Prove It! - Pt. 3

 

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: 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, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8 ESV).

 

One last bit of information that will be encouraging in your unwavering faith, sometimes in the face of those who would merely scoff at the idea of Jesus’ resurrection. The truth is that because of such weighty evidence for the empty tomb, most recent scholars do not deny it. D.H. Van Daalen has said, "It is extremely difficult to object to the empty tomb on historical grounds; those who deny it do so on the basis of theological or philosophical assumptions."

 

Of course, there are still those who simply refuse to accept Jesus’ resurrection any more than they would the Easter Bunny. I'm sure you've heard of the various theories used to explain away the empty tomb, such as that the body was stolen. But those theories are ridiculed today by all serious scholars. In fact, they have been considered dead and refuted for almost a hundred years.

 

No one of any reliability can believe the Jews or Romans had a motive to steal the body of Jesus. They wanted to suppress Christianity, not encourage it by providing it with an empty tomb. The disciples would have had no motive, either. Because of their preaching on the resurrection, they were beaten, killed, and persecuted. Why would they go through all of this for a deliberate lie? No serious scholars hold to any of these theories today. All the critics are as Criag suggests: "…they are self-confessedly without any explanation to offer. There is simply no plausible natural explanation today to account for Jesus' tomb being empty. If we deny the resurrection of Jesus, we are left with an inexplicable mystery."

 

The resurrection of Jesus is not just the best explanation for the empty tomb, it is the only explanation!