April 17, 2022 Easter!
Mark 16:1-7
“Come See, Go Tell”
Service Overview: The resurrection serves as the focal point to all of human history. The One who rose, did so in order to defeat sin and death for all those who turn to him in faith. And the call to all those who do so remains the same, “come see, go tell”.
Memory Verse for the Week:
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)
Background Information:
- Mark makes no attempt to explain how the stone was removed. He does, however, say that it was very large and leaves the matter there (v.4). Once inside the tomb, the women saw a young man (neaniskos) dressed in a white robe (v.5). His dress suggests an angel, and though Mark does not explicitly identify him as such, Matthew 28:2 does. (Walter, W. Wessel, The Expositors Bible Commentary, Vol. 8, 787)
- Spices were poured over a dead body to counteract the odor of decay and as a symbolic expression of loving devotion. Embalming was not a Jewish custom. (John F. Walvoord, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament, 192)
- The fact that women were the first to receive the announcement of the resurrection is significant in view of contemporary attitudes. Jewish law pronounced women ineligible as witnesses. Early Christian tradition confirms that the reports of the women concerning the empty tomb and Jesus’ resurrection were disregarded or considered embarrassing (cf. Lk. 24:11, 22-24; Mk. 16:11). That the news had first been delivered by women was inconvenient and troublesome to the Church, for their testimony lacked value as evidence. The primitive Community would not have invented this detail, which can be explained only on the ground that it was factual. (William L. Lane, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Mark, 468)
- [The women] were not going in order to witness Jesus’ resurrection. They had no idea that any such thing was even thinkable. They were going to complete the primary burial. This was a sad task, but a necessary one, both for reverence’s sake, and to lessen the smell of decomposition as other bodies, in due course, would be buried in the same tomb over the coming year or so, prior to Jesus’ bones being collected and put into an ossuary (the secondary burial). (N.T. Wright, Mark for Everyone, 222)
- Most people think that, when it comes to Jesus’s resurrection, the burden of proof is on believers to give evidence that it happened. That is not completely the case. The resurrection also puts a burden of proof on its nonbelievers. It is not enough to simply believe Jesus did not rise from the dead. You must then come up with a historically feasible alternate explanation for the birth of the church. (Tim Keller, The Reason For God, 177)
The question to answer…
What could possibly be said about the resurrection that hasn’t already been said a thousand times before?
Answer…
Not much. But our need to hear its truth and be renewed by its hope never cease.
What’s so awesome and amazing about the resurrection?
- How it makes clear Christ’s defeat of death by his own submission to it.
(Is. 25:8; Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:21, 26; Phil. 2:8; Hebrews 2:14; Revelation 1:18; 21:4)
Faith grows out of a subsoil of yearning, and something primal in human beings cries out against the reign of death. (Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 217)
He, the Life of all, our Lord and Savior, did not arrange the manner of his own death lest He should seem to be afraid of some other kind. No. He accepted and bore upon the cross a death inflicted by others, and those other His special enemies, a death which to them was supremely terrible and by no means to be faced; and He did this in order that, by destroying even this death, He might Himself be believed to be the Life, and the power of death be recognized as finally annulled. A marvelous and mighty paradox has thus occurred, for the death which they thought to inflict on Him as dishonor and disgrace has become the glorious monument to death’s defeat. (St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 4th century A.D.)
- How by Christ’s death, sin and its grip are also utterly defeated.
(John 3:16-17; Rom. 5; 6:23; 8:6; 2 Cor. 5:17, 21; 1 Peter 3:18-19; 1 Peter 4:1; 1 John 1:9)
The Christian doctrine is a doctrine not of Immortality but of Resurrection. The difference is profound. The method of all non-Christian systems is to seek an escape from the evils and misery of life. Christianity seeks no escape, but accepts these at their worst, and makes them the material of its triumphant joy. That is the special significance in this connection of the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Stoics teach an indifference to death; the Gospel teaches victory over it. (William Temple, Nature, Man and God, 461)
The climax to Mark’s Gospel is the Resurrection. Without it the life and death of Jesus, though noble and admirable, are nonetheless overwhelmingly tragic events. With it Jesus is declared to be the Son of God with power (Rom 1:4), and the disciples are transformed from lethargic and defeated followers into the flaming witnesses of the Book of Acts. The Good News about Jesus Christ is that God, by the resurrection of Jesus, defeated sin, death, and hell. (Walter, W. Wessel, The Expositors Bible Commentary, Vol. 8, 786)
- How it confirms the reality of a resurrected life now and yet to come.
(John 3:16; 5:24; 11:25-26; 14:1-4; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Thes. 4:14; Heb. 13:14; 1 John 5:12)
Jesus’ resurrection is unique. Other religions have strong ethical systems, concepts about paradise and afterlife, and various holy scriptures. Only Christianity has a God who became human, literally died for his people, and was raised again in power and glory to rule his church forever. (Bruce Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary, Mark, 471)
- How its truth empowers and enables Christ’s “resurrected ones” to live.
(Psalm 30:5; Rom. 8:18; 14:8; 1 Cor. 15:42-44; 15:55; Gal. 2:20; Philippians 1:21)
Christians have therefore already been changed by Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus really is alive today. Because of this Christians are also alive in a whole new way. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is living in every true Christian. (Adrian Warnock, Raised With Christ, 14)
Conclusion… How should we respond in light of the resurrection?
A. Come and see.
(Psalm 34:8; Zeph. 3:17; Romans 5:8; 8:37-39; Ephesians 2:4-7; 1 John 3:1, 16; 4:19)
I believe in Christianity as I believe the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, 140)
It is one thing to hear the message and quite something else to meet the risen Lord personally. When you meet Him, you have something to share with others. (Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 135)
Although much about the Resurrection invites belief, nothing compels it. Faith requires the possibility of rejection, or it is not faith. (Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 217)
B. Go and tell.
(Is. 6:8; Mat. 9:37-38; 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Romans 1:16; 10:10-17; 15:13; 1 Peter 3:15)
One could say that the Great Commission was anticipated by the angel: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter” (7, RSV). Paul Minear makes a worthy point: “God does not disclose the Resurrection fact except to enlist people in a task.” (A. Elwood Sanner, Beacon Bible Expositions: Mark, 252)
You are called not to be successful or to meet any of the other counterfeit standards of this world, but to be faithful and to be expended in the cause of serving the risen and returning Christ. (Charles Colson, Faith on the Line, 54)
Gospel Application…
There is no gospel without the resurrection. The hope of eternity rests in the fact that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ is coming again. Praise be to God!
(Ps. 39:7; Rom. 5:5; 8:24-25; 2 Cor. 4:16-18; Col. 1:27; Heb. 11:1; 1 Peter 1:3; Rev. 21:4)
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the central fact of Christian history. On it, the church is built; without it, there would be no Christian church today. (Bruce Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary, Mark, 471)
The message of Easter is that God’s new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you’re now invited to belong to it. (N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, 252)
The truth of the resurrection gives life to every other area of gospel truth. The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter. Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation. (John MacArthur, 1 Corinthians, 398)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- What about the resurrection offers people hope? How does it give you hope?
- How does the truth of the resurrection impact how you live, think, and look at the world while you’re still in it?
- Who in your life needs to hear and glean hope from the truth of the resurrection?
- How might you “go and tell” them?
Quotes to note…
If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead. (Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, 210)
Jesus Christ was “delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). A dead Savior cannot save anybody. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is as much a part of the gospel message as His sacrificial death on the cross (1 Cor. 15:1–8). In fact, in the book of Acts, the church gave witness primarily to the resurrection (Acts 1:22; 4:2, 33). (Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 134)
I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world—and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible. (Charles Colson, Easter Sunday Sermon 1982, prisonfellowship.org/2018/04/chuck-colsons-legacy-hope-lives)
Christianity is based on the death of Christ and the Resurrection that attests its efficacy. The idea of the Resurrection was scorned by most people, as the response of the philosophical Athenians to Paul indicates: “When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered” (Acts 17:32). But Christianity has stood the test of time. This is significant because Christianity is the only religion that stands or falls on the truthfulness of an event. Its survival is evidence that its unique basis, the Resurrection, is indeed valid. (Ajith Fernando, I Believe in The Supremacy of Christ, 236)
An empty tomb, however, only invites the question What happened to the body of Jesus? There needed to be a word from God to interpret the meaning of the empty tomb, and the angel was God’s gracious provision. The explanation is Resurrection! Across the centuries many other explanations have been proposed: the body of Jesus was stolen; the women came to the wrong tomb; Jesus did not actually die on the cross but walked out of the tomb; etc. Some of them have had success with skeptics. But the only adequate explanation is still what the angel said to the women who were at the tomb on the first Easter morning: “He has risen!” (Walter, W. Wessel, The Expositors Bible Commentary, Vol. 8, 787)
Like everything else in Jesus’ life, the resurrection drew forth contrasting responses. Those who believed were transformed; infused with hope and courage, they went out to change the world. Those who did not believe found ways to ignore strong evidence. Jesus had predicted as much: “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” (Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 214)
FURTHER COMMENTARY ON TODAY’S TEXT….
Christians can look very different from one another, and they can hold widely varying beliefs about politics, lifestyle, and even theology. But one central belief unites and inspires all true Christians-Jesus Christ rose from the dead! (Bruce Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary, Mark, 472)
Anointing a body was a sign of love, devotion, and respect. Bringing spices to the tomb would be like bringing flowers to a grave today. Since they did not embalm bodies in Israel, they would use perfumes as a normal practice. The women undoubtedly knew that Joseph and Nicodemus had already wrapped the body in linen and spices. They probably were going to do a simple external application of the fragrant spices. (Bruce Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary, Mark, 472)
16:3 And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” NKJV Two of these women, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses, had seen where the body had been placed and knew that a huge stone had been rolled across the entrance to the tomb (15:46). Apparently, they were unaware that the tomb had been sealed and a guard set outside it (Matthew 27:62-66). So as they approached the tomb, they remembered that the stone would be a problem. They wondered aloud who might be able to roll it aside so that they could get in. Yet their faith pushed them on; they believed that God would provide a way. (Bruce Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary, Mark, 473)
In the Jewish reckoning of time, a day included any part of a day; thus, Friday was the first day, Saturday was the second day, and Sunday was the third day. When the women arrived at daybreak, Jesus had already risen. (Bruce Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary, Mark, 473)
Faith in the Resurrection must take over where physical facts leave off. Empirical evidence that can be scientifically verified is only one way of seeking and finding the truth. Intuition is a way of knowing that is equally reliable for the truths expressed in art, literature, and music. But for the leap of faith by which a person believes in the Resurrection, God gives us His Word as the way of knowing His Truth. Neither empirical facts nor intuitive knowledge can finally verify such Truths as the Creation, Incarnation or Resurrection. His Word is our basis for belief. So, as proof of Jesus’ Resurrection, God sends His messenger to speak His word. “He is risen!” (David L. McKenna, The Communicator’s Commentary, 324)
Poor women! Rather than following the angel’s instruction to “go” and “tell,” they are so stunned by the incredulous Truth that they say nothing. Their silence lends its own authenticity to the proofs of the Resurrection. If they are just hysterical women fantasizing out of frustration, why do they not talk? Anyone who has stood in the presence of God loses the glibness of a smooth and ready tongue. Trembling hands, whirling mind, and faltering heart-these are the after-effects of meeting God face to face. Fear so ties their tongues that Jesus will have to confirm the fact of His Resurrection by personal appearances rather than by spoken word. (325)
No one has said it better than St. Paul: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17, NIV). The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is indeed the cornerstone of our faith and the validation of His person, for “he was declared Son of God by a mighty act in that he rose from the dead” (Rom. 1:4, NEB). (A. Elwood Sanner, Beacon Bible Expositions: Mark, 251)
Joseph had buried Jesus sometime between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday. The women would not have been able to buy the spices until after sundown on Saturday. In the meantime, they had rested on “the sabbath day according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56). And now, as early as feasible on the following morning, the first day of the week, the women had come from their abode in Jerusalem, or perhaps Bethany, to express their love and grief. (A. Elwood Sanner, Beacon Bible Expositions: Mark, 251)
The first discovery of the two Marys and Salome was that the very large stone, sealing the entrance to the tomb, had been wrenched aside. It is worth repeating that this heavenly action was not to release Jesus but to let the disciples in! (A. Elwood Sanner, Beacon Bible Expositions: Mark, 252)
The women from Galilee were the last ones to leave the Cross, the first at the tomb, and the first to receive the revelation that Jesus had arisen from the dead. But their reward carried a special responsibility—to bear that word to the defeated disciples and to the despondent Peter. (A. Elwood Sanner, Beacon Bible Expositions: Mark, 252)
It is appropriate to recall that the natural reaction to a divine disclosure is fear and speechlessness, as on the Mount of Transfiguration: Peter and his comrades “did not know what to say, they were so frightened” (9:6, NIV). Mary and her friends did carry out their assignment; “with fear and great joy,” they ” ran to tell his disciples ” (Matt. 28:8, RSV). Messengers of that glad news have never ceased to run and to tell that same message. (A. Elwood Sanner, Beacon Bible Expositions: Mark, 253)
Mark concludes his Gospel with this paragraph concerning the visit of the women to the tomb of Jesus and the dramatic announcement of his resurrection. Two aspects of the truth are emphasized. First, there is no difference between the crucifixion and the resurrection on the point of historicity or factuality. The resurrection of Jesus is an historical event. On a given date, in a defined place, the man Jesus, having been crucified and buried two days earlier, came forth from the tomb. Mark stresses the identity of the risen one with the crucified one (verse 6). Secondly, as an historical event, the resurrection of Jesus cannot be explained by categories open to human understanding. It possesses no givenness which is self-elucidating. The reality cannot be incorporated into our history as if it conformed to our experience. Apart from revelation, it remains merely a mysterious event in history, unable to impart understanding. History can declare only that Jesus’ body disappeared, but this baffling fact fails to communicate the gospel. The event of Jesus’ resurrection is open to understanding only through a word of revelation received in faith. (William L. Lane, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Mark, 465)
Were it not for his resurrection, Jesus of Nazareth might have appeared as no more than a line in Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, if he were mentioned at all. The witness of the four Gospels is unequivocal that following the crucifixion Jesus’ disciples were scattered, their hopes shattered by the course of events. What halted the dissolution of the messianic movement centered in Jesus was the resurrection. It is the resurrection which creates “the good news concerning Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Ch. 1:1). (William L. Lane, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Mark, 465)
It is not uncommon to find in Palestinian tombs dating to the first century such funerary objects as perfume bottles, ointment jars and other vessels of clay and glass designed to contain aromatic oils. The desire of the women to “anoint” the body indicates that the oils were to be poured over the head. The preparations for returning to the tomb in performance of an act of piety show that the women had no expectation of an immediate resurrection of Jesus. (William L. Lane, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Mark, 466)
3-4 Although the women had witnessed the burial of Jesus and the closing of the entrance to the sepulchre (Ch. 15:47), they had no knowledge of the official sealing of the tomb by the Sanhedrin nor of the posting of a guard (cf. Mt. 27:62-66). This is evident from the fragment of conversation preserved by Mark alone concerning the rolling back of the stone from the entrance to the tomb. While the setting in place of a large stone was a relatively easy task, once it had slipped into the groove cut in bedrock just before the entrance it could be removed only with great difficulty (see on Ch. 15:46). (William L. Lane, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Mark, 466)
When the women entered the burial chamber they were startled to see “a young man clothed in a white robe, sitting on the right side.” Mark’s language could designate a valiant young man (see on Ch. 14:51 f.) or an angel. Careful study of the distinctive vocabulary has demonstrated that whenever the reference is to an angel, the text or the context makes the supernatural character of the young man explicit. (William L. Lane, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Mark, 466)
The action of God is not always self-evident. For this reason it is invariably accompanied by the word of revelation, interpreting the significance of an event (e.g. Exod. 15:1-18 interprets the flight from Egypt as the action of God). The emptiness of the tomb possessed no factual value in itself. It simply raised the question, What happened to the body? God, therefore, sent his messenger to disclose the fact of the resurrection. The announcement of the angel is the crystallization point for faith. The women had been misguided in their seeking of Jesus. They came to anoint the body of one who was dead, but Jesus was risen from the dead! (William L. Lane, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Mark, 467)
Having assured the women that Jesus was alive, the angel commissioned them to tell his followers that they would be reunited with him in Galilee. The expression “his disciples and Peter” corresponds to Ch. 1:36, “Simon and those with him.” Peter is singled out because of his repeated and emphatic denial of Jesus (Ch. 14:66-72). (William L. Lane, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Mark, 468)
The prior use of words expressing terror and amazement in verses 5-6 has prepared for the forceful language of verse 8 and confirms that the cause of the women’s fear is the presence and action of God at the tomb of Jesus. They recognized the significance of the empty tomb. This has important bearing on the interpretation of Mark’s final comment, “for they were afraid.” This statement finds its closest parallel in the transfiguration narrative, where Peter’s brash proposal to build three tabernacles calls forth the remark, “for he did not know what to say, for they were exceedingly afraid” (Ch. 9:6). Those who are confronted with God’s direct intervention in the historical process do not know how to react. Divine revelation lies beyond normal human experience, and there are no categories available to men which enable them to understand and respond appropriately. (William L. Lane, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Mark, 469)
The women were alarmed (exethambithisan; cf. Mark 9:15; 14:33) when they encountered the divine messenger. This compound verb of strong emotion (used only by Mark in the NT), expresses overwhelming distress at what is highly unusual (cf. 16:8). (John F. Walvoord, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament, 192)
16:7. The women were given a task. They were to go and tell Jesus’ disciples that they would be reunited with Him in Galilee. The words and Peter, unique to Mark, are significant since much of Mark’s material likely came from Peter. He was singled out not because of his preeminence among the disciples but because he was forgiven and still included in the Eleven despite his triple denial (c:f. 14:66-72). (John F. Walvoord, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament, 193)
The resurrection proves that Jesus Christ is what He claimed to be, the very Son of God (Rom. 1:4). He had told His disciples that He would be raised from the dead, but they had not grasped the meaning of this truth (Mark 9:9–10, 31; 10:34). Even the women who came early to the tomb did not expect to see Him alive. In fact, they had purchased spices to complete the anointing that Joseph and Nicodemus had so hastily begun. (Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, 134)
As the women walked to the tomb, their chief concern was with the heavy stone they knew had been rolled in front of the opening of the tomb (cf. 15:46-47). Of the sealing of the tomb or the posting of the Roman guard, they knew nothing (cf. Matt 27:62-66). Their concern with moving the stone was a real one because, no matter what kind of stone it was, it would have been difficult to move. (Walter, W. Wessel, The Expositors Bible Commentary, Vol. 8, 787)
The resurrection of our Savior Christ, in the preaching of the gospel, raises earthquakes in the world now, as when Christ arose out of the sepulchre bodily. (Martin Luther, Table Talk, c. 1546)
I take hope in Jesus’ scars. From the perspective of heaven, they represent the most horrible event that has ever happened in the history of the universe. Even that event, though—the crucifixion—Easter turned into a memory. Because of Easter, I can hope that the tears we shed, the blows we receive, the emotional pain, the heartache over lost friends and loved ones, all these will become memories, like Jesus’ scars. Scars never completely go away, but neither do they hurt any longer. We will have re-created bodies, a re-created heaven and earth. We will have a new start, an Easter start. (Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 219)
“Resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing.” – Frederick Buechner.
“Let us consider this settled, that no one has made progress in the school of Christ who does not joyfully await the day of death and final resurrection.” – John Calvin.
“A Christian is not a skeptic. A Christian is a person with a burning heart, a heart set aflame with certainty of the resurrection.” ― R. C. Sproul
“The resurrection was God the Father’s way of authenticating all of the truths that were declared by Jesus.” ― R. C. Sproul
“The best news of the Christian gospel is that the supremely glorious Creator of the universe has acted in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection to remove every obstacle between us and himself so that we may find everlasting joy in seeing and savoring his infinite beauty.” ― John Piper
Unless you are running away from him or running toward him, you actually don’t really know who he is. (Tim Keller, Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter, 98)
The Christian sex ethic was understood by the apostles to be a nonnegotiable part of orthodoxy, one of the core beliefs of Christianity. What Christians taught and practiced about sexuality was as much a necessary implication of the gospel and the resurrection as were care for the poor and the equality of the races. This makes it impossible to argue, as many try to do, that what the Bible says about caring for the poor is right but what it says about sex is outmoded and should be discarded. (Tim Keller, Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter, 148–49)
Let us take comfort in this thought. Trial, sorrow, and persecution are often the portion of God’s people; sickness, weakness, and pain often hurt and wear their poor earthly tabernacle: but their good time is yet to come. Let them wait patiently, and they shall have a glorious resurrection. When we die, and where we are buried, and what kind of a funeral we have, matters little: the great question to be asked is this, ‘How shall we rise again?’ (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, 325)
Because Christ was raised from the dead, we know that the kingdom of heaven has broken into earth’s history. Our world is now headed for redemption, not disaster. God’s mighty power is at work destroying sin, creating new lives, and preparing us for Jesus’ second coming. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 569)
Christian faith is then, not only an assent to the whole gospel of Christ, but also a full reliance on the blood of Christ; a trust in the merits of his life, death, and resurrection; a recumbency upon him as our atonement and our life, as given for us, and living in us; and, in consequence hereof, a closing with him, and cleaving to him, as our “wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,” or, in one word, our salvation. (John Wesley, Sermons on Several Occasions, 19-20)
It may well be questioned whether a man knows the value of the gospel himself, if he does not desire to make it known to all the world. (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, 328)
APOLOGETICS-RELATED QUOTES
The evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is more powerful than anything else we believe. By His resurrection Jesus proved He is who He says He is. Be confident in this truth. Stand on the Holy Word of God. Don’t sell the world a false bill of goods. Preach the Word. Defend the faith. Live the faith. (Charles Colson, Faith on the Line, 77)
When considering if Christianity is true, it all boils down to whether Jesus rose from the dead. The lives of Christians today demonstrate that the resurrection is still changing people. It changes fear into love, despair into joy. The resurrection changes people from being spiritually dead to being alive to God. It changes guilty condemnation into a celebration of forgiveness and freedom. It changes anxiety into a hope that goes beyond the grave. It can change our sinful hearts so they want to follow the Lord Jesus, and the power of the resurrection is relentlessly killing sin in every true Christian. (Adrian Warnock, Raised With Christ, 13)
Each gospel states that the first eyewitnesses to the resurrection were women. Women’s low social status meant that their testimony was not admissible evidence in court. There was no possible advantage to the church to recount that all the first witnesses were women. It could only have undermined the credibility of the testimony. The only possible explanation for why women were depicted as meeting Jesus first is if they really had. (Tim Keller, The Reason For God, 178)
After the death of Jesus the entire Christian community suddenly adopted a set of beliefs that were brand-new and until that point had been unthinkable. The first Christians had a resurrection-centered view of reality. They believed that the future resurrection had already begun in Jesus. They believed that Jesus had a transformed body that could walk through walls yet eat food. This was not simply a resuscitated body like the Jews envisioned, nor a solely spiritual existence like the Greeks imagined. Jesus’s resurrection guaranteed our resurrection and brought some of that future new life into our hearts now. (Tim Keller, The Reason For God, 181)
The Christian view of resurrection, absolutely unprecedented in history, sprang up full-blown immediately after the death of Jesus. There was no process or development. His followers said that their beliefs did not come from debating and discussing. They were just telling others what they had seen themselves. No one has come up with any plausible alternative to this claim. Even if you propose the highly unlikely idea that one or two of Jesus’s disciples did get the idea that he was raised from the dead on their own, they would never have gotten a movement of other Jews to believe it unless there were multiple, inexplicable, plausible, repeated encounters with Jesus. (Tim Keller, The Reason For God, 181)
It is not enough for the skeptic, then, to simply dismiss the Christian teaching about the resurrection of Jesus by saying, “It just couldn’t have happened.” He or she must face and answer all these historical questions: Why did Christianity emerge so rapidly, with such power? No other band of messianic followers in that era concluded their leader was raised from the dead—why did this group do so? No group of Jews ever worshipped a human being as God. What led them to do it? Jews did not believe in divine men or individual resurrections. What changed their worldview virtually overnight? How do you account for the hundreds of eyewitnesses to the resurrection who lived on for decades and publicly maintained their testimony, eventually giving their lives for their belief? (Tim Keller, The Reason For God, 182)
Each year at Easter I get to preach on the Resurrection. In my sermon I always say to my skeptical, secular friends that, even if they can’t believe in the resurrection, they should want it to be true. Most of them care deeply about justice for the poor, alleviating hunger and disease, and caring for the environment. Yet many of them believe that the material world was caused by accident and that the world and everything in it will eventually simply burn up in the death of the sun. They find it discouraging that so few people care about justice without realizing that their own worldview undermines any motivation to make the world a better place. Why sacrifice for the needs of others if in the end nothing we do will make any difference? If the resurrection of Jesus happened, however, that means there’s infinite hope and reason to pour ourselves out for the needs of the world. (Tim Keller, The Reason For God, 183)
According to all four Gospels, women were the first witnesses of the resurrection, a fact that no conspirator in the first century would have invented. Jewish courts did not even accept the testimony of female witnesses. A deliberate cover-up would have put Peter or John or, better yet, Nicodemus in the spotlight, not built its case around reports from women. Since the Gospels were written several decades after the events, the authors had plenty of time to straighten out such an anomaly—unless, of course, they were not concocting a legend but recording the plain facts. (Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 212)
The Gospels do not present the resurrection of Jesus in the manner of apologetics, with arguments arranged to prove each main point, but rather as a shocking intrusion that no one was expecting, least of all Jesus’ timorous disciples. (Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 213)
There actually was a conspiracy, of course, one set in motion not by Jesus’ disciples but by the authorities who had to deal with the embarrassing fact of the empty tomb. They could have put a stop to all the wild rumors about a resurrection merely by pointing to a sealed tomb or producing a body. But the seal was broken and the body missing, hence the need for an official plot. Even as the women ran to report their discovery, soldiers were rehearsing an alibi, their role in the scheme of damage-control. (Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 213)
In the six-week interlude between Resurrection and Ascension, Jesus, if one may use such language, “broke his own rules” about faith. He made his identity so obvious that no disciple could ever deny him again (and none did). In a word, Jesus overwhelmed the witnesses’ faith: anyone who saw the resurrected Jesus lost the freedom of choice to believe or disbelieve. Jesus was now irrefutable. Even Jesus’ brother James, always a holdout, capitulated after one of the appearances—enough so that he became a leader of the church in Jerusalem and, according to Josephus, died as one of the early Christian martyrs. (Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 216)
There are two ways to look at human history, I have concluded. One way is to focus on the wars and violence, the squalor, the pain and tragedy and death. From such a point of view, Easter seems a fairy-tale exception, a stunning contradiction in the name of God. That gives some solace, although I confess that when my friends died, grief was so overpowering that any hope in an after-life seemed somehow thin and insubstantial. There is another way to look at the world. If I take Easter as the starting point, the one incontrovertible fact about how God treats those whom he loves, then human history becomes the contradiction and Easter a preview of ultimate reality. Hope then flows like lava beneath the crust of daily life. (Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 219)
Without the belief in the Resurrection the Christian faith could not have come into being. The disciples would have remained crushed and defeated men. Even had they continued to remember Jesus as their beloved teacher, His crucifixion would have forever silenced any hopes of His being the Messiah. The cross would have remained the sad and shameful end of His career. The origin of Christianity therefore hinges on the belief of the early disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead. (William Lane Craig, Knowing the Truth, 116)
Perhaps the transformation of the disciples of Jesus is the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection. At the time of His death they were very much afraid. Peter went to the extent of vehemently denying that he knew Christ. But in a few days this same Peter fearlessly proclaimed the Gospel in the same city. Listen to his audacity: “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though He had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you” (Acts 3:13-14). There had to have been a sufficient reason for such a transformation. (John Stott, Basic Christianity, 58)
Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him, everything else thrown in. (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 227)
The New Testament writers speak as if Christ’s achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the ‘first fruits,’ the pioneer of life,’ He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so. (C. S. Lewis, Miracles, 145)
The resurrection was indeed a miraculous display of God’s power, but we should not see it as a suspension of the natural order of the world. Rather it was the beginning of the restoration of the natural order of the world, the world as God intended it to be. . . . The resurrection means not merely that Christians have a hope for the future but that they have a hope that comes from the future. The Bible’s startling message is that when Jesus rose, he brought the future kingdom of God into the present. (Tim Keller, Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter, 24)
In Jesus’s day the message of the kingdom contradicted all the world’s categories. In our time the Christian faith is seen as something traditional rather than radical and disruptive. Nothing could be further from the truth. (Tim Keller, Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter, 60)
The founders of the other great world religions died peacefully, surrounded by their followers and the knowledge that their movement was growing. In contrast, Jesus died in disgrace, betrayed, denied, and abandoned by everyone, even his Father. Other world religions teach salvation through ascent to God through good works, moral virtue, ritual observances, and transformation of consciousness. In contrast, Christianity is about salvation through God’s descending to us. This is the great difference between Christianity and every other philosophical and religious system. (Tim Keller, Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter, 80)
If you are looking at Christianity, start by looking at Jesus’s life as it is shown to us in the gospels, and especially at the resurrection. Don’t begin, as modern people do, by asking yourself if Christianity fits who you are. If the resurrection happened, then there is a God who created you for himself and ultimately, yes, Christianity fits you whether you can see it now or not. If he’s real and risen, then just like Paul, even though he had none of the answers to any of his questions, you’ll have to say, “What would you have me do, Lord?” (Tim Keller, Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter, 111)
The resurrection takes the question “Is Christianity valid?” Out of the realm of philosophy and makes it a question of history. (Josh McDowell, More Than A Carpenter, 125)
If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about anything he said? (Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, 210)
The Christian belief is not that some people sometimes get raised from the dead, and Jesus happens to be one of them. It is precisely that people don’t ever get raised from the dead, and that something new has happened in and through Jesus which has blown a hole through previous observations. The Christian thus agrees with scientists ancient and modern: yes, dead people don’t rise. But the Christian goes on to say that something new and different has now occurred in the case of Jesus. This isn’t because there was an odd glitch in the cosmos, or something peculiar about Jesus’ biochemistry, but because the God who made the world, and who called Israel to be the bearer of his rescue-operation for the world, was at work in and through Jesus to remake the world. The resurrection was the dramatic launching of this project. (N.T. Wright, Matthew For Everyone, Part 2, 202)
And lest anyone question the reality of Christ’s resurrection, the apostle Paul provided evidence that Christ has risen. Paul reported that eyewitnesses had seen Christ after the resurrection. They included Peter, the other disciples, and more than five hundred people at one some of whom were still living in Paul’s day and could be questioned about what they saw (1 Cor. 15:4—7). Paul also viewed himself as an eyewitness. He placed the resurrection of Jesus Christ at the very heart of the Gospel. (Thomas C. Oden, This We Believe, 136)
The women (Mat. 28:1)
– If the writers of the resurrection accounts wanted to create a compelling case for Jesus’ resurrection to a first-century audience, they sure did a poor job by recording women as being primary witnesses. Their testimonies weren’t even admissible in a court of law. Women just weren’t held in that high regard at that point in history.
The disciples (John 20:19 – the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders)
– On “Good” Friday, the disciples went into hiding in fear. Post-resurrection, they were changed in such a way that they even went to their deaths with confidence in the risen Jesus. While some may die for their deeply-held beliefs, nobody dies for something they KNOW is a lie. The early church was a vast minority at first. They had no power, no influence, no prestige, yet, the apostles were willing to face jail, torture, and death for what they believed.
Saul/Paul (Acts 8 & 9)
– Speaking of torture and death, we have Paul… someone who went on a mission to snuff out the Christian faith violently until he had a personal encounter with the risen Jesus. After this encounter he went on to write much of the new testament and would eventually die for the risen Jesus.
– Eusebius, an early church historian, claimed that Paul was beheaded at the order of the Roman emperor Nero. Paul’s martyrdom occurred shortly after much of the Great Fire of Rome—an event the Nero blamed on the Christians. An event we also have historic record of from a Roman senator and historian named Tacitus.
The 500 (1 Cor. 15:6)
– Later in 1 Cor. 15, Paul writes of the resurrection and mentions that Jesus appeared to more 500 people after the event; most of whom were still alive. Some of these are people Paul would have known after his conversion. With that many witnesses still alive and available for questioning, it’s hard to believe someone could have just made the resurrection up; especially someone like Paul who was enjoying a pretty safe life as a prominent Jew before encountering the risen Jesus.
Jesus’ own siblings turning to him
– If ANYONE would have reason to NOT believe Jesus is who he said he is, it would be his own brother James, yet he converts and goes to his death in belief.
The empty tomb (Mat 28, Mark 16, Luk 24, John 20)
– In Mat. 28:12, we read that the Jewish rulers bribed the guards to lie and say that the body was stolen. The only problem with that is that it still didn’t explain the empty tomb. (that’s still empty by the way.)
The resurrection is the hinge on which all Christianity turns. It’s the foundation on which everything else rests, the capstone that holds everything else about Christianity together. Which means—crucially—that when Christians assert that Jesus rose from the dead, they are making a historical claim, not a religious one. (Greg Gilbert, Who Is Jesus?, 125)
Perhaps the transformation of the disciples of Jesus is the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection, because it is entirely artless. They do not invite us to look at themselves, as they invite us to look at the empty tomb and the collapsed graveclothes and the Lord whom they had seen. We can see the change in them without being asked to look. The men who figure in the pages of the Gospels are new and different men in the Acts. The death of their Master left them despondent, disillusioned, and near to despair. But in the Acts they emerge as men who hazard their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and who turn the world upside down. (John Stott, Basic Christianity, 58)
The argument is not that his resurrection establishes his deity, but that it is consistent with it. It is only to be expected that a supernatural person should come to and leave the earth in a supernatural way. This is in fact what the New Testament teaches and what, in consequence, the church has always believed. His birth was natural, but his conception was supernatural. His death was natural, but his resurrection was supernatural. His miraculous conception and resurrection do not prove his deity, but they are congruous with it. (John Stott, Basic Christianity, 46)
Are we then seriously to believe that Jesus was all the time only in a swoon? That after the rigors and pains of trial, mockery, flogging and crucifixion he could survive thirty-six hours in a stone sepulcher with neither warmth nor food nor medical care? That he could then rally sufficiently to perform the superhuman feat of shifting the boulder which secured the mouth of the tomb, and this without disturbing the Roman guard? That then, weak and sickly and hungry, he could appear to the disciples in such a way as to give them the impression that he had vanquished death ? That he could go on to claim that he had died and risen, could send them into all the world and promise to be with them unto the end of time? That he could live somewhere in hiding for forty days, making occasional surprise appearances, and then finally disappear without any explanation? Such credulity is more incredible than Thomas’ unbelief. (John Stott, Basic Christianity, 49)
This simply does not ring true. It is so unlikely as to be virtually impossible. If anything is clear from the Gospels and the Acts, it is that the apostles were sincere. They may have been deceived, if you like, but they were not deceivers. Hypocrites and martyrs are not made of the same stuff. (John Stott, Basic Christianity, 50)
These are the evidences for the resurrection. The body had disappeared. The graveclothes remained undisturbed. The Lord was seen. And the disciples were changed. There is no adequate explanation of these phenomena other than the great Christian affirmation ‘the Lord is risen indeed’. (John Stott, Basic Christianity, 59)
And lest anyone question the reality of Christ’s resurrection, the apostle Paul provided evidence that Christ has risen. Paul reported that eyewitnesses had seen Christ after the resurrection. They included Peter, the other disciples, and more than five hundred people at one some of whom were still living in Paul’s day and could be questioned about what they saw (1 Cor. 15:4—7). Paul also viewed himself as an eyewitness. He placed the resurrection of Jesus Christ at the very heart of the Gospel. (Thomas C. Oden, This We Believe, 136)
The resurrection takes the question “Is Christianity valid?” out of the realm of philosophy and makes it a question of history. (Josh McDowell, More Than A Carpenter, 125)
Given the brutality of the whipping, as well as his subsequent crucifixion, it is historically certain that Jesus was dead. (Josh McDowell, More Than A Carpenter, 127)
The claim of the resurrection could not have been maintained in Jerusalem for a single day, for a single hour, if the emptiness of the tomb had not been established as a fact for all concerned. (Josh McDowell, More Than A Carpenter, 129)
The Wrong-Tomb Theory
A Theory propounded by British biblical scholar Kirsopp Lake assumes that the women who reported the body missing had mistakenly gone to the wrong tomb that morning. If so, then the disciples who went to check the women’s story must have gone to the wrong tomb as well. We can be certain, however, that the Jewish authorities, who had asked for that Roman guard to be stationed at the tomb to prevent the body from being stolen, would not have been mistaken about the location. (Josh McDowell, More Than A Carpenter, 131)
If a wrong tomb were involved, the Jewish authorities would have lost no time in producing the body from the proper tomb. (Josh McDowell, More Than A Carpenter, 131)
The Hallucination Theory
It is not credible to think that five hundred people could have seen the same hallucination for forty days. (Josh McDowell, More Than A Carpenter, 131)
So where was the actual body of Jesus, and why didn’t those who opposed him produce it?
The Swoon theory
It is impossible that a being who had stolen half-dead out of the sepulcher, who crept about weak and ill, wanting medical treatment, who required bandaging, strengthening and indulgence, and who still at last yielded to his sufferings, could have given to the disciples the impression that he was a Conqueror over death and the grave, the Prince of Life, an impression which lay at the bottom of their future ministry. Such a resuscitation could only have weakened the impression which He had made upon them in life and in death, at the most could only have given it an elegiac voice, but could by no possibility have changed their sorrow into enthusiasm, have elevated their reverence into worship. (David Strauss)
There was no possible advantage to the church to recount that all the first witnesses were women. It could only have undermined the credibility of the testimony. The only possible explanation for why women were depicted as meeting Jesus first is if they really had. (Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, 213)
Paul’s letters show that Christians proclaimed Jesus’s bodily resurrection from the very beginning. That meant the tomb must have been empty. No one in Jerusalem would have believed the preaching for a minute if the tomb was not empty. Skeptics could have easily produced Jesus’s rotted corpse. Also, Paul could not be telling people in a public document that there were scores of eyewitnesses alive if there were not. We can’t permit ourselves the luxury of thinking that the resurrection accounts were only fabricated years later. Whatever else happened, the tomb of Jesus must have really been empty and hundreds of witnesses must have claimed that they saw him bodily raised. (Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, 214)
In not one single case do we hear the slightest mention of the disappointed followers claiming that their hero had been raised from the dead. They knew better. Resurrection was not a private event. Jewish revolutionaries whose leader had been executed by the authorities, and who managed to escape arrest themselves, had two options: give up the revolution, or find another leader. Claiming that the original leader was alive again was simply not an option. Unless, of course, he was. (Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, 216)
There is one more thing to keep in mind. As Pascal put it, “I [believe] those witnesses that get their throats cut.” Virtually all the apostles and early Christian leaders died for their faith, and it is hard to believe that this kind of powerful self-sacrifice would be done to support a hoax. (N.T. Wright, Who was Jesus?, 218)
It is not enough for the skeptic, then, to simply dismiss the Christian teaching about the resurrection of Jesus by saying, “It just couldn’t have happened.” He or she must face and answer all these historical questions: Why did Christianity emerge so rapidly, with such power? No other band of messianic followers in that era concluded their leader was raised from the dead—why did this group do so? No group of Jews ever worshipped a human being as God. What led them to do it? Jews did not believe in divine men or individual resurrections. What changed their worldview virtually overnight? How do you account for the hundreds of eyewitnesses to the resurrection who lived on for decades and publicly maintained their testimony, eventually giving their lives for their belief? (N.T. Wright, Who was Jesus?, 218-219)
Why sacrifice for the needs of others if in the end nothing we do will make any difference? If the resurrection of Jesus happened, however, that means there’s infinite hope and reason to pour ourselves out for the needs of the world. (Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, 220)
The two criminals crucified with Jesus were still alive, and it was getting late in the day on Friday. In any other city, the Romans probably would have let them hang there on the crosses through the night, maybe even giving them bits of food and water so they’d stay alive and suffer for days. They decided not to do that this time, though, not in Jerusalem. Though the Romans kept any conquered people firmly under heel, they were usually relatively respectful of the religious traditions of those they dominated. So it was with the Jews, and the Romans agreed to respect their weekly day of rest, the Sabbath, which ran from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. So when the Jewish rulers asked the governor to do something to make sure the bodies wouldn’t remain on the crosses through the Sabbath, the governor agreed. (Greg Gilbert, Who Is Jesus?, 117)
The resurrection is the hinge on which all Christianity turns. It’s the foundation on which everything else rests, the capstone that holds everything else about Christianity together. Which means—crucially—that when Christians assert that Jesus rose from the dead, they are making a historical claim, not a religious one. (Greg Gilbert, Who Is Jesus?, 125)
Christians aren’t making a religious claim when they say Jesus rose from the grave. They’re making a historical one; they’re saying that this thing happened just as surely and really as it happened that Julius Caesar became emperor of Rome. It’s the kind of claim that can be thought about and investigated; it can be judged, and you can come to a conclusion about it. (Greg Gilbert, Who Is Jesus?, 126)
As a pastor and a teacher, I regularly encourage people to look for bridges for the gospel. A bridge is simply a ready-made opportunity that lends itself toward a spiritual conversation through which we believers might share the truth about Christ and the hope that is found in Him. And as I often tell people, these bridges are all around us, all the time. We just need to have eyes to see them and the boldness, passion, and faith to use them when they present themselves. (Sean McDowell, Apologetics for a New Generation, 176)
In considering the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, it is important to avoid giving the impression that the Christian faith is based on the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. The Christian faith is based on the event of the resurrection. It is not based on the evidence for the resurrection. This distinction is crucial. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 7)
It is the absence of God that ultimately makes man the Cosmic Orphan. It is the grim finality of death that makes his life a tragedy. Even if God did exist and had created man, it would still be a tragedy if a personal being like man should have no better fate than to be forever extinguished in death. Death is certainly man’s greatest enemy. In losing God, modern man has lost immortality as well. Death means eternal annihilation. This prospect robs life of its meaning and fullness. It makes the life of man no better than the life of a cow or horse, only more tragic. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 11)
Many people wonder how God could create a world with so much evil in it. But they seem to overlook the fact that most of that evil is the result of man’s free choices. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 12)
The religion of science glorifies one aspect of reality as though it were the whole of reality. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 19)
The obvious sincerity of the disciples is evident in their suffering and dying for what they believed. The Christian thinkers here picked up Eusebius’s argument. To charge the disciples with a cheap hoax flies in the face of their all too apparent sincerity. It is impossible to deny that the disciples honestly believed that Jesus had risen from the dead, in light of their life of suffering and their dying for this truth. Reimarus’s contention that the disciples made this up so they could continue their “easy life” of preaching is nothing but a poor joke. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 26)
The change in the disciples shows they had not invented the resurrection. After the crucifixion the disciples were confused, defeated, fearful, and burdened with sorrow. Suddenly they changed, becoming fearless preachers of Jesus’ resurrection. They suffered bravely and confidently for this fact. They went from the depths of despair to the boldest certainty. This incredible change in the disciples showed that they were not merely lying, but were absolutely convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 27)
The testimonies of the Roman authors Seutonius and Juvenal confirm that within thirty-one years after Jesus’ death, Christians were dying for their faith. From the writings of Pliny the Younger, Martial, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, it is clear that the believers voluntarily submitted to torture and death rather than renounce their faith. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 29)
The apocryphal books were never treated in the above manner. The apocryphal books were forgeries, which were written in the second century after Christ. They purported to be writings of the apostles and carried titles like the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Thomas, and so forth. It is a simple historical fact that during the first three hundred years, with one exception, no apocryphal gospel was ever even quoted by any known writer. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 34)
The historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus consists primarily in the evidence supporting three main facts: the empty tomb of Jesus, the appearances of Jesus to his disciples, and the origin of the Christian faith. If it can be shown that the tomb of Jesus was found empty, that He did appear to His disciples and others after His death, and that the origin of the Christian faith cannot be explained adequately apart from His historical resurrection, then if there is no plausible natural explanation for these facts, one is amply justified in concluding that Jesus really did rise from the dead. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 45)
Some modern theologians have objected to this conclusion because it infers from the facts that Jesus rose from the dead, and we are not bound to accept that inference. But not only would such an objection destroy all knowledge of history whatsoever, it would also destroy virtually all knowledge in practical affairs, thus making life impossible. For example, if one day we heard shots from a neighbor’s house and saw a man fleeing from the house, and if we found our neighbor dead on the living room floor, and if the police apprehended the fleeing man, and fingerprint and ballistics tests showed that he was carrying the murder weapon, then, if these theologians were correct, we could still not conclude that he shot our neighbor, since this is an inference. But such evidence is accepted in any court of law. The point is that the truth of an inference should be proved beyond any reasonable doubt. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 45)
The burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea is probably historical. Arimathea is likely to be the town Ramathaion-zophim, just north of Jersusalem. Joseph is said to be a member of the Council, that is, the Sanhedrin, which was a sort of Jewish Supreme Court that tried cases dealing with Jewish law. The Great Sanhedrin, which tried important life-and-death cases, consisted of seventy-one prominent and influential men. Even the most skeptical scholars acknowledge that Joseph was probably the genuine, historical individual who buried Jesus, since it is unlikely that early Christian believers would invent an individual, give him a name and nearby town of origin, and place that fictional character on the historical council of the Sanhedrin, whose members were well known. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 53)
The tomb used for Jesus’ burial is consistently described as an acrosolia or bench tomb. Archaeology confirms that such tombs were used in Jesus’ day, but only by wealthy or prominent persons. The tomb is described as having a roll-stone for a door. Again archaeology demonstrates the use of such tombs in Jesus’ day, but only by the rich. John says the tomb was situated in some sort of garden, a fact shown to be consistent with the location of the tombs of notables. At the same time, the different gospel writers mention that Joseph was a prominent Jewish leader, that he was wealthy, and that he owned the tomb in which he laid Jesus. In other words, he is exactly the sort of man who would own a tomb such as that described in the gospels. The gospels also say the tomb was unused, which is plausible in light of Jewish beliefs about defilement. Joseph is said to be a secret disciple, and that makes sense of his placing Jesus’ corpse in his own tomb. It is the interweaving of all those separate and incidental details that makes the historical credibility of Joseph’s burial of Jesus in his tomb so impressive. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 57)
That, however, created a new problem. Although Jewish law permitted burial after nightfall, it did not permit burial on a Sabbath. Since the Sabbath-Passover began at sunset, the Jews had to get rid of the bodies before nightfall. It would have been most convenient to dump the bodies in the criminals’ common graveyard. But Joseph chose to give Jesus a proper burial, which was possible apparently because the tomb he owned was near. Thus, according to all the gospels, Joseph finished the burial of Jesus just as evening came. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 58)
It has been objected that the gospel stories of the discovery of the empty tomb do not speak of “the third day,” but of “the first day Of the week.” But according to the Jewish manner of reckoning days, the first day of the week was the third day after the crucifixion. The Jews counted a part of a day as being a whole day. Thus, Jesus was in the tomb late Friday afternoon (one day), all day Saturday (one day), and pre-dawn Sunday (one day); hence, the tomb was found empty on the third day. In fact, when we remember that the Jewish day began at sundown, then, as crazy as it may seem to us, if Jesus had been buried at five o’clock on Friday evening, and had risen at seven o’clock on Saturday evening, the Jew could quite properly say that he was raised on the third day. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 71)
But why did the early Christian saying use “on the third day” instead of “on the first day of the week”? Here we must look into the Old Testament. In the Old Testament we find that God sometimes acted on the third day to resolve a crisis or deliver His people or perform a mighty act (Genesis 22:4; Exodus 19:11, 16; 1 Samuel 30:1-2; 2 Kings 20:5,8; Esther 5:1; Hosea 6:2). In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the phrase “on the third day” is translated by a rather awkward expression. The Christian saying uses exactly the same awkward expression. This suggests that the saying is using the language of the Old Testament to emphasize that the resurrection was also an act of God’s deliverance and might. That suggestion gains in plausibility from the phrase following “on the third day” in the saying “he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 71)
The discovery of the empty tomb by women is highly probable. Given the low status of women in Jewish society and their lack of qualification to serve as legal witnesses, it is very likely that their discovery of the empty tomb is not a later legendary development, but the truth. Otherwise men would have been used to discover the empty tomb. We have seen that all the gospels agree that the disciples remained in Jerusalem over the weekend and therefore could have been made to discover the empty tomb. The fact that women, whose witness counted for nothing, are said to have discovered the empty tomb makes it very credible historically that such was the case. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 77)
It would have been impossible-for the disciples to proclaim the resurrection in Jerusalem had the tomb not been empty. It would have been impossible for a Jew to believe in a resurrection if the man’s body were still in the grave. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 82)
There was no motive for stealing the body. Tomb robbers would have no reason to break into the tomb, since nothing valuable was buried with the corpse. Moreover, robbers are after the goods interred with the body, not the body itself. Why then would they carry off the dead man’s body, and what would they do with it? It is conceivable that enemies of Jesus might desecrate the tomb, but again, it would be pointless for them to haul off the corpse and hide it. (2) Apparently no one (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 86)
- H. Dodd observes, “There can hardly be any purpose in mentioning the fact that most of the five hundred are still alive, unless Paul is saying, in effect, ‘the witnesses are there to be questioned.’ ” (94) (C. H. Dodd, “The Appearances of the Risen Christ: A study in the form criticism of the Gospels,” in More New Testament Studies (Manchester: U. of Manchester Press, 1968), . 128.)
What is really amazing about this is that none of Jesus’ younger brothers, including James, believed in Jesus during His lifetime (Mark 3:21,31-35; John 7:1-10). John tells a rather ugly story of how Jesus’ brothers tried to goad Him into a death trap by showing Himself publicly at the feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem when the authorities were looking for Him. We do not hear much more about them until to our surprise they are found in the Christian fellowship in Jerusalem shortly after the resurrection (Acts 1:14)! (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 96)
How is that to be explained? It is historically well-founded that James and his brothers were not believers in Jesus during His lifetime. Not only do we have independent sources attesting to that fact, which is quite plausible in itself, but more important, it is highly improbable that, had Jesus’ brothers been loyal believers in Him all along, the early Christian fellowship in which they served would have invented such vicious and wholly fictional stories about them in the gospels. But if it is certain that Jesus’ brothers were unbelievers during His lifetime, it is equally certain that they became fervent believers after His death. How can that be? Though their brother’s crucifixion might pierce their hearts, it certainly could not have caused them to worship Him as Messiah and Lord, as the early Christians did. When I think about this, I sometimes shake my head in amazement. Many of us have brothers. What would it take for you to die for the belief that your brother is the Lord, as James did? Even Hans Grass exclaims that one of the surest proofs of Jesus’ resurrection is that His own brothers came to believe in Him. 5 This remarkable transformation cannot be explained, except by the fact that, as Paul says, “then he appeared to James.” (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 97)
The controlling presence of living eyewitnesses would prevent significant accrual of legend. When the gospel accounts were formed, eyewitnesses to what did and did not happen were still alive. Their presence would act as a check on any legends that might begin to arise. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 106)
Legends do not arise significantly until the generation of eyewitnesses dies off. Hence, legends are given no ground for growth as long as witnesses are alive who remember the facts. In the case of the resurrection narratives, the continued presence of the twelve disciples, the women, and the others who saw Jesus alive from the dead would prevent legend from significantly accruing. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 107)
in a hallucination, a person experiences nothing new. That in because the hallucination is a projection of his own mind. Hence, hallucinations cannot exceed the content of a person’s mind. But as we shall see, the resurrection of Jesus involved ideas utterly foreign to the disciples’ minds. They could not of their own, therefore, have projected hallucinations of Jesus alive from the dead. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 121)
The hallucination hypothesis seeks to account only for part of the evidence, namely, the appearances. But it does nothing to account for the empty tomb. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 121)
It is quite clear that without the belief in the resurrection the Christian faith could not have come into being. The disciples would have remained crushed and defeated men. Even had they continued to remember Jesus as their beloved teacher, His crucifixion would have forever silenced any hopes of His being the Messiah. The cross would have remained the sad and shameful end to His career. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 128)
It is not enough for a skeptic glibly to assert that there might have been some cause of the resurrection other than God; rather he must name that cause, and explain its operation in this unique instance. For the resurrection of Jesus so far exceeds the causal power of nature that nothing that we have learned in the two thousand years that have elapsed since that remarkable event enables us to account for its occurrence. Most men recognize this truth, as is evident from the fact that those who have opposed the resurrection have always tried to explain away the facts without admitting that Jesus was raised. Once it is admitted that Jesus really did rise transformed from the dead, the conclusion that God raised Him up is virtually inescapable. Only a sterile, academic skepticism resists this inevitable inference. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 137)
As Gerald O’Collins puts it, “In a profound sense, Christianity without the resurrection is not simply Christianity without its final chapter. It is not Christianity at all.” (136) Gerald O’Collins, The Easter Jesus (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1973), p. 134.
As the one who decisively conquered death, Jesus is the one to whom we must turn for victory over man’s most dreaded enemy. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 141)
Jesus’ teaching therefore holds out hope for man in the face of death. The grave is not the end. At history’s end we shall be raised up by God and simultaneously transformed into persons having glorious, supernatural bodies. We shall never again experience disease or deformity or aging. We shall have powers that the present body in no way possesses. We shall apparently overcome the limits of space, so that travel from one point to another may be accomplished instantaneously. At the same time we shall still be ourselves, as recognizable to others as Jesus was to His disciples after His resurrection. Evil will be gone, along with all the ugly sins that men have committed against one another. And death will be forever vanquished, never again to hold sway over man. What a wonderful prospect! What a hope! (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 143)
Thus the resurrection of Jesus offers to man both God and immortality. It is almost too wonderful, too incredible to believe. But the facts are there. God has revealed Himself in history, and the evidence is there for all to see. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 143)
On the basis of Jesus’ death and resurrection, God can freely forgive man, for the penalty has been paid by God Himself. But again, God does not force this pardon on anyone. We are not puppets. God offers forgiveness to us; it is up to us to accept or reject. The final point tells how we may appropriate the new life God offers. (William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, 148)
