The Resurrection of Jesus - Part 6

Although, as already stated, no reputable scholar has ever doubted the emptiness of the tomb in which the mortal body of Jesus had been laid there have been, over the centuries, many attempts to explain that emptiness without recourse to the miracle of the resurrection.

The earliest recorded attempt was, of course, that by the chief priests.  Matthew records that, after the women had gone to tell the disciples this wondrous news that he was not dead, but was risen, "... behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sum of money to the soldiers and said, 'Tell people, And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.' So they took the money and did as they were directed; and this story has been spread among the Jews to this day." (Matt 28:11-15).   Such a story takes a lot of believing.  It ignores the fact that the disciples were afraid of the Jewish hierarchy (see John 20:19).  It ignores the fact that soldiers knew that they were responsible, with their own lives, for the safekeeping of any prisoner - even One Who had been crucified - and simply wouldn't have fallen asleep while on duty.  It ignores the fact that there was nowhere where the disciples could have hidden the Body, that would not have been discovered by the Jewish and/or Roman authorities.

Another suggestion is that Jesus didn't actually die, but 'merely' swooned on the cross; revived in the tomb; and let Himself out; convincing all of those with whom He met that He had been resurrected.  Once again, one does not have to be a criminal lawyer to pick large holes in such a suggestion.  It ignores the fact that this Man had undergone, not just crucifixion, but also the sleeplessness, lack of food and water, physical abuse, and flogging of the twelve hours (or thereabouts) prior to that crucifixion.  This suggestion expects us to believe that Jesus, in this extremely weak state, could revive; slip out of the grave-clothes in such a way as to leave them undisturbed; move that heavy stone - from inside the tomb, where He would have had to depend on obtaining sufficient 'friction grip' with the palms of His hands - up that incline; carry it a distance from the tomb; get past the guards; acquire some suitable clothing; and appear to His disciples looking as strong as He apparently did!   John Stott suggests, concerning this theory: "Such credulity is more incredible than Thomas' unbelief" (Basic Christianity).

Another popular 'explanation' is that the women went to the wrong tomb!  Not only would that have been highly unlikely (how many of us would go to the wrong grave, just a few days after the burial of a dear friend?) but, if it had been the case, would not the authorities have quickly produced the Body from the correct tomb, and paraded it around Jerusalem in order to scotch these crazy rumours once-and-for-all?

Yet others suggest that it was the authorities, themselves, who moved the Body in order to ensure that the tomb didn't become some sort of 'pilgrimage site', and a focus for future rebellion.  This theory is no more reasonable than the suggestion that the disciples removed the Body.  Oh, of course, it immediately gets around the difficulty of getting it past the guards.  However, once again, all that the authorities had to do to destroy the testimony of the disciples, was to parade the Body around Jerusalem.

Of course, the whole thing may just be the result of hallucination!  All of the alleged post-resurrection appearances were nothing more than wishful thinking translated into visions!  One of the problems for those who propound such a theory is that we now know a lot about hallucinations.  We know, for example, that only particular kinds of people are subject to hallucination.  These are highly-strung, highly imaginative, nervous types.  Yet the recorded appearances of the risen Jesus were to a variety of people with differing psychological make-ups.  We also know that an hallucination is a very personal experience.   You and I may both hallucinate simultaneously.  But we will not experience the same hallucination.  The pink elephant that you see walking into the room, will be seen by me as a yellow submarine floating on the table-top.  If we both see the pink elephant, it will be at different times, and in different places.  Yet the risen Jesus appeared to groups of people of varying sizes - and, on one occasion at least, to over five hundred people, simultaneously. (see I Cor.15:6).  No modern psychologist would accept that this was all nothing more than hallucination!

There is, in fact, only one explanation that accords fully with all of the known evidence.  That explanation is "... that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, ... " (I Cor 15:3-4).

The decision is now yours to make.  The evidence speaks for itself.  It says very clearly:

"Christ is risen; He is risen indeed!"

Each of us must ask ourselves that question that Pilate put to the crowd: "... what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"  (Matt 27:22).  Upon our answer to that question depends our eternal destiny!

The Resurrection of Jesus - Part 5

So, here we are, with the fifth part of this series of posts dealing with the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus the Christ.  Can we summarise the positive evidence for this momentous event in the history of planet Earth?  I believe that we can.

First of all, as already mentioned, there is the fact that Jesus was dead!  It may seem that this is one of those self-evident statements that do not need to be made - but there are those who claim that it is not true.

However, let us consider, again, the purpose of crucifixion.  It was, simply and plainly, to kill the victim.  It was the execution of the death penalty.  The survival of someone who was crucified was as likely as the survival of someone strapped to the electric chair; placed in the gas chamber; hanged from a gallows; stood before a firing squad.  It simply didn't happen.  When the words of the Apostles' Creed state that "He was crucified, dead, and buried;" that is exactly what happened.

But there is specific evidence that He died!  John, who was an eye-witness of the terrible deed, recorded something that would not have had any particular meaning to a Galilean fisherman of some 2,000 years ago, but that God the Holy Spirit ensured that he wrote!  In John 19:34-35, he writes "... one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness - his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth - that you also may believe."  Now, medical experts assure us that, if Jesus had still been alive when the soldier pierced His side, then strong spurts of blood would have emerged with every heart-beat.  What John saw, however, was not even (as I used to think!) two separate spurts, side-by-side - a bit like dual flavoured ice-cream from a 'Softy' machine.  What he saw was the seeping out of a watery serum, containing semi-solid clots of blood.  This, to a modern pathologist, is clear evidence of massive clotting of the blood, and is exceptionally strong medical proof of death.  John, of course, would have had no idea of that significance to a modern medic.  That spear-thrust, and its outcome, is positive proof that Jesus had died.

The emptiness of the tomb has already been mentioned, and will be mentioned again.  But it, too, is rock-hard (no pun intended!) evidence that Jesus had risen from the dead.  For example, the seal was broken.  This was not, of course, some form of air-tight seal around the circumference of the stone disc. It was a legal seal, by which a cord would have been fastened across the stone, and sealed at each end by the "... the leading priests and Pharisees ..." (Matt.27:62; 65-66).  To have been caught breaking such a seal would have had dire consequences indeed!   The guard, too, was an attempt by the Jewish hierarchy to keep the Body of Jesus under their control!  But if death itself could not hold Him, what chance had a group of Temple soldiers?!

Even the stone bears witness to the resurrection.  Someone has said that it was removed, not to let Jesus out, but to allow the witnesses to go in!  However, the language used by the evangelists is of great interest.  Remembering that this 'stone' was not just some convenient, but large boulder, but a specially shaped stone disc, like a very large millstone (without the central hole, of course!). It would have been upright, in a groove that was slightly inclined, and a chock would have been used to keep it away from the entrance.  When the chock was removed, the stone rolled down in the groove, and at an angle against the rock-face.  Little wonder that the women were concerned about moving it!  When we check the original Greek text, we discover that prepositions are used that clearly indicate that the stone was separated from the tomb, at such a distance that it appeared to have been picked up, and carried away!

Finally (for this post) there are the post-resurrection appearances of the risen Lord.  These appearances were to individuals and small groups (e.g. Mary Magdalene, the two on the road to Emmaus), and to larger groups (e.g. the disciples, the group of more than five hundred of whom Paul speaks - I Cor.15:6).  These were people who had not expected the resurrection; yet who then went on to "... turn the world upside down ..." (Acts 17:6).

Evidence?  Many have been convicted in modern law-courts on evidence that is less compelling!  Until tomorrow!

The Resurrection of Jesus - Part 4

It's Sunday, early in the morning.  Some women, "... who had come with [Jesus] from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how His body was laid; then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.  On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had prepared.  And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the Body." (Luke 23:55-24:3).

Why did these women prepare spices, and return to anoint the Body of Jesus?  For the very simple reason that they expected to find it there!  Indeed, Mark records that there only concern was about who would roll the large stone disc from the entrance to the tomb - itself hewn out of the solid rock (Mark 16:3).  Were they unaware of the seal that the high priest had left to ensure that the tomb was undisturbed?  Did they think that they might manage to persuade the soldiers to attend to the heavy work?  Were they even aware that a guard had been set?!  We don't know!  the only thing of which we may be certain is that they fully expected a body to be there to anoint.

As we amalgamate the four Gospel records we discover that, as the women arrived, "... there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men." (Matt 28:2-4).  Mark's account states that, having arrived at the tomb, the women "... saw that the stone was rolled back; - it was very large.  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified. He has risen, He is not here; see the place where they laid Him." (Mark 16:4-6).  This young man (the angel?), instructed them to tell the disciples - especially Peter, who was undoubtedly still smarting form his denial of the Lord, and who needed this special word of encouragement - and the women, understandably, fled!  However, they did as they had been told, and, according to John, Mary Magdalene "... went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.'  Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and, stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on His head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself." (John 20:2-7)  Peter and John then returned home; but Mary - who must have followed them to the tomb - remained, weeping.  It was at this point that she had that amazing encounter with the risen Jesus.

The major point that this record makes is that the tomb was empty!  At least, it was empty of the Body of Jesus.  The grave-clothes were there; the piece of linen that had been wrapped around the head was there; but of the Body, there was no trace.  And this is something that has never been disputed by any serious scholar, because the evidence is so overwhelming.  J.N.D.Anderson - a former lawyer and professor of Oriental Law in the University of London, has written: "Have you noticed that the references to the empty tomb all come in the Gospels, which were written to give the Christian community the facts they wanted to know?  In the public preaching to those who were not believers, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, there is an enormous emphasis on the fact of the resurrecetion, but not a single reference to the empty tomb.  Now, why?  To me there is only one answer: There was no point in arguing about the empty tomb.  Everyone, friend and opponent, knew that it was empty.  The only questions worth arguing about were why it was empty, and what its emptiness proved."

These are still the important questions, today.

The Resurrection of Jesus - Part 3

It is possible to concentrate so much on the crucifixion of Jesus, that the hours beforehand are all but overlooked.  This is a major mistake. Let's think, all too briefly, of some of what happened, from the moment when, led by Judas Iscariot, the soldiers - accompanied by the leading priests, and the elders - arrested Him in the Garden of Gethsemane (Lk.22:47ff). 

First of all, He was taken to the home of Annas, father-in-law of the High Priest where He was questioned about His teaching.  Then He was sent to Caiaphas, the High Priest, where He was 'tried' (if it can be called a trial) and found guilty of blasphemy.  Then He was taken to the Roman Procurator, Pontius Pilate - where the main charge suddenly became one of telling people not to pay their taxes (an outright lie!).  Pilate then discovered that Jesus was a Galilean, and had Him taken to Herod Antipas, who was in Jerusalem at the time - possibly for the Passover.  Herod had Jesus returned to Pilate, who then tried to have Him released.  The chief priests were having none of this, and informed Pilate that, if he let this Man go free, then he was "... no friend of Caesar" (Jn.19:12).  Neither for the first, nor the last, time, political expediency won the day!

Of course, all of this was not done with sensitivity and compassion.  During these trials, Jesus was knocked about; butted with spears; spat upon; and mocked.  Then Pilate decided that He should be flogged and crucified.  The flogging has been described thus: "The adjudged criminal was usually first forcefully stripped of his clothes, and then tied to a post or pillar in the tribunal.  Then the awful and cruel scourging was administered by the lictors or scourgers.  Although the Hebrews limited by their law the number of strokes in a scourging to forty, the Romans set no such limitation; and the victim was at the mercy of his scourgers."  

The brutal instrument used to scourge the victim was called a flagrum, and was made of long strips of cord, or leather, into which were tied pieces of bone and/or metal. These ensured the total laceration of the victim's flesh.  When we add to all of that the 'crowning' with thorny branches; the agony of being re-clothed as the material rubbed against the broken and bleeding flesh; and the fact that all of this was at the end of a period of sleeplessness of more than 24 hours; and we get some idea of the physical torture that the Saviour experienced.

Yet there was more to come.  Now He had to carry His cross - or, at the very least, the horizontal beam - all the way to the place of execution.  This proved too much and, eventually, the Roman soldiers - not known for dispensing much of 'the milk of human kindness' - compelled Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross for Him.

At Golgotha, He was tied, and nailed, to the cross, which was then raised to the vertical position. Each of the Gospel records has the simple words "And they crucified Him", because when they were first written, people were all too aware of the horrors of that method of executing the death penalty.  One, more modern, author spells it out in graphic detail: "The unnatural position made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish; the wounds, inflamed by exposure, gradually gangrened; the arteries - especially at the head and stomach - became swollen and oppressed with surcharged blood; and while such variety of misery went on gradually increasing, there was added to them the intolerable pang of a burning and raging thirst; and all these physical complications caused an internal excitement and anxiety, which made the prospect of death ... bear the aspect of a delicious and exquisite release."

Yet, in enduring all of that - and much worse, for His suffering was not only physical, but also spiritual as He became all the ugliness, and vileness, and evil, and depravity, and wickedness, and contemptibility, that is sin (see II Cor.5:21) - He was still able to utter those amazing words, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34).

"Amazing love, O what sacrifice,
the Son of God, given for me.
My debt He pays
and my death He dies
that I might live,
that I might live!"  (Graham Kendrick)

The Resurrection of Jesus - Part 2

The Bible is full of prophecy - not just that which is "forthtelling" (i.e. "This is the Word of the Lord"), but also "foretelling" (i.e. predictive: "This is what is going to happen").  A study of the latter group will show that many of them have been fulfilled, although there are some that have yet to be realised.  However, one 'sub-group' that can be easily checked out, is that which comprises the claims of the Lord Jesus that he would rise from the dead.  Indeed, John Stott, in his useful little volume, Basic Christianity, writes that "Jesus Himself never predicted His death without adding that He would rise, and described His coming resurrection as a 'sign'" (my emphasis).

Think about it!  If you, or I, were to go around and inform our friends that, not only would we die a violent death, but that three days later we would rise from the dead, we would be instant candidates for a prolonged stay in an institution for the mentally unstable!  And this would be right and proper.  Only a mentally unstable person would go around talking like that unless that person knew that what was being claimed would actually take place.  Only One Who is God could speak thus, with the certainty with which Jesus spoke.

There are too many of these instances for me to give them all in a single post, but here are just a few examples:  "Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, 'Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.'  But He answered them, 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.'" (Matt 12:38-40; my emphasis).  "... after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." (Matt 26:32).  "... He was teaching His disciples, saying to them, "The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He is killed, after three days He will rise." (Mark 9:31).  ""The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." (Luke 9:22).  "Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'  The Jews then said, 'It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?' But He spoke of the temple of His body. When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken." (John 2:19-22).

Of course, there were also many others who testified to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus - many of them in circumstances in which it is highly unlikely that they would have been merely "making something up"!  Ignatius, who became the Bishop of Antioch, was born less than 20 years after the death and resurrection of Jeus so, while he was not himself a contemporary of the Lord, he would have known people who were alive at that time.  He was martyred by being thrown to wild beasts, in the Colosseum in Rome.  On his journey there, when he would undoubtedly have been in a most sober frame of mind, he wrote his Epistles. Referring to his Saviour, he wrote, "He was crucified, and died, under Pontius Pilate.  He really, and not merely in appearance, was crucified, and died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth.  He also rose again in three days."

The resurrection  of Jesus, the Christ, is an event in history, every bit as much as is the Battle of Bannockburn, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, or the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia.  We may discuss the meaning of it - that is theology; but the historical event is a matter of looking at the evidence.  The nature of the resurrection Body of Jesus may be a mystery (although I do have my own theory!), but its disappearance from the tomb is also a matter to be decided upon by examining the historical evidence.

Until tomorrow - and Part 3!!