10 Reasons To Believe In The Resurrection of Jesus

Resurrection Sunday is here! This is a week where Christians zero in on the death and resurrection of Jesus and celebrate with joyful hope the forgiveness of sins, a future resurrection, and an evil-free eternity with our creator. As we celebrate this time, it can increase our confidence to look at the reasons we have for trusting this historical event. Here are 10 reasons (or evidences) to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus.

Reason #1 – The Gospel authors say so

Skeptics are quick to dismiss the gospel accounts of Jesus because they were written by biased authors. But this is a silly objection! Every author is biased. In fact, an author with much at stake (like our Gospel authors) are actually in a better position to get the facts right. The question is not whether or not the authors are biased, but are they reliable? Using a host of methods – internal consistency, harmony, criteria of embarrassment, archaeology, other ancient texts, and so much more – we can demonstrate with a high level of confidence that our Gospel authors are telling the truth. And because we can trust their accounts, we can be confident the resurrection occurred.

Reason #2 – The empty tomb

All four Gospels mention the empty tomb of Jesus. Before the gospels were even written, the early church was teaching and preaching an empty tomb. The burial of Jesus happened in Jerusalem, as did the first preaching of his resurrection. If the body was still there, how would such a message have even gotten off the ground? Additionally, the first reporters of the empty tomb were women, individuals who had little credibility in that culture. Why include such an embarrassing detail into your story? Finally, the Jews were circulating rumors that the disciples stole the body of Jesus. This rumor is given additional plausibility due to an archaeological find, the Nazareth Inscription. This inscription was an edict warning persons from removing bodies from graves under penalty of law. There is ample evidence to suggest an empty tomb, and an empty tomb suggests a bodily resurrection.

Reason #3 – Post crucifixion appearances

The New Testament is full of accounts of Jesus appearing to his followers in bodily form after his crucifixion. They appear in all four gospels multiple times, in the book of Acts, and even in the Epistles. You can’t read 1st century Christian writings without repeatedly stumbling upon bodily appearances of Jesus. This demands an explanation, and the resurrection is the most plausible one. Scores of lies, mass hallucinations, and all the rest just aren’t plausible solutions to these appearances.

Reason #4 – Persecution & martyrdom

Two facts are well established about the early followers of Jesus. They experienced intense persecution and many of them died for their profession of Jesus’ resurrection. According to research in Dr. Sean McDowell’s The Fate of the Apostles, all the apostles either died as martyrs or were willing to die for their beliefs about Jesus. Men don’t die for things they know to be a lie. These men and women were in a position to know whether or not Jesus bodily rose from the dead. If they died for that belief, we have good reason to trust their claims.

Reasons #5 – The belief of the disciples in the resurrection

While people in the first century did believe in life after death, the belief in a bodily resurrection was not common. Some Jews believed in a bodily resurrection at the last day and others did not. Jews had many beliefs about what the coming Messiah would do, but a bodily resurrection was not on their radar. What caused a ragtag group of Jewish men to boldly and with full conviction believe and proclaim the bodily resurrection of Jesus? This demands an explanation that only the resurrection of Jesus seems to explain.

Reason #6 – The worship of Jesus as God

The first proclaimers of the Christian message were devout Jews. What distinguished Jews from nearly every other religious group was their strict adherence to monotheism, the belief in only one God. But even more, their belief in this God of Sinai including attributes like his transcendence, spiritual essence, and unchanging nature. To believe a man was God and worship him as such (which the disciples certainly did), something remarkable must have happened. This sort of radical belief doesn’t happen without a worldview smashing event like the resurrection.

Reason #7 – Worship and celebration on Sunday

From the very earliest days of Christianity (Acts 20:7, 1 Cor. 16:2) until the present day, Christians have celebrated the resurrection of Jesus on Sunday. The Lord’s Day (as it called) did no replace the Sabbath of the Old Covenant Jewish system, but it immediately became a day of worship after the death of Jesus. Once again, such a widespread and sudden observance by Sabbath keeping Jews demands and explanation that the resurrection of Jesus makes the most sense of.

Reason #8 – The conversion of Jesus haters

During the lifetime of Jesus and even after his death, many did not believe his divine claims. Two such individuals are James (the brother of Jesus) and the Apostle Paul. James grew up with Jesus, saw his life, and was a doubter of his brother’s claims (John 7:5). Yet after the death of Jesus, James becomes a believer and loses his life in defense of that belief. Paul, a hater and persecutor of Christians, radically changes his position and becomes a diehard believer and defender of the Gospel message. What could possibly have caused these radical conversions in men who were in a position to know the truth of the matter? The best explanation seems to be a real encounter with the resurrected Jesus.

Reason #9 – The existence of the Church

Anything that begins to exist demands a cause for its existence. This is true of the American Revolution, the universe, and Christianity. The first century church came into being and spread like wildfire because of one primary belief: Jesus rose from the grave. This was not some secondary belief to achieve other temporal political aims (like Islam or Mormonism). What could convince thousands – spread across various lands, religious groups, and cultures - in such a short time to begin worshiping a man they believed to be God? It seems that only an event like the resurrection can make sense of this phenomenon.

Reason #10 – The resurrection fulfills a deep human longing

The author of Ecclesiastes says that God has placed eternity in the heart of man. This verse appears truer with each passing year. Though my body ages, the inner me is still me. And though death is coming, it seem fundamentally wrong, and in my heart of hearts I can’t believe it is the end of my existence. But what can give me hope? Is there some external reason that corresponds with this deep intuition? Indeed there is! The resurrection of Jesus takes the universal intuition and hope of eternal life and makes sense of it. The rusty lock of death finally has a key, one that supremely satisfies my deepest longings.

The Cumulative Case For The Resurrection

The case for the resurrection is like a murder trial. Many witnesses are called to the stand. Physical evidence is assessed. Motives are weighed, hypothesis are analyzed, and cases are built. While some trails are won on the basis of one or two key witnesses, the best cases are made with a variety of direct and indirect evidence. A single strand is easily snapped, but intertwine three or four and the rope cannot be broken. The case for the resurrection is strong, not because we have one or two great eyewitnesses (though we do have that and more), but because we have various strands of evidence, that when weighed together, make the conclusion persuasively strong. Not only is the bodily resurrection of Jesus the best explanation for all the facts, but no other explanation comes close in terms of explanatory power or scope.

So celebrate the resurrection, for he is indeed risen!