Is Jesus God? Arguments For The Resurrection

Why Focus on the Resurrection?

“ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile” 1 Cor. 15: If the Resurrection is wrong … Christianity is False. 2. The Resurrection is the Proof of Christ’s Divine Authority “God will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17.31)

I need you to grant me two points: 1. There is a God. Personal, Supernatural, all knowing, all powerful, etc. a. Philosophical: Cosmological, moral arguments. b. Empirical: Fine tuning, design arguments. 2.The Bible is Historically Reliable. a. Written by eye witnesses, copies are extremely close to events. b. NT was immediately accepted by early church. c. Over 24,000 partial and complete manuscripts. d. Over 86,000 quotes in church documents. e. Only two textual additions, and noted once discovered in 20 th century. What we have today, is what we’ve always had. No other historical document comes close in quality, gap, or numbers.

There are two issues to keep clear: 1. What are the Historical Facts about the Resurrection? 2. What is the best Explanation of the evidence?

So, What are the Historical Facts? 1.Jesus Died and was buried by Joseph of Arimathea in a Tomb. a.Attested by early independent sources: - gospels, letters of Paul. - Mark is likely 7 years after Jesus’ death. - Paul cites earlier sources - names are listed, and reference is made to many still alive.

Consider the following: For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:... that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. I Cor. 15: 3-5. This “information” was “received” probably on his fact finding mission in AD 36. Gal. 1:18

b.Joseph was a Sanhedrin, the group who condemned Jesus. - he was wealthy and well known. - early Christians had no reason to like him - he would be an unlikely person for them to collude with or invent. c. No other burial story exists. - if false, the truth or rumors of the truth would have arose.

2. The Tomb was Discovered to be Empty on 3 rd Day. a. Attested by independent sources : gospels, Acts, Paul. b. Discovered by women, some named. -Jews did not regard the testimony of women trustworthy. - they could not be legal witnesses. - a legend would not rely on women as the discoverers. c. Everyone knew where the tomb was, and could tell if it was empty. d. The story is simple and lacks aspects of legend. -contrast with gnostic gospels e. Jewish leaders acknowledged it was empty (Matt 27:15)

3. Jesus Appeared Post-Mortem. a.Attested to by five independent sources: - gospels, letters of Paul. b. Paul lists some names of individuals who saw Jesus. - up to 500 people. c. Jesus appeared to Paul before his conversion. - Saul (Paul) was an enemy of the Christian faith. d. James (brother) converts After Jesus appears to him. Later is killed in AD 60s for faith.

4. The Sudden and Sincere Belief of the Disciples. a.They had every reason not to believe. - their leader was dead - Messiah’s were to conquer, not die - they had scattered and denied Christ at Crucifixion. b. Jews Didn’t believe in returning from the Dead. - the gates of Sheol are closed. - to believe in a resurrection is very “unJewish”. c. Paul goes from a position of high authority, hunting and killing Christians, to a man without a home. d. All of the disciples die for their faith.

So the Historical Facts Are: 1. Jesus buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. 2. His tomb was discovered empty on the third day. 3. He appeared to many (up to 500), multiple times, after death. 4. Believers spontaneously arose, and the church grew quickly. These facts have the same Historical standing as the death of Augustus in 14 AD the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD

So what best explains these Historical facts? 1.It was a conspiracy. - no one believed Jesus when he lived, why conspire after he “failed”? - the disciples and Jews knew where he was buried. - conspiracies, especially effective ones, take time, not Friday to Sunday. - what about the clothes left behind? You undress a corpse to steal it? -Why would the Roman guards cooperate? -what about the appearances afterwards?

Do you recognize this guy? “ … nine of us couldn’t keep a secret, a secret that would land us in jail, for even three months…” Charles Colson Motive for bad people to collude? -let’s write a book that calls for the highest standards of behavior … You have to prevent people from spilling the beans … (the rule of three). Of course, … if you believe in conspiracies, then the more evidence there is for inspiration, and the less evidence there is of a conspiracy … then the more you believe in your conspiracy theory!!

2. Jesus only apparently died. - Romans not very good at their job? - His side was pierced by a spear - His legs were not broken because he was already dead. - Would those who wanted Him dead not notice? - In His post-mortem state he looked different, could appear, and was not subject to all laws of nature. - He ascends into Heaven in front of witnesses.

3. Jesus was actually resurrected. - there is no logical problem of God doing something supernatural. - this seems to most reasonably explain the facts. -this also explains the personal experience of hundreds of millions of Christians who personally experience God. - this separates Christianity from all other religions. -All other religions have a list of “do’s” and “don’ts” - you follow the rules, maybe you will be saved. - no personal experience with God.