The Resurrection: A Historic Event

Christianity is based on faith in Jesus and the factual, historical events
of His life, death, and resurrection. Because of eyewitness reports, we can
know these things really happened in time and space. Without the historical
resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christianity would be nothing but fairy
tales. It would be nothing more than humanity’s attempt to explain reality.

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When Jesus died on the cross, the Pharisees and the High Priest knew of
Jesus’s claim that He would rise from the dead. They were afraid His
disciples would steal the body and tell people that Jesus had resurrected.
If that happened, everyone would follow Jesus instead of their teachings.
So the Pharisees asked Pilate to secure Jesus’s tomb. Pilate gave them a
Roman guard unit—soldiers from the best trained military force in the world
at that time. If any of these guards fell asleep at their post, they would
be executed. The Roman officials also put a seal on Jesus’s tomb. If this
seal was broken, the penalty was death. Nobody would dare break a Roman
seal.

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So, when Jesus did rise from the dead, this was a problem for the
Pharisees. They worried that His followers would tell everyone about it. So
they came up with a plan: they would say the disciples stole Jesus’s body.

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Yes, they would tell people that the disciples came and overpowered the
best trained military force in the world, broke the Roman seal—risking the
penalty of death—and stole Jesus’s body. People from that area knew how
foolish this story was. Besides, when Jesus died, His disciples thought
their Messiah had failed and got Himself killed. They didn’t understand
that He would rise from the dead, even though Jesus had told them about it
beforehand. All hope in Jesus died when they saw Him on the cross. Why
would they steal a dead body?

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The truth of the resurrection was apparent to the thousands of people who
became Christians soon after this event (Acts 2:41; 4:4). Now we, too, can
trust in the factual, historical account of the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. And because of His resurrection, we can trust that He will raise us
from the dead at His return, and all His people will live forever in His
loving presence in renewed creation. •

Doug Velting

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• What questions do you have about Jesus’s resurrection? Who are trusted
Christians in your life you could bring these questions to?

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But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a
great harvest of all who have died. 1 Corinthians 15:20 (NLT)

Read Verses:

1Cor.15|Matt.27.62-Matt.27.66|Matt.28.2-Matt.28.4|Matt.28.11-Matt.28.14