Why we believe in the

Resurrection?
A REPLY TO A FORMER “PASTOR” WHO IS AN ATHEIST
Jesus Died by Crucifixion Evidence 101

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 • His death was predicted many times in the Gospel
accounts (Matthew 17:22-23; Luke 18:31-32; John 2:19-
Jesus’ Death was 21) and He is willing to give His life as a ransom for
Predicted in the Old many (Matthew 20:28; John 10:14-18)
Testament and Jesus’
• His death was predicted in the Old Testament
words
Scriptures (Psalm 22; Isaiah 53; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah
12:10)
 From then on Jesus began to point out to His disciples that
He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the
elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised
the third day. — Matthew 16:21

The As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus

Prediction commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone about the vision
until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” — Matthew
from Jesus 17:9

Himself As they were meeting in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son
of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.
They will kill Him, and on the third day He will be raised
up.” And they were deeply distressed. — Matthew 17:22,
23
Other Bible Passages concerning Crucifixion
• As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they
forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which
means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed
with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified
him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept
watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against
him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. (Matthew 27:32-37)
Other Bible Passages concerning Crucifixion
• A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was
passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the
cross. 22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place
of the skull”). 23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take
it. 24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what
each would get. (Mark 15:21-24)
 • In addition to the four Gospel accounts and number of
letters contained in the New Testament, all of which were
written in the 1st century, the execution of Jesus is even
reported by a number of ancient non-Christian sources.
• Josephus (late 1st century)
Jesus’ execution is • Tacitus (early 2nd century)
reported in a number • Lucian of Samosata (early to mid 2nd century)
of ancient sources • Mara Bar Serapion (2nd to 3rd century)
• The fact that these non-Christians mentioned Jesus in their
writings shows that Jesus’ death was known outside of
Christian circles and was not something Christians
invented.
 • Crucifixion and the torture that many times preceded it
may have been the worst way to die in antiquity.
• Concerning to the scourging, a number of ancient
The probability of sources describe it, such as Josephus, a Jewish historian
surviving in the 1st century who tells of a man who had been
whipped so severely that he was filleted to the bone.
crucifixion was
very low • Even if Jesus had been removed prematurely and
medically assisted, His chances of survival were bleak.
• No evidence exists that Jesus was removed while alive
or that He was provided any medical care whatsoever.
 • Breaking the legs of a crucified victim would prevent them
from pushing up against the nail in their feet, an
excruciating move, in order to make it easier to breath,
albeit temporarily.
Professional medical • Due to the trauma already experienced by a crucified
opinions are unanimous in
victim, once he had died on a cross from a lack of oxygen
concluding that Jesus died
as a result of being and had remained dead in that position for 5 minutes,
crucified there would be no chance of resuscitating him.
• The Gospel of John reports that one of the guards pierced
Jesus to confirm that He was already dead (John 19:34-37),
a practice likewise mentioned by Quintillian, a Roman
historian in the 1st century.
 • Imagine Jesus, half dead in the tomb. He revives out of
coma and finds himself afraid in the dark. He places His
nail-pierced hands on the very heavy stone blocking His
exit and pushes it out of the way.
Even if Jesus had somehow
managed to survive
• He is met by the guards and beats them up, after which
crucifixion, he would not have He walks blocks if not miles on pierced and wounded
inspired his disciples to believe feet in order to find His disciples.
he had been resurrected
• He comes to the house where disciples are staying and
knocks on the door. Peter opens the door and sees
Jesus hunched over in His pathetic and mutilated state.
• Was He alive? Barely. Risen? No way
The Empty Tomb
 The tomb was empty
The most powerful argument
favoring the empty tomb
concerns its location and the
events surrounding it
The most mentioned argument
While the empty tomb accounts
in support of the Gospel
in the Gospel accounts are later
accounts is the unanimous
than Paul’s writings, it is crucially
agreement that women were the
important that the empty tomb
first witnesses to the empty
accounts are witnessed by many
tomb
Most recent scholars seem to
agree that, while Paul does not
explicitly mention the empty
tomb, the early tradition that
this apostle reported to others in
1 Corinthians 15:3–4 implies an
empty tomb.
 The tomb was empty

A word should be said about the

According to reports found in Matthew scholarly thesis of N. T. Wright and
Many scholars also concede that Acts
28:11–15, Justin Martyr, and Tertullian, others. In the ancient world—whether
13 may very well contain another early
for almost two centuries or more, the pagan, Jewish, or Christian— writings
tradition, an early sermon account that
Jewish leaders tried to explain that the up until the second century AD were in
was included in a book that was written
tomb was empty because Jesus’s complete agreement that the very
at a later date.
disciples stole his body. definition of resurrection was clearly a
bodily notion.
Post-resurrection
Apperances
The post-resurrection appearances
• First, for a number of reasons, when recent scholars
discuss the resurrection appearances of Jesus, they begin
with the apostle Paul. He had been a powerful opponent of the
early Christian message (1 Cor. 15:9; Gal. 1:13–14; Phil. 3:4–7).
• Second, beyond his scholarly and eyewitness testimony,
Paul contributes far more to a case for Jesus’s
resurrection appearances.
• Third, Paul was so careful to assure the truth of the
gospel message that he returned to Jerusalem fourteen
years after this initial visit (see Gal. 2:1–10).
The post-resurrection appearances
• Fourth, in 1 Corinthians 15:11, Paul added still another layer of
personal testimony. Paul asserts that he also knew what the
others were preaching. And as they had confirmed his message
years before, Paul now testified that they also taught the same truth
that he did regarding Jesus’s resurrection appearances (1 Cor. 15:11).
• Fifth, besides 1 Corinthians 15:3, scholars usually agree that
many other New Testament books also contain early traditions
that predate the texts in which they appear.
• Sixth, virtually no one, friend or foe, believer or critic, denies
that it was their convictions that they had seen the resurrected
Jesus that caused the disciples’ radical transformations. They
were willing to die specifically for their resurrection belief.
The post-resurrection appearances
• Seventh, it is almost always acknowledged that during Jesus’s
ministry, his brother James was a skeptic (see John 7:5). He was
probably one of the family members in Mark 3:21–35 who thought that Jesus
was insane! But how do we account for the surprising reports that James later
led the Jerusalem church (Gal. 1:18–2:10; Acts 15:13–21)? According to the
creedal comment in 1 Corinthians 15:7, Jesus appeared to James, yet another
pointer to a resurrection appearance.
• Eighth, the tomb in which Jesus was buried was found empty shortly
afterward. The early apostolic preaching of the resurrection began in
Jerusalem, where a closed or occupied tomb would have been disastrous!
Moreover, the unanimous agreement that women were the earliest witnesses
to the empty tomb is another strong consideration, since the widespread
prejudice against female testimony indicates that the reports were not
invented.
The post-resurrection appearances
• Ninth, that Jesus’s resurrection was the very center of
early Christian faith also indicates its reality, since, for
this reason, it was repeatedly affirmed by believers and
challenged by unbelievers.
• Last, two thousand years of attempts by nonbelievers to
explain what happened to Jesus in natural terms have
failed. The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem had the power, motive,
and location to investigate thoroughly the proclamation of the
resurrection appearances. They knew of Jesus’s death and his
burial. Though they were ideally situated to expose the error,
they did not refute the evidence.
Did the Disciples and Paul Experience Appearances of Jesus?

Appeared to Where When References

1 Mary Magdalene Jerusalem Sunday Mark 6:9-11; John 20:11-18
2 Other Women Jerusalem Sunday Matt 28:9-10
3 Peter Jerusalem Sunday Luke 24:32; 1 Cor. 15:5
4 Emmaus disciples Emmaus Sunday Luke 24:13-35; Mark 16:12
5 10 disciples Jerusalem Sunday Mark 16:14; Luke 24:26-42; John 20:19-
25
6 11 disciples Jerusalem A week later John 20:26-31; 1 Cor. 15:5
7 7 disciples Galilee ? John 21:1-25
8 500 brethren Galilee ? 1 Cor. 15:6
9 James ? ? 1 Cor. 15:7
10 11 disciples Galilee ? Matt 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-18
11 11 disciples Jerusalem 40 days later Acts 1:3-12
12 Paul Road Emmaus ? Acts 9
What does John 20:29 mean?
• Jesus' disciples were resistant to the idea that He
had been resurrected. They had heard Him predict
that event (John 2:19–22; Luke 18:33). They'd seem
Him raise others from death (John 11:43–44).
Eyewitnesses had seen Him alive (John 20:17–18;
Luke 24:10–11; 23–24). Still, it wasn't until Jesus
personally appeared to them that they accepted the
truth (John 20:19–23). Thomas had been especially
stubborn, but also came to believe once Jesus
appeared to him (John 20:24–28).
• The comment Jesus makes here points out that
most people will never have the experiences which
these men enjoyed. As the disciples go out to
preach the gospel, they will be speaking to people
who will not see Jesus in person. They will preach
to those without the benefit of direct, personal
encounters with God. That should be humbling—
these men will never have cause to think they're
somehow better, or more spiritual, than those to
whom they preach. Jesus does not mean that it
is better to believe without hard proof (Acts 17:11;
1 John 4:1; John 5:39–40). He simply notes that not
everyone is blessed with the same level of
• The same humility ought to apply for believing persons today.
Though some of God's truth is obvious (Romans 1:18–20; Psalm
19:1), modern advances have given us resources far beyond those
of prior generations. Evidence, texts, arguments, and examples
which scholars of the past never saw are available to almost
every person today. Before we pat ourselves on the back for
belief, or our response to the gospel, we should remember
statements like this from Christ. Those alive today have truly
"seen" things which add weight to the truths God wants us to
understand (Hebrews 12:1–2).

John's aside, in the next verses (John 20:30–31) follows from that
same idea. That which God has given us ought to be enough
(John 20:30–31) and was chosen for a reason (John 21:25).
John 20:30-31
• Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which
are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing
you may have life in his name.