scholarly journals, “I myself have never encountered an alleged contradiction in the Bible which could not be cleared up by the use of original language…or by the use of accepted principles of literary and historical interpretation.”

Simon Greenleaf, Harvard Law school professor wrote, “Testimony of the Evangelist, in which he powerfully demonstrated the reliability of the Gospels.”

Dr. Gleason Archer – PhD – Harvard Graduate School, Bd. from Princeton studied all ancient languages and culture, spoke 15 languages. “Almost every problem in Scripture that has ever been discovered…has been dealt with in a completely satisfactory manner by the biblical text itself, or else by objective archeological information.”

A.N. Sherwin White, the distinguished historian of Rome said, “For the book of Acts the conformation of historicity is overwhelming. Any attempt to reject its basic historicity even in matters of detail must now appear absurd.” Pg. 17

The 4th proof is the biblical prophecies that were fulfilled. There are over 300 prophesies about the life of Jesus, his ministry, the healings and miracles he did, the mocking, scourging, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. These prophecies were written in the Old Testament, some 800 years before his birth. Jesus fulfilled every one of them. No other religion foretells the future. These events foretold were written on three different continents, in three different languages, written by approximately 30 different people, who for the most part didn’t know each other, and lived at different time periods. They all wrote about the coming Savior, and they all coincide with each other, and with no conflicting remarks, events, or occurrences. Only God could orchestrate such perfection.

Dr. Robert Dick Wilson, PhD from Princeton University, wrote, “A Scientific Investigation of the Old Testament.” He spoke 45 languages, could recite the whole New Testament in Hebrew, and most of the Old Testament. He said, “No critic has ever succeeded in proving an error in the Old Testament.” These 300 prophecies were accurate and Jesus fulfilled them all.

Also, another point to consider is that all the attacks on the Bible and Christianity that have taken place would not have occurred if it were not the truth. The burning of Bibles by wicked leaders such as Diocletian, the killing of Christians over the millenniums, and the outlawing of Christianity in many countries is evidence that it is the truth. What other religion has been attacked like this?

If Jesus had not risen, his word would have passed away yet the Bible has sold billions of copies in spite of all the evil dictators over the centuries burning and destroying Bibles. Jesus said, Luke 21:33, “Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will by no means pass away.”

If you still believe it was all a lie, then you are rejecting established fact. You simply don’t want to know the truth and are willfully pushing it away. 1 Corinthians 3:18, warns us not to deceive ourselves.

Be cognizant of the fact that you will give an account of your rejection of Jesus Christ on Judgment Day. You will have no excuse. Will you still be so arrogant then?