Why Believe in the Resurrection?

"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." -Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

THE CENTRAL FACT OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

In the Green Dome, where Muhammad is buried in Medina, an empty grave is reserved by Muslims for Jesus. Supposedly this is where Jesus will be buried at a future date after returning from Heaven. Although Muhammad is considered the greater prophet in Islam, it is Jesus (according to Islamic teaching itself) whose life and teachings have been attested by miracles, whose grave is empty and whose body hasn't been claimed by death, while no miracles were attributed to Muhammad during his lifetime and his body lies decaying in a tomb. For many Muslims Jesus' empty grave, contrasted with the status of Muhammad's body buried in Medina, is one of many strange inconsistencies in the Islamic faith that have led large numbers throughout the world to re-examine the facts and put their faith in Jesus as Lord. Simply put: if Jesus' burial site is empty, the Christian faith makes much more sense.

THE RESURRECTION: EVIDENCE FOR FAITH

Many have come to faith just by looking at the evidence for the resurrection. As an atheist during his reporting days in Chicago after graduating from Yale Law School, Lee Strobel focused his search for the evidence of Christianity almost exclusively on whether or not we can know that the resurrection of Jesus happened. As he began to examine the evidence for himself over a long period of study, he came to faith in Christ. Even among those who have looked at the evidence but refused to come to faith, the strength of the reasons to believe in the resurrection still gives them pause. Here's British philosopher Antony Flew, formerly one of the world's best-known Atheists (he came to believe in God later in life, though not Christianity) on the evidence for the resurrection:

“The evidence for the resurrection is better than for claimed miracles in any other religion. It’s outstandingly different in quality and quantity." -Antony Flew, once described as 'the world's most notorious Atheist'.

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION?

The evidence for the resurrection is the subject of a large number of very thick books that spend pages going into many details, arguments, and counter-arguments. So we're not going to lay down a water-tight case within just the next paragraph or two here. That said, here are just a few pieces of evidence that have helped very educated, very skeptical people put their faith in Jesus:

1. The Apostles Willingly Died for Their Belief in the Resurrection

People die for their beliefs all the time but the Apostles are different for one very important reason: they were in the position to know for certain whether their claims were true. They didn't just claim to believe that Jesus rose from death; they universally claimed, in the face of threats and persecution, to have seen it with their own eyes. To Corinthians who doubted the resurrection, the Apostle Paul directed them (in the passage quoted at the top of this post) to a whole list of witnesses of the resurrection, including 500 people who saw the risen Jesus all at one time. The implication is clear. If any of them continued to doubt, they could send a representative to Judea to ask the literally hundreds of people who saw it for themselves. The Corinthians had financial resources and could afford to send someone to check on Paul's claims. Often this kind of thing was done in the ancient world. If you are Paul, this is not the kind of challenge you would lay down if you couldn't back it up. So here we have:

(a) The Apostles were in a position to know whether or not their claims were true. 

(b) None of them gained wealth or status by teaching that Jesus was risen. All of them were killed horribly for their faith, except the Apostle John, who was boiled in a cauldron of oil and exiled to a barren rock island. 

(c) Incredibly, none of the Apostles broke rank or denied that Jesus rose. Compare that with the shaky -at best- witnesses of the alleged prophet Joseph Smith in the Mormon faith, and you start to get an idea of how incredible it is that none of the Apostles ever left or denied the faith despite persecution.

2. The Jesus Movement Died Out After the Crucifixion, Then Suddenly Exploded

The Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus, writing over the first and second centuries, described the growth of Christianity like this (note that he doesn't seem overly positive toward Christians): 

"[Emperor] Nero fastened guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class... called Christians by the populace. [Christ], from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular." -Tacitus, Annals 15.44

Movements tend to die out after their leader is killed, especially when that movement is centered around their leader being a promised king or prophet who will deliver his people. They don't tend to pick up steam. There were many movements that were centered around supposed Messiahs which died out around Jesus' time, both before and after (for examples, see Judas the Galilean and Simon Bar-Kokhba). Not the Jesus movement. In the case of Christ, the movement started to die after "[Christ]... suffered the extreme penalty... at the hand of Pontius Pilate" which is about what you would expect, and then something happened to cause the movement to suddenly explode and spread everywhere. The resurrection explains how such an unusual thing happened in the case of the Jesus movement: it gave the movement new momentum.

MORE PLACES FOR YOU TO LOOK

I want to keep going, but this post is already much longer than I was expecting it to be. Maybe I'll go into this in more detail over the next few days, or return to it later depending on the response. For now here are two more links for evidence about the resurrection. Take a look, and let's keep the conversation going.

Historical Evidence for the Resurrection at Desiring God

Four Compelling Reasons to Believe in the Resurrection by Lee Strobel

Explanations Offered for the Resurrection by Cold-Case Christianity

HOW TO LIVE THE RESURRECTION

Whatever your other questions are about the Christian faith it comes down to this: if the resurrection is true, then Christianity (at least the core of it) is true. That doesn't mean that you won't still wonder about some things from time to time or have doubts about other issues. But it does mean that Jesus' claims about Himself, His teachings passed down to His followers, and the truth of what He says about the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven are backed up by the most definitive historical mic drop of all time: the Easter miracle of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Let that be an anchor when other doubts or troubles come your way, when the voice of God is distant, or when life does not seem to make sense. A faith that is centered on what you feel can ebb and flow as circumstances come your way, but a faith centered around the reality of Jesus' history-shattering resurrection miracle will not easily be swayed no matter what trials come or how many obstacles you face.

Happy Easter,

-Sean