Ask the Pastor 16

How do we know that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead?

We know that all those who trust in the Lord Jesus will rise from the dead, because He did, He went on before us. Therefore, it is very important to know that He did in fact rise from the dead. The primary historical resource for determining His resurrection is the Bible which records the words and acts of those who gave witness to His resurrection. First, there is Bible prophecy that He would rise from the dead (Psalm 16:10). Then we have eye witness accounts, the empty tomb was seen first by the women who came to the tomb, then by Peter and John. Then He appeared to Mary, to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, to Peter and to the 11 disciples, and to over 500 others. Most of whom were tortured and killed for their testimony, there was plenty of opportunity for at least one of all those people to deny the resurrection to save their own skin, but they did not. The account of the resurrection is the most examined by legal minds than any other event in history. Simon Greenleaf, the Royal Professor of Law at Harvard from 1833-48 examined evidences and concluded, “the resurrection of Christ was a reality, that it was a historical event, and that anyone who examined the evidence for it honestly would be convinced this was the case” Frank Morison, a British lawyer set out to write a book that would disprove the resurrection and ended becoming a believer and wrote a book “Who Moved the Stone” that verified the resurrection. Another man by the name of Lew Wallace also set out to write a book to disprove the resurrection and again, wrote a book defending it, the book was “Ben Hur”. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (I Corinthians 15:20) and “Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19).