Many have questioned and doubted that Jesus really rose from the dead. Even Thomas, one of Jesus’ 12 students/followers, doubted that Jesus rose from the dead. Thomas did not believe until he put his finger into the nail-holes in the hand of Jesus (John 20:24-29). This is the same St. Thomas who came to India to tell people about what Jesus Christ did for them. He was later killed in South India.

Resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of Christianity. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then Christianity is baseless and its teachings pointless (1 Corinthians 15:12-33). The phrase ‘rise from the dead’ does not mean another life in a different body. It does not mean come back as a spirit. But it means to come back to life never to die again. Jesus appeared to Thomas and many others in the same body that was crucified and laid in the tomb. This is called resurrection (i.e. to rise from the grave with the same body)

Can we believe that Jesus rose from the dead (resurrection) today?
Let’s look at the evidence that we have access to.

The evidence presented in this article is this way:

• We have evidence for the death of Jesus on a Roman Cross
• We have evidence for the burial of Jesus
• We have evidence for the empty grave of Jesus
• We have evidence for Jesus Christ appearing to many after death
• The newly found boldness among the believers after the resurrection of Jesus
• There are no other satisfactory explanation for the above evidences other than Resurrection.

EVIDENCE OUTSIDE THE BIBLE (FOR THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST ON A CROSS):

• Roman Historian (Tacitus) writes about Christians: “Christus, from whom [the name Christians] had its origin suffered the extreme penalty [crucifixion]”.


• Jewish book (Babylonian Talmud) reads: “On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged”.


• Greek writer (Lucian of Samosata) writes: “The Christians … worship a man [who]… was crucified”.


• Jewish Historian (Josephus): “When Pilate… condemned him [Christ] to be crucified”.

All these evidences can be cross examined by the reader on the internet. These evidences are not from biased group of Christians, but from Roman, Greek and Jewish Historians and writers who were not Christians. Jewish testimony is especially noteworthy because the Jews were against Christianity.

EVIDENCE INSIDE THE BIBLE (FOR THE DEATH OF JESUS ON A CROSS):

• There are 4 eye witness accounts (gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) that testify that Jesus really died..
• The religious leader (high priest) testify to the fact that Jesus really died. They spread the rumor that the students/followers of Jesus Christ stole His body (Matthew 28:13). If Jesus did not die, why even bother to spread the rumor, instead, spread the rumor that He is not dead. This shows that there was an overwhelming evidence and eye witnesses to the death of Jesus.

EVIDENCE FOR THE BURIAL OF JESUS:

• It is a well attested fact that Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea.
• Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, says that he ‘received’ the tradition of burial of Jesus. How can he receive if it was not believed by many before him?
• Gospel of Matthew, the oldest gospel, contains the burial account (Matthew 27:57-61).
• There are no competing stories to the burial of Jesus except for that of religious leaders. Their story was that the followers of Jesus stole His body (Matthews 28:13). But their story clearly shows that they assumed the burial of Jesus.
• Joseph of Arimathea was a member of Sanhedrin. It is very improbable that Christians would invent such a character.

EVIDENCE FOR AN EMPTY TOMB (GRAVE):

• Empty tomb. To stop the Christian believers from propagating the empty tomb, all one needed to do was to point to the grave of Jesus with Him inside. Remember, the Christians were heavily persecuted (killed and put in jail). Instead, why not produce the body of Jesus? Paul, a follower of Jesus, says that if Jesus did not rise from the dead then Christians are the most to be pitied.


• The early church flourished in ‘Jerusalem’ where Jesus was crucified and buried. This would be impossible if the body of Jesus was still in the tomb.


• Witness of an Enemy (Matt 28:12-13) support empty tomb. The religious leaders who persuaded the Roman officials to crucify Jesus agree with the fact that the tomb was empty. They only disagree with the claim that Jesus rose from the dead.


• Spectacular increase in the number of believers: Thousands of people believed in Jesus Christ and were added to the church in Jerusalem (Acts 2:41). They not only followed Jesus but were ready to forsake everything and even die for their belief in Jesus. This is impossible if Jesus’ body was still in the tomb.

EYE WITNESS TESTIMONY:

• There are several independent witnesses (friends and enemies of Jesus) who claims to have seen Jesus after his death. St. Thomas’ request to see Jesus personally was recorded by John (not an invention of Thomas). St. Thomas later comes to India with the good news of Jesus Christ centuries before the British existed.


• Paul, an enemy of Jesus Christ, who put Christians in jail, claimed that he saw Jesus after the burial (1 Corinthians 15:8). This can’t be a made up story because Paul saw Jesus independently of the disciples.


• James, a skeptic, later became a spokesperson of Jerusalem church and refers to Jesus as ‘LORD’ (Acts 15:26).


• Paul refers to 500 witnesses (most of them living during the time) to the post-resurrected Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:6).


• Josephus, Jewish Historian, records that the believers believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

NEWLY FOUND BOLDNESS AMONG BELIEVERS AFTER SEEING JESUS RISEN FROM THE DEAD:

Before seeing Jesus risen from dead	After seeing Jesus risen from dead
Jesus’ 12 initial followers hid themselves in their homes because they feared the Jews and the Romans who killed their Teacher/Master.	They went out and boldly proclaimed about Jesus in front of the very people who supported the crucifixion (Acts 5:27-32).
Peter said that he did not even know Jesus Christ as He was being arrested and questioned (Mark 14:66-72).	Peter was ready to face prison, public flogging and eventually death on a cross for the sake of proclaiming His name (Acts 5:40-41).
Paul persecuted the church putting those who believed in Jesus in prison.	He boldly proclaimed about Jesus Christ to the Jews who supported persecution of Christians. He was put in jail at least 2 times and finally beheaded for believing in Jesus.

SUMMARY:

• From the above evidences we can be sure beyond any doubt that Jesus did die on a Roman cross, was buried and now we have an empty tomb.


• We also have evidence that the early Christians believed that Jesus rose from the dead. This is supported by the fact that these believers were ready to suffer prison, torture and even death for the sake of Jesus Christ.


• The only theory that can satisfactorily explain all the above evidences is that Jesus Christ did come back from bodily the dead and appeared to many believers and non-believers proving His claim that He is God!

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