The Evidence

He Rose Again

Material Evidence

                Three important pieces of material evidence support Christ’s resurrection:  the displaced stone, the empty tomb, and the linen wrappings.

               

“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. “Jn. 20:1-7

“but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.  They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” Jn. 20:11-14

                The burial wrappings, made rigid by the resin from the spices, formed a shell that now lay empty on the cold rock slab in the tomb.  Only the face covering, which was a band wound like a turban, was dishevelled and rolled up in a place off to one side.  The immediate impression of Mary Magdalene was that the body had been stolen (v.2) Apparently, this was also the initial reaction of Peter and John (v.v.8-9)

                But logically, who would have kidnapped it?  Neither the Jews nor the Romans wanted an empty tomb.  They wanted Christ dead and buried.  If they had stolen it, they would merely have had to produce the body, and the claims of the resurrection would have been discredited.  The guards, whose very lives were at stake in safeguarding the body, wouldn’t have dared to steal it or allow it to be stolen.  Finally, the alarm expressed by the disciples precludes them from being suspects.  Neither friend nor foe had a logical motive to kidnap the body.  Again, the evidence points to a literal, bodily resurrection.  

                Another theory of the opposition was that Jesus’ friends went to the wrong tomb.  They said it had been a terrifying week for the disciples and the others who had grown so close to Jesus.  Therefore they became disoriented and went to the wrong grave.  That’s why they found an empty tomb.  Objections: Whose grave clothes did John and Peter find?  What were angels doing at someone else’s gravesite?  Is it possible that they all forgot their directions at the same time?    

Physical Appearances

                The New Testament records no fewer than eleven physical encounters with the risen Christ.  These encounters occurred at different times, in different places, and with a variety of individuals.  It has often been argued that these people merely had grief-induced hallucinations.  However, Jesus once appeared to more than 500 people at one time (1Cor. 15:6) for so many people to have shared same hallucination at the same time strains the imagination far more than the probability of Christ’s bodily resurrection. 

                John, an eyewitness to the death of Christ records for post resurrection appearances: one with Mary outside the tomb Jn.20:11-18, one with the disciples behind closed doors vv.19-23, one with Thomas vv.24-29, and one with the disciples on the beach by the sea of Tiberias Jn. 21:1-23.  Christ’s appearance to Thomas, though, is particularly awesome and arresting,  

“Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jn. 20:24-29. 

 

 

            

Historical Results

                At the time of the cross, the disciples had scattered like scared sheep.  After seeing the empty tomb, they believed with many that someone had stolen the body, and they went away to their own homes (Jn.20:2, 8-10).  There they hid, cowering, shuttered away in fear of the Jews v.19. 

                However, after they had seen the risen Christ, this weak-kneed band of deserters turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6).  Even Peter, who denied Christ so emphatically, preached boldly about Him in the very city where He was only recently executed (Acts 2:14-36).  The descent of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church are two other historical ramifications of the resurrection (Acts 1-2).

The Lasting Benefits

                Never were the arms of God opened so wide as when they were outstretched on the cross.  Like a father embracing his prodigal son, the arms of Jesus reached out to give the embrace of forgiveness to all who would come home.  May God give you the grace to look at the nail prints in the hands of the risen Savior and fall on your face before Him, as did Thomas, proclaiming through tears: “My Lord and my God!” .  For the resurrection assures us not only that Jesus is God, but that we are forgiven and will also be resurrected after our death to live forever in His presence (1Cor. 15).