25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373

Our congregation Our nation, leaders and military

Our students Various friends, relatives and co-workers

Leon in the Army in Korea

"He has risen! He is not here" (Mark 16:6).

Today, the Christian world for the most part celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For Christians, the resurrection is an historical fact and the basis of our faith, affecting not only our salvation but how we live our Christian life. Paul said, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17). N.T. Wright, a conservative theologian, has made it his passion to connect the historical resurrection to life and to defend it because it is the basis of our hope (1)

Over the past decade or so, the media have made a great effort to question the historical record in any number of ways. There was the group known as The Jesus Seminar that attempted to discover what Jesus really said and came to the conclusion that only about five per cent of the gospel words of Jesus were really said by Him. They have become prominent figures in various specials on Jesus from His birth to His death.

The late Peter Jennings of ABC News did two specials on Jesus. The first had mostly liberal scholars who denied various aspects of the events of Jesus’ life. Receiving much criticism for an unbalanced report, the second had more conservative scholars and a much more balance report.

In the last year or two, more questions have been raised concerning Jesus and the resurrection. First it was the success of Dan Brown’s book, The Da Vinci Code, followed by the movie of the same name. The book is a fast pace mystery but has a number of historical inaccuracies. Some of it was based on what is known as Gnosticism, a primarily second and third century heresy that stated that Jesus did not die but married one of the Mary’s, had children, and died somewhere in Asia Minor or Europe.

This has been followed by a recent report on The Discovery Channel about the discovery of a number of ossuaries in Jerusalem. It is reported that the names Jesus, Joseph and Mary were found on them. The conclusion drawn by James Cameron (2) is that this proves that Jesus did not die on the cross. But scholars have shown that these names were common in the first century, that Jesus hometown was Nazareth not Jerusalem, and that DNA cannot be compared because there is little to compare it to (3).

It seems that just about every year the media finds something to contradict what scripture says. Given the uproar over anything related to the so-called religious right, it is understandable at their desire to question the Bible. Add to this is the recent books concerning the beliefs of Bible believers in the political realm and the supposed threat to the nation, most of which have been written by media people. Several atheists have also attacked Christianity has an evil, one even suggesting that teaching children Christian beliefs is child abuse.

That is why the resurrection is so important. So how do we know that the resurrection is historical? Here are some evidences to consider.

Some have questioned whether Jesus died on the cross. The Roman soldier who thrust the spear into His side and saw water and blood mixed understood that He was dead (John 19:34). Pilate was surprised that Jesus had already died (Mark 15:44). A number of theories have been raised concerning this over the years. Some have suggested that He swooned on the cross and was revived in the cool of the tomb. None of these have any contemporary first century records. Most have been raised during the 19^th and 20^th Centuries.

When Joseph requested the body of Jesus, he, Nicodemus and several women took the body to Joseph’s private tomb. They saw and knew where Jesus was buried. At the request of the Jewish leaders, Pilate set a guard at the tomb as well, so the Jews knew where He was buried. What is of further interest, there are no competing burial accounts. Almost everyone agrees that Jesus was buried.

On the first day of the week, some of the women came to the tomb to finish the burial task. Their one question was, who is going to move the stone. When they came to the tomb, they found it empty. They ran and told the disciples that they had seen an angel and that he had said that Jesus was not there; He has risen! Jewish women in the first century were not consider reliable witnesses in a court of law. There status was low in the eyes of the religious leader. If the empty tomb was a false story, the eyewitnesses would have been men. The women being the first eyewitnesses proves that the story is true and the tomb is empty.

A major question then is who moved the stone? The Roman guards did not; they had no interest in Jesus. The Jews didn’t; that would raise questions they did not want raised. The disciples were cowering in fear. And the women were asking the question because they needed to get into the tomb to complete the burial process.

Where is the body of Jesus? Who would have stole it? And who would have died for a lie, knowing where the body was buried after being moved? There really is only one explanation: the resurrection.

Finally, there are the eyewitnesses to the resurrected Christ. He appeared to the women and Mary, then to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and finally to His disciples in a locked upper room. It is there that He eats with them (Luke 24:42-43). He would appear to over five hundred people over the next forty days (1 Corinthians 15:1-11). He would eat with the disciples again (John 21:11-13). And they saw Him ascend into heaven ten days before Pentecost.

Eyewitness testimony is a valuable tool in law courts. The Bible is clear that two or three witnesses are needed to convict someone. Jezebel used two scoundrels to accuses Naboth and gain his vineyard. The Jewish leaders tried to fine two witnesses against Jesus and later against Stephen (see Acts 7). Eyewitnesses see different things from their perspective in order to gain a full picture of what happened. That is why when two witnesses say the same thing, their credibility is questioned.

The resurrection is the most important doctrine of the New Testament because it proves the meaning of the death of Jesus; that He came to save us from our sins. Today, critics do not want to deal with sins for any number of reasons. Some just do not want anyone dying for them. Others want to define what is and isn’t sin. Many are content to live in sin and ignore the guilt and the consequences of one’s actions, then blame God and others for the devastation that follows. Yet we proclaim the resurrection through song, preaching, and the Lord’s Supper.

The evidence is there (4). We do not have anything to fear from those who question the resurrection. We do need to ask the questions. What evidences do they have? What are your contemporary sources? Why do you interpret it this way?

He is not here. He is risen!

George B. Mearns

(1) see N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, Fortress Press, 2003.

(2) He was the director of the movie Titanic.

(3) see the blogs of scholars Ben Witherington and Darrell Bock for further information.

(4) Josh McDowell has written extensively on this subject and offers much evidence to the resurrection in his book, New Evidence That Demands A Verdict.