The historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the lynchpin of Christianity. Jesus said that His resurrection would be the proof that He was the Son of God (John 2:19-22). Paul taught that if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then our faith is worthless, we have no forgiveness for our sins and we have no hope (1 Cor. 15:12-19). If the resurrection did not really take place, then everything about Christianity falls like a house of cards. What historical evidence supports the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

The Way He Died. Some suggest that Jesus did not really die upon the cross. Instead, they say that He was mistaken for dead, taken down from the cross, and later revived. The Bible says that Jesus died (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Jesus was crucified, and history does not speak of anyone surviving a crucifixion.

His Burial. The Bible tells us that Jesus was buried according to the custom of the Jews (John 19:38-40). The Jews wrapped the dead body in linen three times - once to the armpits, then to the neck, and finally the entire body. Spices were mixed in with the layers of cloth. One of these spices was myrrh, which is like a gummy adhesive. Thus, these three layers were literally glued in place. No one having gone through a crucifixion could have wrestled himself out of such an encasement.

The Empty Tomb. Jesus was buried in a tomb (Matt. 27:59-28:8). We know that this was a new tomb, thus His was the only body that was placed in the tomb. This tomb was hewn out of rock, thus there was not a back door through which to sneak out the body. A large stone was rolled against the door of the tomb, it was sealed, and a guard was posted to keep it undisturbed. Despite these precautions, on the first day of the week the women found an empty tomb. What happened to the body? The women did not go to the wrong tomb, for they had carefully observed where His body was laid (Mark 15:47). Jesus did not survive and walk out alive, for He could not have moved the stone from the inside and gotten past the guard. The disciples did not steal the body, for they could not have gotten past the guard. His enemies did not move His body, for it was in their best interest to keep Jesus' body in the tomb. The only way to account for the empty tomb is to understand that Jesus rose from the dead.

Post-Resurrection Appearances. Jesus appeared to several people after His resurrection. Sometimes He ate in front of them and even invited them to touch Him in order to prove that He really was alive. One of these men was His disciple named Thomas. Thomas refused to believe that Jesus was alive until he saw His body and put his fingers in the holes that the nails had made in His hands (John 20:24-29). Jesus appeared to him and invited him to touch Him. Thomas saw the evidence that he needed and confessed that Jesus was his Lord and God. Thomas stands in the place of every skeptic who would come after him.

Either Jesus rose from the dead like He said He would, proving that He is the Son of God and gaining victory over death, or He did not. There is no middle ground. The evidence supports the fact that Jesus did rise from the dead.

What do you believe?