The doctrine of the resurrection of Christ is not merely one of the many tenets of the Christian faith. Without the resurrection, Christ’s death on the cross would have been void of meaning and there would be no Christian religion today.
Belief in the resurrection of Christ is essential for our salvation (Rom. 10:9). His resurrection is the basis of our justification (Rom. 4:25). Whenever the apostles preached the gospel they brought in the fact of the resurrection (Acts 2:24,32; 3:15; 4:10; 10:40; 13:30; 17:31). The resurrection was also a proof that Jesus Christ was indeed who He claimed to be, namely, the co-equal Son of God (Matt. 27:54). Furthermore, if Christ had not risen from the dead:(1) our faith would be in vain (1 Cor. 15:14); (2) we would still be in our sins (15:17); (3) there would be no resurrection of the dead (15:12,20); (4) we could not have the promise of His coming again for us (John 14:1-3); (5) the Holy Spirit would not have come down (John 7:39; Acts 2:33); (6) there would be no Church (Eph. 1:20-22; Col. 1:18).
Since the resurrection of Christ is so central to the Christian faith, it is important that each believer have a clear understanding of the evidences for the resurrection. This is because Satan would like nothing better than to shake our faith in the resurrection of Christ. Satan has many human servants_some even in the guise of Christian ministers and leaders_who are active in spreading doubts in people’s minds as to the reality of Christ’s resurrection. A number of false theories as to the resurrection have been propounded in order to relieve people of their obligation to place their faith in Christ, or else to relieve them of any guilt feelings or anxiety for not having accepted Christ as Saviour and Lord. Therefore, both to strengthen ourselves against this satanic propaganda as well as to enable us to help bring the truth to others caught up in it, we do well to refresh our minds as to the scriptural evidences for the resurrection of Christ.
First we will consider ten important scriptural facts relating to the resurrection of Christ. Then, in a later issue, we will discuss four false theories concerning the resurrection and how these can be thoroughly refuted by Scripture.
Ten Facts Relating to the Resurrection of Christ
1. Jesus prophesied His own resurrection. The frequent statements by Jesus that He was going to die were not remarkable. However, He never predicted His death without also speaking of being raised again; and in most cases He specifically claimed that He would rise the third day (Matt. 12:38-40; 16:21; 17:9; 17:23; 20:17-19; 26:32; 27:63; John 2:18-22). By making such predictions Jesus laid Himself wide open:if His predictions about His death and resurrection had not come to pass either He would have been quickly forgotten about or He would have gone down in history as a fool and deluded person, not as a great teacher.
2. He was pronounced dead. "When [the soldiers] came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs" (John 19:33). But in case there had been any mistaking that Jesus was truly dead, "one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water" (19:34). Several hours later Pilate gave the body to Joseph of Arimathea for burial after receiving confirmation from the centurion that Jesus had been dead for some while (Mark 15:43-45).
3. He was wrapped in cloth with spices. Nicodemus brought a hundred litra (equaling about 70 pounds avoirdupois) mixture of myrrh and aloes, and he and Joseph took "the body of Jesus and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury" (John 19:39-40). The spices were wrapped up in the various layers of cloth that were wound about the body.
4. The tomb was sealed. It is notable that the chief priests and Pharisees gave more credence to Jesus’ predictions than did the disciples. They went to Pilate, saying, "We remember that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead. … So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch" (Matt. 27:62-66). The sealing of the tomb went beyond placing a large rock at the entrance. To protect against collusion between the disciples and the guards, some sort of seal was placed on the rock_perhaps a cord stretched over the rock with a wax or clay seal with the governor’s imprint securing it to the sides of the tomb (see Dan. 6:17 for a similar occurrence). Thus, if anyone tried to move the stone the seal would be broken and Roman law would have been violated.
5. The stone was taken away. The stone was not rolled away so that Jesus could come out, but rather to display an empty tomb (Matt. 28:2-4).
6. The tomb was empty. The fact that the tomb was empty was witnessed by the two Mary’s (Matt. 28:6-8), Peter and John (John 20:3-8), and the men guarding the tomb (Matt. 28:4,11-13). The fact of Christ’s resurrection was preached by the disciples in Jerusalem, not far from the tomb. There were plenty of people around who very much wanted this talk of the resurrection to cease. So if the body of Jesus had still been in the tomb, surely someone would have produced the body and silenced the preachers of the resurrection.
7. The tomb was not quite empty. The grave clothes were still in the tomb_all wrapped up the way they had been wound around the head and body (Luke 23:53; John 20:6,7). If the body had been stolen, the thieves would hardly have taken the time and effort to unwrap the body in the tomb; or else they would have left the linen cloths and the spices lying in a heap. They probably could not have re-wrapped the cloths the way they had originally been wound about the head and body if they had tried. The appearance of the manner in which the grave clothes were lying on the floor of the tomb-suggesting that the body had miraculously passed through the clothes without disturbing them_was so striking that John immediately believed the resurrection when he saw it (John 20:8).
8. Jesus appeared to many witnesses following the resurrection. He appeared to Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9; John 20:16), to Mary Magdalene and another Mary (Matt. 28:9), to Peter (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5), to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Mark 16:12; Luke 24:13-31), to the ten disciples in Jerusalem on the resurrection day (Luke 24:36; John 20:19), to the eleven disciples in Jerusalem a week later (John 20:24-26), to the seven disciples at the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1-14); to the eleven disciples in a mountain in Galilee (Matt. 28:16), to over 500 brethren at once (1 Cor. 15:6), and to James (1 Cor. 15:7). Finally, the eleven disciples witnessed Christ’s ascension into heaven (Acts 1:4-13; 1 Cor. 15:7). Later, the apostle Paul, who probably never saw Jesus on earth, was caught up to the third heaven and saw Him there (1 Cor. 15:8; 2 Cor. 12:2). So for any who would question the veracity of the resurrection, there were many people who could attest to having seen Jesus following His death and resurrection. Even some 26 years later, the apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth that of the 500 or more eyewitnesses of the risen Christ, "the greater part remain unto the present" (1 Cor. 15:6), should there be any doubters among them who desired proof of the resurrection.
9. The disciples’ lives were transformed. Prior to knowledge of the resurrection, "the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews" (John 20:19). Furthermore, during the crucifixion, Peter three times denied knowing Jesus out of fear of being subjected to the same treatment given to Christ (Luke 22:54-61). Following the post-resurrection appearings of the Lord to them, the disciples became very bold and forward in their testimony for Christ. On the day of Pentecost, Peter, with the eleven other disciples standing with him, boldly proclaimed to the Jews the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ_Israel’s Messiah (Acts 2:14-41). Shortly afterward, Peter had the gall and temerity to proclaim to another assembly of Jews, "Ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead" (Acts 3:14,15). When Peter and John were arrested because of their preaching, Peter boldly spoke of Christ to the authorities. As a result, "They saw the boldness of Peter and John, and . . . marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13,14). What but the resurrection of Christ could have transformed the fearful, cowardly disciples into fearless, courageous witnesses for Christ?
10. The sabbath was replaced by the first day of the week as the day of worship. The Jewish people were, and still are, strongly attached to the sabbath, the seventh day of the week or Saturday, as their holy day, their day of worship. After all, they had been enjoined in the Ten Commandments to "remember the sabbath day to keep it holy (Exod. 20:8). There had to have been a most profound, stupendous occurrence or revelation to have persuaded the early Christians_ all brought up in the Jewish religion_to abandon the sabbath and start meeting together on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). That occurrence and revelation was the resurrection of Christ. Because of the centrality of the resurrection to the Christian faith, the first day of the week_that day on which Christ rose from the dead_has replaced the sabbath as the day set aside for the worship of God and remembrance of Christ.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, a number of false theories have been propounded to explain away the resurrection. These include the following:
1. Christ never actually died on the cross, but only swooned.
2. The body was stolen away by the disciples.
3. All of Christ’s supposed post-resurrection appearances were only hallucinations.
4. Everyone went to the wrong tomb; the empty tomb was not the one Christ was buried in.
Homework Assignment:Using the ten scriptural facts pertaining to the resurrection discussed in this article plus other scriptural facts and any other arguments you can think of, list the points you would use in refuting each of the false theories concerning the resurrection. An award will be given to each person who completes this assignment and submits it to the editor postmarked no later than April 20, 1986. A special prize will be awarded for the entry which, in the editor’s judgment, presents the clearest, most logical, most scripturally sound arguments.
In the next issue, Lord willing, we shall discuss the arguments that refute each of the false theories concerning the resurrection.
FRAGMENT
The Lord is risen! with Him we also rose,
And in His grave see vanquished all our foes.
The Lord is risen! beyond the judgment land,
In Him, in resurrection-life we stand.