The resurrection is at the very heart of Christianity. We could say it is the very heart of Christianity for, “if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (I Corinthians 15:14). Then in verse 17, we read: “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” Thank God for the many infallible proofs of the resurrection. One of which is found in Matthew 28:5-6 “And the angel answered back and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. Matthew 28:6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay”.

For some Christianity is an idyllic religion that offers peace, calm, tranquillity and “heaven”. Many come seeking these things. They are seekers, not believers. But, then some seekers learn it is a historic religion that offers light, truth, significance, and reality. The resurrection is the key. It holds all the faith of the Gospel together. The resurrection is the foundation of the church. The Bible has many infallible proofs of the resurrection.

1 – The Word of Christ, the Son of God

The Crucifixion was no surprise to the Lord Jesus. He had been speaking of it for months. He also spoke of His resurrection. He spoke of His coming forth out of the grave. Jesus is God, and God cannot lie. Six times the Bible records Jesus saying that He would rise:

• Early in His ministry, at the temple. See John 2:18-22.
• When Jesus was in Galilee, He spoke of His resurrection. See Matthew 12:38-40.
• In Matthew 16:21, Jesus tells His disciples that it is in the sovereign plan of God the Father that He go to Jerusalem, be killed, and rise again.
• Then in Matthew 17:22-23, Jesus tells of the betrayal that will take place leading to His crucifixion and resurrection.
• In John 10:11 & 18, Jesus tells the disciples that He is the Good Shepherd that will lay down His life and take it up again.
• Matthew 20:17-19 tells of Jesus going to Jerusalem to be condemned to die and rise again the third day.

2 – The testimony of the Apostles

The Apostles over and over speak of themselves as being eyewitnesses of the resurrection. They did not base their preaching and teaching on the reports of others; they had seen the resurrected Christ. See Luke 24:33-43.

When one of Jesus’ inner circle defected and betrayed Him, the other apostles ran for their lives. Even Peter, who earlier had insisted that he was ready to die for his teacher, lost heart and denied that he even knew Jesus. But the apostles went through a dramatic change. Within a few weeks, they were standing face to face with the ones who had crucified their leader. Their spirit was like iron. They became unstoppable in their determination to sacrifice everything for the one they called Saviour and Lord. Even after they were imprisoned, threatened, and forbidden to speak in the name of Jesus, the apostles said to the Jewish leaders, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). After they were beaten for disobeying the orders of the Jewish council, these once-cowardly apostles “did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42).

But the most telling testimony of all must be the lives of those early Christians. We must ask ourselves: What caused them to go everywhere telling the message of the risen Christ? Had there been any visible benefits accrued to them from their efforts—prestige, wealth, increased social status or material benefits—we might logically attempt to account for their actions, for their whole-hearted and total allegiance to this “risen Christ.”

As a reward for their efforts, however, those early Christians were beaten, stoned to death, thrown to the lions, tortured and crucified. Every conceivable method was used to stop them from talking. Yet, they laid down their lives as the ultimate proof of their complete confidence in the truth of their message.

3 – The witness of the Church

See 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. There were a large number of witnesses of Christ after that resurrection morning. One of the earliest records of Christ’s appearance after the resurrection is by Paul. The apostle appealed to his audience’s knowledge of the fact that Christ had been seen by more than 500 people at one time. Paul reminded them that the majority of those people were still alive and could be questioned. Paul says in effect, ‘If you do not believe me, you can ask them.’ Such a statement in an admittedly genuine letter written within thirty years of the event is almost as strong evidence as one could hope to get for something that happened nearly two thousand years ago. Let’s take the more than 500 witnesses who saw Jesus alive after His death and burial, and place them in a courtroom.

Do you realise that if each of those 500 people were to testify for only six minutes, including cross-examination, you would have an amazing 50 hours of first hand testimony? Add to this the testimony of many other eyewitnesses and you would well have the largest and most lopsided trial in history.

4 – The testimony of the empty tomb

The two Marys came to the empty tomb and saw the angels and received their testimony of the risen Lord. See Matthew 28:6. Shortly thereafter Peter and John ran to the empty tomb finding the linen clothes lying there. See John 20:3-7. There are many instances of our Lord appearing to the disciples. At the ascension, the disciples watched as Christ ascended to the Father in heaven. See Acts 1:8-11. Many lived before Christ. Many were there during the days of Christ. But many more live today, long after Christ lived on this earth.

Categories: Acts