Did Jesus Rise from The Dead?

This is one of the most important questions of all of history. If Jesus arose from the dead, then what he said about himself is true. If he did not arise from the dead, then what he said about himself is not true. Jesus claimed to be the only way to God (John 14:6). He claimed to be able to forgive sins (Luke 5:20). He also claimed to be divine (John 8:24; 8:58 with Exodus 3:14). Therefore, his extraordinary claims are tied to his resurrection.

Of course, it is one thing to “say” that Jesus arose from the dead, it is another thing to prove it. But the problem is we cannot prove that he rose from the dead. The reason is because the documents that describe him are 2000 years old. At best, all we can do is look at those documents to determine if they are reliable and accurate. If they are, then we simply need to look at what they say to see if they support his resurrection or not. It is then up to the individual to accept or reject the claims that are presented.

This becomes an important issue because a person’s presuppositions will govern how he interprets the data. If a person presupposes that God does not exist, or that miracles cannot happen, then it would be virtually impossible to convince such a person that the resurrection occurred. On the other hand if a person presupposes that there is a God and that miracles can happen, then it would be easier to convince a person that the resurrection of Jesus happened. So, what are your presuppositions? Do your presuppositions allow you to look objectively at the evidence in order to make an “unbiased” conclusion about it?

The New Testament is reliable

First of all, the New Testament documents have a greater reliability to them than any other set of ancient documents in existence. The New Testament documents are 99.5% textually pure. This means that there is less than 1/2 of 1% of all the 26,000 copies we have of the various documents included in the New Testament. Added to this the incredible redundancy of copies, and their almost 100 percent agreement, and we can easily conclude that the transmission of the documents to us has been extremely reliable. If anyone wants to dismiss the New Testament documents by saying that they are corrupted, then they must also throw out all other ancient documents including those of the writings of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, and many others, etc., because none of them come close to approaching the number of manuscripts in existence nor the reliability, nor the accuracy of the copies that exists in the New Testament documents.

Second, since the documents are reliable then what we must do is look at them to determine whether or not the content supports the resurrection of Jesus. At this point, it becomes very easy to demonstrate this since the Bible definitely teaches that Jesus rose from the dead. There are many scriptures that teach Jesus’ resurrection.  Following are three of them.

• Luke 24:56, “and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? 6 “He is not here, but He has risen…”
• John 2:19-21, “Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”²⁰The Jews therefore said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”²¹But He was speaking of the temple of His body. ²²When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had spoken.”
• 1 Cor. 15:3-4, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Did Jesus rise from the dead?  According to the Bible, yes He did.

The seven last words of Jesus Christ on the cross are a collection of seven short phrases Jesus uttered at his crucifixion immediately before he died, gathered from the four Gospels. The sayings were short and there is a reason behind that. Crucifixion causes asphyxia. This makes inhaling air to speak difficult and painful, especially as death approaches.

Seven Last Words of Jesus Christ

1. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Almighty God, to whom your crucified Son prayed for the forgiveness of those who did not know what they were doing, grant that we, too, may be included in that prayer. Whether we sin out of ignorance or intention, be merciful to us and grant us your acceptance and peace: in the name of Jesus Christ, our suffering Savior. Amen.

2. “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

O Lord Jesus Christ, who promised to the repentant the joy of paradise, enable us by the Holy Spirit to repent and to receive your grace in this world and in the world to come. Amen.

3. “Woman, behold your son . . . Behold your mother.”

O Blessed Savior, who in your hour of greatest suffering expressed compassion for your mother and made arrangements for her care, grant that we who seek to follow your example may show our concern for the needs of others, reaching out to provide for those who suffer in our human family. Hear this our prayer for your mercy’s sake. Amen.

4. Eli Eli lama sabachthani? (“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”)

O Lord, I call for help by day, and in the night I still must cry. Regard me, listen to my prayer.My soul is troubled, I am weak, cut off as one whom you forsake, forgotten near the pit of death.Your wrath weighs heavy on me here. Your angry waves upon me break. Friends watch in horror from afar.I am shut in without escape. My eyes are dim because I weep. My hands are lifted up to you.

Do you work wonders for the dead? Can graves tell out your mighty deeds? There, who can know that you can save?Lord, do not hide your face from me. You have afflicted me from youth. Your anger is destroying me.Your flood of anger closes in. The darkness is my closest friend—shunned and forsaken, all alone. (PsH 88:1-7)

5. “I thirst”

O blessed Savior, whose lips were dry and whose throat was parched, grant us the water of life that we who thirst after righteousness may find it quenched by your love and mercy, leading us to bring this same relief to others. Amen.

6. “It is finished”

O Lord Jesus Christ, who finished the work that you were sent to do, enable us by your Holy Spirit to be faithful to our call. Grant us strength to bear our crosses and endure our sufferings, even unto death. Enable us to live and love so faithfully that we also become good news to the world, joining your witness, O Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

7. “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

Father, into whose hands your Son Jesus Christ commended his spirit, grant that we, too, following his example, may in all of life and at the moment of our death entrust our lives into your faithful hands of love. In the name of Jesus who gave his life for us all. Amen.

These precious last seven words of Christ on the Cross must remain in our minds even after Good Friday. Amen.

Make room … in your hearts.  – 2 Corinthians 7:2
Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. – Luke 2: 19

I was away, out of town, and went to a local church to worship. Towards the beginning of the service, a family came up. It was explained they had a tradition there of lighting an advent candle each week before Christmas, as a reminder to check and make sure that Christ has a place in our heart.

The little boy stood by his dad, who lit a long match and handed it to his wife, who lit the advent candle. She lit it once, and the flame went out. She lit it again, and once more it went out. The third time she lit it, the flame flickered but did not go out.

It was a good reminder to me to do a room check. Am I am making a place for Christ in my heart?

I would have to admit that I do have room in my heart, however sometimes I have other things in that room – especially now at this busy season of the year. The room gets crowded. It gets to be time to re-evaluate my priorities.

Whenever I see candles burning this season – or anytime of the year – I hope I’m once again reminded to check and make sure there is room in my heart for Christ.

- – - written by Sally I. Kennedy.

About the Author : Sally is the author of Irish Thursdays: More Little Parables, Words from the Heart, and 52 Little Parables from Ireland . She lives in south Florida, with her husband Ben.