To Die For a Lie

How do we know Jesus rose from the dead?

If secularists could prove that this one “little” event never took place, there would be no Christianity. If Jesus died but didn’t come back, He would have been no different than any other teacher and His claims about being God would have obviously been false.

As the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:14 (NIV), “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

Did Jesus Die?

First off, there are writings from several non-Christian historians who talk about Jesus and how he was crucified by the Romans. So even if you don’t believe in the Bible, the fact that Jesus existed and was killed is irrefutable.

There are some who say that maybe Jesus didn’t actually die in the first place, or that if He did, the disciples stole the body and claimed that He had risen. Let me tell you now why I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus came back.

First off, He did die. He was brutally whipped, for starters. That alone would’ve been enough to put Him an inch from death. Then He was nailed to a cross, where He hung for hours. And to top it all off, a spear was thrust into His side. Plus these are the Romans we’re talking about. Knowing what history tells us about their crucifixion practices, they would have made sure He was dead.

By this standard, we know there’s no possible chance He could’ve simply woken up three days later and rolled a massive stone aside.

Did The Disciples Interfere?

There’s also no way the disciples could’ve gotten into the tomb. First off, it was guarded by several heavily-armed Roman soldiers, not to mention the tombstone.

What if the guards were sleeping? The Bible actually discusses the very thing – in fact, the Pharisees bribed the Roman guards to say that. But even if they were sleeping, you’d think they would hear the grunts and commotion of the disciples as a massive stone was rolled aside.

Additionally, the penalty for a Roman guard who slept on the job was death. Could one guard have fallen asleep? Maybe. But all of them at the same time? Not possible.

There’s Only One Option…

This leaves us with the Bible’s explanation: one of God’s angels rolled the stone aside. And Jesus, being God, came back from the dead, conquering even death itself. Not only that, but paying for our sins in the process.

After He came back, He spent 40 days on earth before returning to Heaven. But He didn’t leave us on our own. Jesus blessed us with an incredible gift called the Holy Spirit, who allows us to do great things and be filled with His strength.

After Jesus, Christianity Continued To Grow.

Persecution came soon after He left, but by no means did it stop the spread of Christianity. Like a wildfire, Jesus’ message travelled. It was the persecution that fanned the flames. What started in Jerusalem soon spread to the rest of Israel, followed by the world.

Even those who were most adamantly against Christianity came to realize its significance. The apostle Paul was the staunchest of Jesus’ haters, but came to be His most ardent supporter.

Not only that, but all of Jesus’ disciples (save John), died for their faith, as have millions of others throughout the years. If Christianity was merely a fabricated lie, there’s no way people would’ve been willing to get tortured and die for it. They had to have believed with 100% sincerity that Jesus was God, and that He came back.

Christianity Will Never Fade.

As Jesus said in Matthew 24:35 (NIV), “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” 2000 years later, that statement remains true. How many things have endured for that long? How many books have survived 20 centuries, while sales continue to rise and its influence continues to spread?

The truth is, Jesus did return from the dead, and forgives our sins so we can spend eternity with Him. And Christianity has endured despite immense persecution these 20 centuries for a very intentional reason: to reach you.

Jesus wants a relationship with you. It’s why He was willing to be betrayed, denied, arrested, humiliated, spat on, slapped, falsely accused, whipped, nailed, suffocated, stabbed, and murdered. For you. It’s crazy, but it’s what happened. It’s a story no author could write because it’s so ludicrous. But it’s fact.

Jesus extends His hand, scarred as it is, to you today. Will you take it?

Will you believe Jesus rose from the dead for you?