What Christians believe about… The Resurrection From EffectiveChildrensMinistry.org

Christians believe that… …Jesus was tried, crucified and died

Christians believe that… …He was buried in a tomb

Christians believe that… …The tomb was sealed with a great rock DesignPics

Christians believe that… …Three days later his tomb was empty

Christians believe that… …Jesus had come alive again VisualBibleAlive.com

What is the evidence?

Evidence 1. The Broken Seal

Dorling Kindersley “His disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead.” “Take a guard! Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”

Greek: Kustodia Latin: Custodia Dorling Kindersley

Not Jewish guards Roman guards Highly disciplined and well-trained Death penalty for disobedience That means… No one would dare break the seal!

Evidence 2. The Stone was moved Istockphotos

The weight of the stone = iStockphotos or

Stone found a long way off Stockbyte

Who moved the Stone?

Was it the Roman and Religious Leaders? NO

Was it the Disciples? NO

Was it the Women? NO VisualBibleAlive.com

It was an angel! VisualBibleAlive.com

Evidence 3. The Grave Clothes

Then Simon Peter …went into the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there; But the burial napkin (kerchief) which had been around Jesus' head, was not lying with the other linen cloths, but was still rolled up (wrapped round and round) in a place by itself. (John 20:6-9 Amplified Bible)

Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, went in too; and he saw and was convinced and believed. (John 20:6-9 Amplified Bible)

Why are the grave clothes such convincing evidence?

VisualBibleAlive.com Jesus called Lazarus from his tomb

“But the burial napkin which had been around Jesus' head, was not lying with the other linen cloths, but was still rolled up (wrapped round and round) in a place by itself.” (John 20:6-9 Amplified Bible)

The conclusion: 1. No one stole Christ’s body 2. Jesus came alive again 3. His new body rose up through the grave clothes

ChristianWallpaper.org Evidence 4. The Empty Tomb

VisualBibleAlive.com

Gamaliel Josephus VisualBibleAlive.com

Conclusion: The tomb must have been empty on the Sunday. No one has ever produced evidence to prove otherwise.

Evidence 5. The Women Women were thought to be inferior to men Women were not allowed to give evidence Yet women were first to find the tomb empty VisualBibleAlive.com

Anyone wanting to lie about it would NOT have said that women were the first witnesses No men would have deliberately embarrassed themselves like that! VisualBibleAlive.com

Conclusion: The Gospel account must be true, because in that culture no false story would have given women an important position.

The Guards at the Tomb An earthquake… An angel rolled back the stone The tomb was empty! They fainted with fright They went to tell the religious leaders Evidence 6. The Guards

The religious leaders bribed the guards to say: “We fell asleep.” “Someone stole the body.”

A Big Lie How did they avoid the death penalty? How did they avoid the death penalty? How could every soldier fall asleep at same time? How could every soldier fall asleep at same time? How could they see what was happening if they were asleep? How could they see what was happening if they were asleep? Hemera

Conclusion: The resurrection must have happened, or else why did the authorities lie and try to cover it up?

Jesus came out of the grave alive. He was seen by hundreds of people Evidence 7. Appearances of Jesus

Peter 12 Disciples Over 500 people James All the Apostles Paul himself (then called Saul) Paul’s List (1 Corinthians 15:5-8)

Conclusion: Jesus was seen alive by far too many people for the truth to be covered up.

Evidence 8.Transformed Disciples VisualBibleAlive.com

Preached boldly in public Dorling Kindersley

Not put off by opposition VisualBibleAlive.com

Changed the main day of worship

8.Transformed Disciples Received the power of the Holy Spirit Dorling Kindersley

Conclusion: Nothing could have changed the disciples except the resurrection of Christ and his continued power.

Evidence 9. Unbelievers converted Saul the persecutor Dorling Kindersley

Evidence 9. Unbelievers converted VisualBibleAlive.com James the doubter

Summary of the Evidence  The broken clay seal  The stone moved away  The grave clothes uncut  The empty tomb

 Women’s evidence  Guards bribed to lie  Appearances of Jesus alive Summary of the Evidence

 Disciples transformed  Unbelievers changed their minds Summary of the Evidence

That is why Christians believe that …

What do you think?

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