Did Jesus Die and Rise Again
Did Jesus Die and Rise Again?
Of all the ‘common’ questions people ask a disciple of Christ, this one seems to be the most frequent and is usually said with a skeptical “REALLY?” tone. As the discussion develops, most will always slip in a ‘how can a rational person believe this?’comment or two. It is a little scary to discover that many whom profess to be Christians gloss over this point and have a vague answer that includes words like metaphor and allegory. I beg to differ and am bold enough to state, as Paul did in his letter to the church in Rome:
“And Jesus Christ our Lord was shown to be the Son of God when God powerfully raised Him from the dead by means of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 1:4
Let’s set the stage. Jesus knew that He would be tried, condemned, and crucified. He told His disciples that He would be handed over to die but that He would rise again. The citations are numerous in scripture – read one of the Gospels straight through to get a picture. But there are really two questions here: Did Jesus die on the cross? Was Jesus raised back to life?
This week, let’s tackle the first question: did Jesus ACTUALLY die on the cross?
There is one theory that states Jesus didn’t die on the cross. He just swooned and was later resuscitated. Eyewitness accounts from John 19:31-35 state that the Roman soldiers were orderedto hasten the process due to a sundown deadline for theSabbath. When they assessed the condition of the two criminals and found them still alive, they broke their legs to hurry up their asphyxiation. There was no need to do the same with Jesus. In their expert opinion He was already dead, but one thrust a spear into His side to be sure. When they saw the blood and water, evidence enough as witnessed by experts, He was assessed truly dead. The Roman soldiers would not have taken Him down if He were still alive. It was the whole point of crucifixion that the condemned be left to hang there until dead. The earliest records are emphatic. His lifeless body was removed and prepared for burial as usual in these circumstances. And one more fact – if He had just swooned and later revived, He would have been in no condition to remove the enormous stone at the mouth of the tomb or evade the Roman soldiers posted there.Once again, it is hostile witnesses that give us the most unbiased fact: the chief priests took measures to prevent the disciples from stealing His body. There was no doubt in their minds that Jesus was dead.
There is another theory of a classic substitution conspiracy – that someone else died in His place. The whole thing flounders in a morass of who, why and how. It just isn’t reasonable to discount the testimony of every single account from these events. Jesus and His disciples were well known to witnesses favorable (His followers), unbiased (the Roman Governor and his soldiers), and hostile (the Jews) to His ministry. Somewhere along the line from arrest to burial one of these parties would have noticed a different person posing as Jesus. I feel quite certain that if no one else, His mother, Mary, would have noticed that the voice calling out to John consigning her to his care was that of her son. Once again, it is those hostile witnesses that give the strongest testimony. It was in the BEST interest of the Sanhedrin for the trial, condemnation, and execution of Jesus to be verifiably Him.
Today’s popular information source, Wikipedia, says this:
‘The crucifixion of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely between AD 30 and 33. Jesus' crucifixion is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and is established as a historical event confirmed by non-Christian sources,although there is no consensus among historians on the exact details.’
History bears witness that Jesus ACTUALLY diedon that cross.
Next week we continue this discussion with the second half of our original question: Did Jesus rise from the dead and live on this earth again? Until then, be blessed.
