Prove It! - Pt. 1

 

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” (Matthew 28:1-6 ESV).

 

The historical evidence for the resurrection of Christ is very good. Scholars such as William Lane Craig, J.P. Moreland, Gary Habermas, and others have done an especially good job of detailing that evidence. I will do my best in the coming days to give you the Reader’s Digest version of some of their thoughts and show the strength of the historical evidence for the resurrection of Christ. This requires that we use a method commonly used today called "inference to the best explanation." William Lane Craig describes this as an approach where we "begin with the evidence available to us and then infer what would, if true, provide the best explanation of that evidence." In other words, we ought to accept an event as historical if it gives the best explanation for the evidence surrounding it.

 

When we look at the evidence, the truth of the resurrection emerges very clearly as the best explanation. There is no other theory that even comes close to accounting for the evidence. Therefore, there is solid historical grounds for the truth that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. As we begin, I should point out that in establishing the historicity of the resurrection, we do not need to assume that the New Testament is inspired by God or even trustworthy. Of course, I do believe that the New Testament is the absolute truth of God; however, I want to focus here on three truths that even critical scholars admit to be true. In other words, these three truths are so strong that they are accepted by serious historians of all stripes. These three truths are:

 

§  The tomb in which Jesus was buried was discovered empty by a group of women on the Sunday following the crucifixion.

§  Jesus' disciples had real experiences with one whom they believed was the risen Christ.

§  As a result of the preaching of these disciples, which had the resurrection at its center, the Christian church was established and grew.

 

Virtually all scholars who deal with the resurrection, whatever their school of thought, assent to these three truths. We will see that the resurrection of Christ is the best explanation for each of them individually. But then we will see, even more significantly, that when these facts are taken together we have an even more powerful case for the resurrection. Even the skeptic will not have to explain away just one historical fact, but three. These three truths create a strongly woven, three chord rope that cannot be broken.

 

These things in combination with personal faith brings us to the undeniable truth that Jesus was indeed resurrected. Trust in Him!