12/7/21, 1:25 AM Christ's Resurrection - House Church

Christ's Resurrection

The trustworthiness of the testimony of Christ's resurrection

Content
Christ's Resurrection - the foundation of our faith
Dating the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles
What is the significance of the early dating of the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles?
The trustworthiness of the testimony of Christ's death
The trustworthiness of the testimony of Christ's resurrection
1. Appearances of resurrected Christ
2. The Empty Tomb
3. Martyrdom for the testimony of Christ's resurrection
Conclusion
Endnotes

Christ's Resurrection - the foundation of our faith

What is the foundation of Christianity?

The foundation of Christian faith lies in the historicity of the two most important events in the history of mankind:
the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Christian faith is based upon the historical claim that Jesus bodily
resurrected from death after being dead for three days. According to Christian historical testimony, Jesus was killed
by crucifixion, but three days after his death, he resurrected from death. According to this historical testimony, he
showed himself first to his closest disciples as a man who conquered physical death through his bodily resurrection.
During the forty days after his resurrection, he showed himself not only to his closest disciples, but also to other
people. The Apostle Paul reports that more than 500 people saw and met the resurrected Christ (1 Corinthians 15:6).
The same apostle said: "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17).

Thus, the answer to the question of the foundation of Christianity is the historical authenticity of Christ's bodily
resurrection. The historical claim of Christ's resurrection is not only the fundamental point of Christian confession,
but it is also the foundation of Christian apologetics (apologetics, a scientific and philosophical discipline dealing
with the intellectual defense of Christian faith). The reason that the resurrection ought to be the foundation of
apologetics is that it is not sufficient to provide good reasons for a mere belief in God's existence, e.g., by invoking

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the cosmological argument for God's existence. Moslems can also provide such arguments, e.g.,
the kalam cosmological argument of al-Ghazali, because these kinds of arguments do not necessarily prove the
existence of the Christian God. However, if we have good reasons for believing in Christ's resurrection, then, having
accepted the historicity of Christ's resurrection, it takes but a small step to show that the God of the Bible exists.
Therefore, if someone asks a Christian for the reasons for accepting Christian faith, the primary Christian answer
ought to be an appeal to the historical fact of Christ's resurrection. Arguing for the Christian faith should focus
exclusively upon Christ's resurrection. However, would not this kind of arguing be question-begging, an arguing in
circles of sorts: (1) we are Christians because we believe in Christ's resurrection; (2) we believe in Christ's
resurrection because we are Christians.

The problem is that the very claim of Christ's resurrection is quite dubious to people who are not Christians. In an
apologetic context, Christians have an obligation to provide reasons for the truthfulness of our historical proposition
about Christ's resurrection. If it can be shown that Jesus did indeed resurrect, then we ought to accept other
statements about Jesus, namely that he is the unique Son of God and the Saviour of our world, who was heralded by
ancient prophets. Christ's birth, his mission as a healer and a miracle performer, his death, as well as his resurrection
were proclaimed in ancient prophetic scriptures whose origin has been confirmed as dating back to times before
Christ. The prophetic writings in question are the writings of the ancient Jewish prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
and many others. There are many prophecies about Christ written in their scriptures. All these prophecies are known
as messianic prophecies because they are about the promised Messiah, who is a very special servant of God with the
mission to save mankind. The word "messiah" comes from Hebrew and literally means "anointed (one)," referring to
Israelite priests, prophets and kings who were anointed by oil in consecration to their respective offices. Christos is
the Greek translation of the Hebrew word "messiah." Christians believe that all messianic prophecies were fulfilled
in Jesus' life, from his birth to his death and resurrection. For this reason Christians recognize and address Jesus as
Christ. If Jesus had not resurrected, then he would not have been the Christ. In the same vein, if Jesus had not
resurrected from death, then the Christian faith would be a false faith. However, as Christians, we are very certain
that Christ did indeed resurrect from death. Our certainty is not a fanatical conviction, but rather grounded upon
good historical reasons which every reasonable person should accept. 
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Dating the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles

What reasons lead us to believe that Jesus' resurrection is an authentic historical event?

Our reasons are based upon the reports of the apostles and their disciples. The apostles were the closest friends and
disciples of Jesus. They wrote their testimony to Jesus' mission. Likewise, the disciples of the apostles were Jesus'
contemporaries who wrote down the testimony of the apostles about Jesus' life, death and resurrection. These reports
were written in the scriptures of the New Testament, which also contain reports of the beginnings of the church and
the practices of the early Christians. The scriptures in question are the four books known as the gospels, one writing
known as the Acts of the Apostles, many letters and epistles written by the apostles James (Jesus' brother), Paul,
John, Peter and Jude.

According to the majority of scholars, we can reliably date the writings of the New Testament to between 50 and 70
A.D., i.e., they were written during the lifetimes of eyewitnesses of Jesus. No scholar today would dispute that the
writings of the New Testament are from the first century.1 The theories that claim that the New Testament writings
are documents written in the second or third century are obsolete 19th-century theories and are no longer accepted as
valid. (The theories in question are theories of the higher critical school that grew up out of German scholarship in
the 19th century.)2 One of reasons for their obsolesce, beside their faulty methodology, is the discovery of numerous
New Testament manuscripts in the second half of the 20th century. These new manuscripts have helped in a more
precise dating of the New Testament.3

The key to dating the New Testament lies in dating the Acts of the Apostles, a book written by Luke, who also wrote
the Gospel bearing his name. Almost all scholars, both liberal and conservative, regard the Acts of the Apostles as
written after the synoptic gospels.4 [The synoptic gospels are the gospels written by Matthew, Mark and Luke. They
are called synoptic because they share many common features in the way they narrate Jesus' life. The term
"synoptic" comes from the Greek syn (together) + optikos (seen)]. Many scholars regard the Acts of the Apostles as
having been written at the beginning of the 7th decade of the first century for the following reasons:5

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There is no mention of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. It is remarkable that Luke does not mention such a
significant event, especially because the first part of the book deals with the events which occurred in
Jerusalem. Moreover, Luke does not mention the war that broke out between the Jews and the Romans in 66
A.D. which led to the fall of Jerusalem, though throughout his work he is concerned with Roman-Jewish
relations. For example, he mentions the minor skirmish which occurred between them in 44 A.D. Why would
he then ignore to mention the war which resulted in the destruction of the Jewish temple and the sacking of all
Jerusalem? The most interesting fact is that in Luke's Gospel Jesus prophesies that Jerusalem would fall (Luke
21). It is most unlikely to suppose that Luke missed the opportunity to show how this prophecy was fulfilled if
the book was written after 70 A.D.
The Acts of the Apostles does not mention Nero's persecution of Christians in the mid-60s, which was also the
first Roman persecution of Christians (Nero was the fifth Roman emperor, who reigned between 54 and 68
A.D.). Luke's view of the Roman government is positively peaceful. This requires us to place the document at a
time when the Roman government was not hostile to Christians, a time before Nero.
Luke does not mention the martyrdom of Paul (64 A.D. ) and Peter (65 A.D.), although he is very concerned to
note the martyrdoms of "lesser" Christian leaders, e.g., Stephen. This is especially remarkable because half the
book is about Paul, while a large part of it is about Peter. This is impossible to make sense of if Luke were
writing after their deaths.

Therefore, we have to conclude that the Acts of the Apostles can be dated to no later than the mid-60s, and probably
a little earlier. The Gospel of Luke was written just prior to the Acts of the Apostles - they form a two-volume work.
It is almost universally argued that Luke's gospel was written after Mark's.6 It is also usually argued that Matthew's
and Luke's gospels are roughly contemporaneous. One reason for this assumption is that they both made use of
Mark, in roughly the same form, and both made us of another source (called "Q") in roughly the same form. So the
date of these three gospels must fall sometime before the mid-60.
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What is the significance of the early dating of the Gospels and the Acts of the
Apostles?
The significance is that we have documents that were written no more than 30 years after the events they report.
This time interval of 30 years is, historically speaking, relatively short. There was no time for the development of
legends. The eyewitnesses, especially those hostile to the Gospel message, were still living, and living in the very
same vicinity of the place where these works were being circulated. Therefore, the first Christians were very careful
to provide a trustworthy testimony that could not be disputed by those who were hostile towards the Gospel
message. As Gregory Boyd notes:

First, the Gospels are written within several decades of the events they record, and that is not enough time for
significant legendary accretion to occur. Second, the Gospels are written in a hostile environment which
would necessarily hold in check the development of legendary accretion.7

The historical testimony of Jesus' resurrection is based upon reports written by Jesus' contemporaries. The content of
these reports consists of two elements: (1) the testimony of Jesus' death, and (2) the testimony of meeting the
resurrected Christ. 
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The trustworthiness of the testimony of Christ's death

According to reports of the apostles and their disciples, Jesus was killed by crucifixion, an extreme and painful
punishment in which the condemned person is nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead.

The account of Jesus Christ's crucifixion in the Gospels begins with his scourging.

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The Roman soldiers then mocked him as the 'King of the Jews' by clothing him in a purple robe and a crown
of thorns and led him slowly to Mount Calvary, or Golgotha. On the cross Jesus hung for three hours of
agony. The soldiers divided his garments and cast lots for his seamless robe; various onlookers taunted him.
Crucified on either side of Jesus were two convicted thieves, whom the soldiers dispatched at eventide by
breaking their legs. The soldiers found Jesus already dead; but, to be certain, one of them drove a spear into
his side, from which poured blood and water. He was taken down before sunset (in deference to Jewish
custom) and buried in a rock-hewn tomb.8

There are many historical documents written by non-Christians confirming Gospel reports, e.g., the writings of the
Roman historians Tacitus and Suetonius, the writings of the Jewish historian Josiph Flavius, and many others. These
writers were contemporaries of the apostles, and most of them, as Tacitus and Suetonius, held hostile attitudes
towards Christians.

It is indisputable that the crucifixion of Jesus was the most testified historical event of the classical era. No serious
historian would doubt the historical authenticity of the event because it was testified by both friends and opponents
of Christianity. If we had doubts about Christ's crucifixion, then we should also doubt the historical authenticity of
other important events that are regarded as indisputable. In this context, let us compare Christ's crucifixion with one
such "indisputable" event, namely Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon River. This event is historically significant
because it marked the beginning of civil war in the Roman empire in 49 B.C. It is considered as a model of an
incontrovertible historical act, although we neither know the location of the Rubicon nor the date of Caesar's
crossing. Caesar's crossing is recorded in only four historical reports, only one of which was written in the first half
of the first century after Christ, whereas the other reports were written at the end of the first and the beginning of the
second century. The reports apparently are based on only one eyewitness source, that of Asinius Pollio, which has
disappeared without a trace. Furthermore, the four accounts vary at least as much as the Gospels do when reporting
the same event. One writer, Suetonius, attributes Caesar's decision to cross the Rubicon to seeing "an apparition of
superhuman size and beauty," who was "sitting on the river bank, playing a reed pipe." Nevertheless, all historians
accept Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon as an indisputable historical fact even though there are few sources (only
one) and reports (only four). The testimony of Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon is indeed poor comparing to the
testimony of Christ's crucifixion. 
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The trustworthiness of the testimony of Christ's resurrection

We have seen that the testimony of Jesus' death is historically reliable. How is the case with the Christian testimony
of Jesus' resurrection? What does this testimony consist of ? Is it reliable?

Generally speaking, a resurrection is the rising from the dead of a divine or human being who still retains his or her
own personhood, or individuality although the body may or may not be changed. In our context, Christian testimony
is about the bodily resurrection of Jesus, i.e., Jesus' body was risen from death. According to the testimony, Jesus
became alive after being dead for three days, and it is important to stress that his death and his rise from the dead is
understood in psychophysical terms: (a) his body was dead for three days, (b) after being dead for three days, his
body became alive again, and (c) his personhood or individuality was retained through the resurrection.

We do not know how the event of Jesus' resurrection occurred because no one witnessed the event itself. However,
we do have testimony that a resurrected Christ appeared to his closest disciples, and afterwards to a wider public
before he ascended to heaven. Before Christ's ascension, about 500 people saw the resurrected Christ, cf. 1 Cor 15:6.

The testimony of Jesus' resurrection consists of three elements:

1. The appearances of the resurrected Christ

2. The empty tomb
3. Martyrdom for the testimony of Christ's resurrection

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1. Appearances of resurrected Christ

The main aspect of the testimony is accounts of how the apostles met the resurrected Christ. In these accounts, the
apostles could confirm that they did meet Jesus because they saw him and touched his body. An interesting account
is the following one:

And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them
that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what
things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread. And as they thus spake,
Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and
affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do
thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a
spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands
and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any
meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before
them. (Luke 24:33-34)

Luke describes one of the encounters between Jesus and his closest disciples. We read that his disciples were very
confused and frightened while meeting Jesus. Other evangelists report that the disciples were discouraged and
sorrowful because of Jesus' death. They did not expect Jesus to rise from the dead. Therefore, they were quite
confused by Christ's appearance, thinking that they had encountered a spirit. That supposition turned out to be
wrong when Jesus showed them his hands and feet, and when he "did eat before them" the offered food.

According to the Gospel of John, Jesus appeared three times before his disciples, cf. John 21:14. In the first meeting,
the Apostle Thomas was not present. When disciples told him about their meeting with Jesus, he did not believe
them.

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples
therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the
print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not
believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the
doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither
thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless,
but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him,
Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have
believed. (John 20:24-29)

An important thing to note about the Gospel reports is the honesty of the evangelists when they depict the
weaknesses of the apostles, e.g., Peter's cowardice and his denial of Christ before other people, etc. The evangelists
do not hide the fact that the apostles' faith was weak. They also report of the skeptical attitude of Jewish priests
towards the news about the disappearance of Jesus' body and their explanations, such as that the apostles had stolen
Jesus' body; which leads us to the next point. 
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2. The Empty Tomb

According to the Gospel reports, the first witnesses who discovered that Jesus' tomb was empty were not the
apostles, but women who were in the circle of Jesus' closest friends. Among them was Mary Magdalene, a woman
held in low regard. They saw that the tomb was open, but without Jesus' body. In the reports, we further read that

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Jesus appeared before them and commanded them to bring news of his resurrection to the apostles, cf. Mat 28:9-10.

It is interesting that Jesus wanted to appear first before women and that women became the firstwitnesses of his
resurrection, even though testimony by women was not regarded as reliable. Thus there is no surprise when we read
that their news was received with doubt. As Gregory Boyd observes, "There is also a good bit of counter-productive
material. Legends lack this. The role of women in the story, for example, could, in the first century context, do
nothing but damage the testimony of the authors."9

And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary
Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told
these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.
Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by
themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass. (Luk 24: 9-12)

Although "their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not," the news of the disappearance of
Jesus' body quickly spread because all, both friends and foes, could confirm that Jesus' tomb was empty.

However, a skeptic might ask how we know that Jesus' tomb was indeed empty. How do we know that the reports of
the empty tomb are true? The reason for our assurance of the trustworthiness of these reports lies in the fact of their
dating. As we have shown, the Gospels were written before 60 A.D., i.e., no more than 30 years after Jesus' death.
There were still people alive who were eyewitnesses to Jesus' death. Most of them were not particularly friendly to
Christians. Therefore, the Gospels could easily have been checked out and discredited if the report of empty tomb
had in fact been false. It was sufficient to show that Jesus' bones were still in his tomb.

According to the Acts of the Apostles, the core message of the early Christian and apostolic preaching was the
testimony of Christ's resurrection. When reading the first Christian sermons, we observe that Christians appeal to the
facts their audience knew and accepted. The first Christian sermon to a public audience was the sermon of the
Apostle Peter in Jerusalem, a sermon preached just a few weeks after Jesus' crucifixion. We see that Christ's
resurrection is the main theme of the sermon.

Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and
wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have
crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible
that he should be holden of it. (...) This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. (Acts 2:22-
24, 32)

Here we see that Peter appeals to the audience's common knowledge about Jesus: Jesus was a great miracle
performer and healer, and one who was crucified. It is remarkable to see Peter's courage in testifying about Christ's
resurrection; he risked getting arrested and killed for his testimony. We know what Peter's behavior was like right
after Christ's arrest: he behaved quite cowardly and was afraid to admit that he was one of Christ's disciples. All
evangelists report of Peter's denial of being Christ's disciple. A few weeks after Christ's crucifixion, we now see
another Peter, full of courage in his preaching of the resurrected Christ. Obviously, something had happened that
changed him into a bold follower of Christ.

The key question is this: could Peter have convincingly testified to Christ's resurrection if Jesus' body had been
decomposing in the tomb? His sermon would easily have been discredited by simply pointing out that Jesus' corpse
was still in the tomb. We further read that 3000 people believed Peter's testimony and that they were the first
baptized Christians.

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Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about
three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking
of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the
apostles. (Acts 2:41-43)

It would not be possible for so many people to believe in Peter's sermon unless Jesus' tomb was empty. The success
of Peter's preaching lies exactly in the fact that the news about the disappearance of Jesus' body was a big sensation
in Jerusalem. The sensationalist nature of the news is due to the fact that the body in question was not that of a
common man, but of a great teacher and miracle performer, who was crucified as the worst criminal. People asked
curiously and speculate about the spectacular news of Jesus' empty tomb: what happened to the Jesus' body? how
did it disappear? did Jesus' enemies steal the body? did Jesus' disciples perhaps steal the body in order to spread the
religious propaganda of his miraculous resurrection?

All the above questions lead us to the next point which would reasonably show that Jesus' resurrection is the most
plausible explanation of the empty tomb. But before moving on to the next point, it is noteworthy to quote Gregory
Boyd's observations.

The location of Jesus' tomb was well known by all, so if Jesus had not risen from the dead, if His body were
yet in the tomb, this could have been easily checked out. Both Jesus' followers (who would suffer
persecutions for their faith) and the opponents of Jesus (who would want to falsify the Christian claim) would
have a motive for checking this out. But all agreed, the tomb was empty. How is this agreement to be
explained? 
Related to the above, no one disputes that the Christian church began in Jerusalem just a few weeks after
Jesus' crucifixion. It exploded in growth. And the content of the message that caused this explosion was that
Jesus was the Messiah, the Lord of all, as was evidenced by His miracles and resurrection from the dead (see
Acts 2:16ff). They do not present to their audience some unknown figure in the distant past. They are talking
about one of their audience's contemporaries! How is this growth to been explained? 
As I stated earlier, the Resurrection narratives lack the characteristics common to late legendary narratives,
and embody many of the characteristics common to early eyewitness-based reports. There is, for example,
much detailed, much of it being irrelevant to the story line. To give one illustration, Mark mentions the name
of the well-known member of the Sanhedrin (a Jewish councilman) who donated a tomb for Jesus - Joseph of
Arimathea. Now if one is going to fabricate an account, one doesn't create this sort of detail. One certainly
doesn't drop names of such prominent people, people who can easily be cross-examined.10

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3. Martyrdom for the testimony of Christ's resurrection

There are three possible theories about Jesus' empty tomb:

1. Jesus' enemies stole the body

2. Jesus' disciples stole the body
3. Jesus did indeed rise from the death

The first theory is not probable because the enemies would have readily shown Jesus' corpse, effectivelly
discrediting all the preaching of Christ's ressurection. Christianity in its first years was a new and suspect sect within
Judaism. Nevertheless, Christianity spread fast because no one was in a position to discredit the apostolic testimony
of Christ's resurrection.

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The second theory has a problem explaining the fact that the first Christians were brutally persecuted and killed for
their testimony. If the apostles, i.e., the closest friends and disciples of Christ, stole his body, then this would mean
that their testimony was indeed a big lie. Under that assumption, they would have been quite clear about the
deceptive nature of their testimony as they would have known that they had fabricated it. How then could they have
sacrificed their lives for something they knew was a lie? It is not disputed here that someone can be prepared to be
killed for an idea for either political or religious motives. What is disputed here is the readiness to sacrifice not for
an idea, but for a concrete lie based on a fabricated story. It is psychologically improbable for a group of people to
be ready to sacrifice their lives for something they knew was a lie, especially if the lie in question was a deception of
their own contrivance.

The second theory begs us to accept this very highly improbable possibility, namely that the apostles simply
fabricated their stories about the resurrected Christ while being willing to die for these fabricated stories.

We know that Christian preaching instilled high moral standards in people, where moral virtues such as truthfulness,
courage and righteousness were praised. Christians were even ready to pray for their persecutors and bless their
enemies, which is testimony to their moral integrity. Is it psychologically possible for the first Christians to base
their high moral teaching on some lie that they had made, and on top of that, to be willing to sacrifice their lives for
it?

According to the earliest Christian traditions (based upon the writings of the first church fathers who met the
apostles and their disciples), all of the apostles were killed for their testimony, except the Apostle John. He died a
natural death in Ephesus, in the third year of the reign of Trajan. The rest of the apostles, however, were killed in
various manners. The apostles Peter, Andrew, James the son of Alpheus, Philip, Simon the Canaanite and
Bartholomew were crucified. James (Jesus' brother) was stoned. Matthew, James the son of Zebedee and Thomas
were killed by the sword. Tadeus was killed by arrows. Mark died in Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by
horses through the streets until he was dead. Luke was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to
the lost.

To be a witness to Christ's resurrection practically meant to be a martyr. It is interesting that the Greek word
"martyrion" can mean "witness" or "martyr." The first witnesses to Christ's resurrection were indeed great martyrs.
Their martyrdom demonstrated the authenticity of their testimony so that people witnessing their martyrdom
believed in their testimony and became Christians. The growth and spread of Christianity in the 1st century was
indeed founded on the blood of martyrs, whose martyrdom demonstrated the trustworthiness of their testimony to
Christ's resurrection. 
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Conclusion
Given the strong evidence for the historic authenticity of Christ’s resurrection, we can reasonably rely on the Gospel
witness of other miraculous events, such as the virgin birth of Christ, His numerous miracles and spectacular feats of
healing the sick. If we can accept the evidence of Christ’s bodily resurrection, we should not have qualms about
other witness reports of Christ’s extraordinary deeds as recorded in the Gospels. The significance of these
miraculous events is that they point out His unique messiahship given the fact that the ancient prophets of Israel had
prophesied about Christ many centuries before His birth. They had foretold the place of His birth (namely that He
would be born in Bethlehem),11 that He would be born by a virgin,12 that He would be a royal descendant of David’s
dynasty,13 that He would miraculously heal the sick from all kinds of diseases.14 Most important, they prophesied
that Christ would die,15 but that He would conquer the death by His bodily resurrection.16 All these prophecies
about Christ are known as messianic prophecies.

Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of messianic prophecies: He is the promised messiah heralded by the sacred writings of
the Jewish prophets. In His role as the messiah, Christ is the saviour of the world. He is the culmination of God’s
revelation because He is the very God incarnate in the human flesh. His divine nature was proved through His
bodily resurrection. We should, therefore, take heed to what He said and taught. His teaching concerns the salvation
of our souls from death and sin. We should trust His teaching because He is the incarnate creator of the world: “For
by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all
things, and by him all things consist” (Colossians 1:16-17).

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The historic authenticity of Christ’s resurrection should have a practical meaning for us. It should initiate change in
our lives by submitting to Christ’s teaching. Through His teaching, we would realize that we have sinned against
God and that we deserve to be eternally separated from God’s glorious kingdom. He has warned us of eternal
damnation of hell and that the only way for us to be saved from hell is to believe in Him. “For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life” (John 3:16). Through faith, we can be made righteous before God because of Christ’s atoning death for the sins
of world.

Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). We should
trust Him because He is the only religious teacher that has conquered death.

Endnotes
1
 Works by scholars such as Edwin M. Yamauchi, Gary R. Habermas, Craig Blomberg, John A. T. Robinson and
many others show that the New Testament documents, particularly the canonical gospels and the Acts of the
Apostles, were written before 70 A.D. An interesting anthology dealing with the historical reliability of canonical
gospels is Jesus under Fire (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids Michigan, 1995). Works worth reading that
argue for the historical reliability of the canonical gospels and the Acts of the Apostles: The Historical Reliability of
the Gospels by Craig Blomberg; The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ by Gary R.
Habermas; Redating the New Testament by John A. T. Robinson; The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Garry R.
Habermas and Michael R. Licona; The New Evidence That Demands a Veridict by Josh McDowel. They also give
the evidence for the historical authenticity of Christ's resurrection, i.e., the historical testimony of the first Christians
are reliable and trustworthy. [Back to the text]

2
 Josh McDowel, The New Evidence That Demands a Veridict (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1999), pp.
397-398 and 537-579. [Back to the text]

3
 Ibid., pp. 33-52. [Back to the text]

4
 See note 1. [Back to the text]

5
 The outlined reasons are taken from Gregory Boyd, Letters From a Skeptic (Cook Communications Ministries,
Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2003), pp. 94-96. John A. T. Robinson gives similar observations about the
significance of the year 70 A.D. in his Redating the New Testament (Wipf and Stock Publishers, Eugene, Oregon,
2000), ch. 2. [Back to the text]

6
 Craig L. Blomberg, "Where Do We Start Studying Jesus," in: Jesus under Fire (Zondervan Publishing House,
Grand Rapids Michigan, 1995), p. 29. [Back to the text]

7
 Gregory Boyd, Letters From a Skeptic (Cook Communications Ministries, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2003), p.
103. [Back to the text]

8
 Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "crucifixion", accessed September 24,
2016, https://global.britannica.com/topic/crucifixion-capital-punishment. [Back to the text]

9
 Boyd, op. cit., p. 105. [Back to the text]

10
 Ibid., p. 104-105. [Back to the text]

11
 Foretold in Micah 5:2; fulfilled in Matthew 2:5-6. Micah prophesied from about 740 to about 687 B.C. [Back to
the text]

12
 Foretold in Isaiah 7:14; fulfilled in Matthew 1:23. Isiah started his prophetic ministry about 740 B.C. and he lived
till at least 680 B.C. [Back to the text]

13
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13
 Foretold in 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Isaiah 11:1ff; Jeremiah 23:5-6; fulfilled in Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 1:32-33; Acts
15:15-16. [Back to the text]

14
 Foretold in Isaiah 35:5-6; 61:1; fulfilled in Matthew 11:4-5. [Back to the text]

15
 Foretold in Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. Psalm 22 describes in detail the death of Christ: He would be pierced,
mocked, His killers would cast lots upon his garments, His bones would not be crushed. Gospel accounts of Christ’s
death verify Psalm 22. Psalm 22 was written by king David (ca. 1010-970 B.C.). [Back to the text]

16
 Foretold in Psalm 16:8-11; fulfilled in Acts 2:24-32. [Back to the text]

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