Is there any evidence for the resurrection of Christ?
Yes! In fact, there is lots of evidence for the resurrection of Christ.
First, Jesus said that He would die and rise again on the third day. After He died the high priest asked Pontus Pilate to place guards at His tomb until the third day passed. So Pilate sent soldiers to seal the tomb and stand watch. The penalty for breaking a roman seal was death so it not only had soldiers guarding the tomb but was also sealed by the authority of Rome. According to the Bible we know that the soldiers say that they were sleeping when the body disappeared, but if the large stone placed in front of the door had to be moved for any passage, you would think that one of them would hear a large stone moving right next to them unless they were supernaturally put to sleep while they were guarding the body. Also, when all the disciples heard it, they were in unbelief and thought that someone stole His body until they saw Him risen from the dead and talked with Him. How do you know that the whole thing wasn’t a hoax set up by the disciples before his death? His disciples, according to their own records, did not believe that Jesus was going to come back to life. However, Jesus did come back to life and was seen by over 500 witnesses. In fact, according to His disciples, they touched Him and ate with Him. What did the disciples have to gain by making this up? All of the disciples, with one exception, were put to death for their faith. They did not become rich from spreading the gospel, but they were beaten and eventually killed. Yet none of them changed their mind or testimony about Christ. Think about that! They died for believing in Jesus as the only way into heaven and none of them turned away, but all lived for Christ and died for Christ.
Secondly, even though Jesus died on a cross, people still believed He was alive. Why would people believe He was alive if the tomb wasn’t empty? Would people believe that Jesus was risen from the dead if they could go to his tomb and see his body there? Absolutely not! This also lets us know that in fact the tomb was empty as the Bible says.
It is also important to note how fast Christianity grew despite persecution. The early Christian church grew rapidly. It doesn’t make any sense that it would grow in large numbers or at all if there was a body. Plus, as stated earlier, all of the disciples except one died for preaching the message of the risen Christ. Why didn’t any of them deny it before they were put to death or stop preaching it once they were beaten for doing so? Not one of them backed down from their convictions. They all died for preaching the message of Jesus and they refused to take worldly goods from people for themselves, but did their best to live selfless lives unto God. Why would they live like this if they did not really see Jesus risen from the dead? To me, the evidence is clear that Jesus did, in fact, rise from the dead. If you would like to know more about Jesus or why you need Him, please look at the other links on the left or check out the media. Thank you.
