Selie Visa
1) The foundation of Christianity:
“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith”(1 Corinthians 15:14).
The Resurrection of Christ is the crowning proof of Christianity. It is the foundation of the Christian faith. If the Resurrection did not take place then Christianity is a false religion and it would have ended the very day Christ died.
2) Two questions:
G.B. Hardy, a Canadian scientist wrote a book about life, about philosophy. It asked two very important questions. This scientist said, “I have only two questions to ask. One, has anyone ever defeated death? Two, did he make a way for me to do it also?” This scientist found the answer to his question in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He found the hope for his own resurrection in it as well. And yes, Christ made a way for you and I to defeat it as well.
3) The swoon theory:
Time and again opponents of Christianity have attempted to prove the Resurrection as a myth or a fable. One common theory is the “swoon theory.” This is the theory that Christ never really died. Due to the loss of blood on the cross and the wounds he became unconscious. Inside the tomb, the aroma of the spices and the coolness of the tomb revived him. And when He came out of the grave, the disciples assumed that he was resurrected.The women, who carefully wrapped his body in linen and anointed Him along with Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus with 75 pounds of spices, must have known whether or not he was dead. The Romans were renowned for their military strategies and discipline. History will stand the test of scrutiny that the Romans were experts at execution. They came by and did not break Jesus’ legs because they knew he was already dead. They rammed a spear into his side and out came the blood and the water around the heart, indicating that he was dead.
4) Escape from the tomb:
If the swoon theory is true, it means that Jesus successfully survived severe beating, loss of blood, crucifixion, the spear thrust into his side and survived three days with no food or water. Then he woke up, moved the stone,over powered the Roman guard and then walked seven miles to Emmaus on feet that had been pierced with nails. That is ridiculous and absurd.
5) The no-burial theory:
There’s a second theory known as the “no-burial theory.” The no-burial theory says Christ was never put in the tomb so obviously he wasn’t there on Sunday. Since He wasn’t there Friday or Saturday, we don’t expect Him on Sunday.
This theory doesn’t work either. If the tomb was empty there was no point in posting a Roman guard there. Instead of denying the Resurrection they would have brought the body to the city of Jerusalem for all to see. They could not produce the body because Christ has indeed risen from the dead.
6) The hallucination theory:
The third theory is the “hallucination theory” which says that everybody who thought they say Jesus after his dead suffered from hallucination. It was a pathological problem. They thought they saw Jesus because they wanted to see him so badly. This theory doesn’t work either. How could the church be built on hallucination? 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 outlined the appearances of Jesus after his Resurrection. The passage also mentioned that 500 people saw him at the same time. At the time of his writing, Paul said though some of them have died many of these eye witnesses were still alive. How could 500 people have the same hallucination at the same time? And since they didn’t even believe or expect a resurrection, where was this strong desire that brought them to hallucinate? Furthermore, if this was all it was just a hallucination, then where was the body? Where was the body?Show us the body!
7) The mistaken identity theory:
There is another theory that’s been propounded… the “mistaken identity theory.” This theory says that somebody impersonated Jesus, that somebody tried to dress and look like Jesus to falsify the Resurrection by impersonation. The problem with that is he must have crucified himself to produce the scars in his hands. He must have stabbed a spear into his side to produce the scar that was. And how do you explain the post-resurrection miracles if he was just an impostor? How can you explain walking through walls? How can you explain the controlling the fish in the sea, creating a meal, appearing and vanishing at will, ascending to heaven in full view of the Apostles? No impersonator can do that. Moreover, the disciples knew Jesus too well to be fooled.
8) The wrong tomb theory:
This theory says that the women were so distraught with grief and they went to a tomb which happens to be empty. This theory too is preposterous. The women have followed Jesus to the place where Jesus was crucified. They knew exactly where he was buried. Most important Jesus was not buried in a public cemetery but in a private cemetery and in a new tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:57-60) and there was no room for error in finding the right tomb.
9) The theft theory:
There are many more theories. But if you’re going to deny the resurrection, there’s really only one theory that you ought to adopt and that’s the one these Jews adopted in Matthew 28. That theory is the “theft theory”. According to this theory the disciples came and stole His body. If you can’t find the body, the best explanation is somebody came and took the body.
In Matthew 28:11-15 the priests and the elders bribed the soldiers and instructed them to say that the disciples came at night and stole the body while they were asleep. This lie is so apparent that Matthew did not bother to give any clarification. If you are asleep how you can see what is happening?If you are asleep how you can identify the people who are coming or going? No one sees when he or she is sleeping. This is the lie that proved the truth of the Resurrection.
Jesus Christ said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). He is alive today. He will walk with you down every road of life. He will standby you in the hour of death. He will keep you throughout all eternity.
