The Message

“The message of Easter is not that Jesus is alive. Iit is so much more. The message of Easter is that Jesus has risen!” (Colin Smith)

The resurrection of Jesus is so important to Christianity because it proves both the enormous power of Christ, plus His identity as, the Son of God and the Messiah. Without the resurrection, there is no eternal life in Heaven once we die. Here are four evidences that Jesus bodily resurrection did occur on Easter:

1.     Physical evidence

³⁸ But Jesus said, “Why are you troubled? Why do you doubt what you see? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have a living body as you see I have.”

⁴⁰ After Jesus said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹ While they still could not believe it because they were amazed and happy, Jesus said to them, “Do you have any food here?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish. ⁴³ While the followers watched, Jesus took the fish and ate it. (Luke 24:38-43, NCV)

“A lot can happen in three days.” (Anonymous)

2.     Prophetic evidence

⁴⁴ He said to them, “Remember when I was with you before? I said that everything written about me must happen—everything in the law of Moses, the books of the prophets, and the Psalms.”

⁴⁵ Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He said to them, “It is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day..  (Luke 24:44-46, NCV)

“The simple fact that the Christian fellowship, founded on belief in Jesus' resurrection, came into existence and flourished in the very city where he was executed and buried is powerful evidence for the historicity of the empty tomb.” (William Lane Craig)

3.     Eyewitness evidence

^3 “I passed on to you what I received, of which this was most important: that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say; ⁴ that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day as the Scriptures say; ⁵ and that he was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles. ⁶ After that, Jesus was seen by more than five hundred of the believers at the same time. Most of them are still living today, but some have died. ⁷ Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all he was seen by me—as by a person not born at the normal time. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8, NCV)

“I went to a psychologist friend and said if 500 people claimed to see Jesus after he died, it was just a hallucination. He said hallucinations are an individual event. If 500 people have the same hallucination, that's a bigger miracle than the resurrection.” (Lee Strobel)

4.     Effectual[i] evidence

⁵¹ While he was blessing them, He was separated from them and carried into Heaven. ⁵² They worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem very happy. (Luke 24:51-52, NCV)

“For a soul to come to Jesus is the grandest event in its history.” (Joseph Alleine)

 “The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. If the resurrection did not take place, then Christianity is a false religion. If it did take place,  then Christ is God and the Christian faith is absolute truth.” (Henry M. Morris)[ii]

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[i] Effectual is defined as successful in producing an intended result.

 

[ii] Inspired by the sermon “Living Confidently in the Resurrection” (installment one) Sunday April 1, 2018 Pastor Dave  Jansen CenterPoint Gahanna Church Gahanna, OH 

 

Additional sources used:

·        “5 Important Facts about Jesus' Resurrection” by Lesli White

·        “Effectual” by Oxford Living Dictionaries

·        “Five Truths about the Resurrection of Jesus” by Joseph Scheumann