Is the Easter Story of Jesus' Resurrection True?

The Historical Case for Jesus' Crucifixion

Is the Easter story of Jesus' resurrection true? As Easter comes and goes each year, many people wonder whether there are any solid historical reasons to believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead.

Did Jesus really rise from the dead on that Sunday morning or is Christianity just based upon a myth? Surprisingly to some, there are actually solid historical reasons to believe that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead.

First, there is the fact that Jesus died by crucifixion. And we know that Jesus died by crucifixion for a number of reasons. First, there is the ancient testimony. There are multiple early historical sources which testify to the crucifixion of Jesus, including all four New Testament Gospels, various epistles of Paul, and other non-Pauline epistles.

Interestingly, Jesus' crucifixion is not just attested by the New Testament, but also by a large number of secular historians. It is also attested by various non-Christian historians and writers such as the Jewish historian Josephus, the Roman historian Tacitus, Lucian of Samosota, Marabar Serapion, and even the Jewish Talmud.

This is a remarkable amount of historical testimony for an ancient event, especially from sources coming from within 20 years of Jesus' death, as is the case with Paul. By contrast, Alexander the Great's first biography was written 400 years after his life.

Medical Evidence for the Crucifixion

Another reason that we know that Jesus was crucified comes from the flogging of Jesus in the New Testament. In addition to the ancient testimony for the crucifixion, the medical nature of the crucifixion accounts in the Gospels indicate that Jesus would not have survived the rigors of the crucifixion.

Interestingly, the Journal of the American Medical Association wrote a special on the crucifixion of Jesus. In just describing the flogging of Jesus, they stated the following,. The usual instrument for the flogging, in brackets, was a short whip, with several single or braided leather thongs of variable lengths, in which small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones were tied at intervals.

The man was stripped of his clothing, and his hands were tied to an upright post. The back, buttocks, and legs were flogged. The scourging was intended to weaken the victim to a state just short of collapse or even death.

As the Roman soldiers repeatedly struck the victim's back with full force, the iron balls would cause deep contusions and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into the skin and subcutaneous tissues.

Then, as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles. It is interesting to note that many people in ancient history would not even survive the rigors of just the flogging.

However, the whipping was not all the affliction that Jesus would receive. When his wrists were nailed to the cross, the driven nail would crush or sever the rather large sensory motor median nerve. The stimulated nerve would produce excruciating bolts of fiery pain in both arms.

Alexander Metherell, an expert on human physiology, notes that the sensation would be like using pliers to crush the nerve that causes intense pain when we hit our elbow or funny bone. After surveying the medical evidence, the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded,.

Likewise, most skeptical historians agree with this conclusion. The noted Jesus Seminar expert John Dominique Crossan states,. The idea of the swoon theory that Jesus merely appeared to die on the cross and was later revived by his disciples and somehow survived the rigors of the crucifixion, that theory has been virtually rejected by scholars today.

Furthermore, the Romans are known to have been experts at killing their victims. The idea that someone could survive the crucifixion tortures is highly unlikely. Even more, if Jesus had survived the crucifixion, his battered body would have hardly been a motivation for the disciples to start a new religion.

Jesus comes to their midst, staggering and bloody, and says, I am risen. Jesus would have deserved medical attention, not reverence as the risen prince of life. The second reason for believing in the resurrection of Jesus is the fact that Jesus' tomb was indeed empty on that first Easter morning.

The Empty Tomb and the JET Argument

We can remember this by the acronym of JET. J stands for the Jerusalem Factor, E stands for Enemy Testimony, and T stands for Testimony of Women. There are three reasons to believe in the empty tomb of Jesus, among other reasons.

First, the disciples preached the gospel in Jerusalem in the midst of great opposition. It would have been virtually impossible for Christianity to survive and expand in Jerusalem if the body of Jesus was still in the tomb.

All the opponents of Jesus would have to do was produce the body of Jesus and squelch this Christian movement. Second, early enemies of Christianity never disputed the fact that the tomb was empty. Instead, they argued that the disciples stole the body.

Third, and perhaps the strongest evidence, the first witnesses to the empty tomb were women. Sadly, the testimony of women was not regarded highly in antiquity. The Jewish Talmud states,. Furthermore, the Talmud also states,.

However, in the Gospels, the apostles are the ones who are cowardly hiding from the. If Christians were going to invent the empty tomb story, they most certainly would not have used women as the primary witnesses.

Resurrection Appearances and Early Creeds

The third main reason to believe in the resurrection of Jesus is the fact that Jesus appeared to many after His death. 1 Corinthians 15 verses 3 -8 preserves some extremely early creedal material which testifies to multiple resurrection appearances of Jesus to individuals and groups of people.

1 Corinthians 15 verses 3 -8 reads as the following,. Scholars generally date this material in verses 3 -7 as part of an early statement of belief or creed which dates back to a few years after Jesus' crucifixion in 30 AD.

Atheistic New Testament scholar Gerd Ludemann dates the creed to 32 or 33 AD. It is quite likely that Paul received this creedal material from the early eyewitnesses of the resurrection appearances, including Peter, James, and John, when he went to visit them in Jerusalem.

That's recorded in Galatians 1 -2. This eyewitness testimony suggests that Jesus appeared to a large number of witnesses, including Cephas, the twelve, more than 500 brethren, James, and all the apostles.

The Transformation of the Disciples and the Christian Faith

The fourth reason to believe in the resurrection of Jesus is the transformation of the disciples and the emergence of the Christian faith. The early disciples of Jesus did not expect their great Messiah named Jesus to ever face crucifixion and rise from the dead.

In line with the current Jewish thoughts of the day, the disciples' Messiah was to triumphantly defeat the Romans and deliver the kingdom of God to the nation of Israel. It is clear that the disciples did not expect the crucifixion.

It was indeed an embarrassment to their faith. Their chief leaders had abandoned the faith and become skeptics and doubters. And of all people, women were the first to bring them news of the resurrection.

But something happened to radically change these pitiful, cowardly disciples from trembling doubters to bold proclaimers of this radical notion of a dying and rising Jewish Messiah in the midst of a hostile culture.

These disciples were willing to die for their faith, and many of them would actually face death. All the disciples, in fact, faced death except John. But something happened to radically change these pitiful, cowardly disciples from trembling doubters to bold proclaimers of this radical notion of a dying and rising Jewish Messiah all of it in the midst of a hostile culture.

These disciples were willing to die for their faith, and many of them would actually face death. Radically, they changed their primary day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. They began to worship this man named Jesus while still claiming to be faithful monotheistic Jews, something that was extremely radical and was blasphemous to the Judaism of the day.

They did this all because something happened on that first Easter morning. Due to all these factors, it is certainly reasonable to conclude with the former church persecutor then turned Christian, the Apostle Paul.

Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.