OCCASIONALLY, usually from distant places, an account appears of a person rising from the dead.
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When I see these I just scroll on to the next news item and yet, paradoxically, I’m willing to believe that 2000 years ago, in a distant place, a man did rise from the dead.
Am I being inconsistent? Irrational? Is it wishful thinking on my part, or have I been conned?
A central belief of Christianity is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead – so central, that the Bible even says that if Christ has not been raised, then following him is futile.
Some will say that Jesus is risen from the dead only because “he lives in my heart” but that is not what the Bible says. It claims Jesus physically and bodily rose from the dead.
So where is the truth in reports of Jesus’ resurrection? Can they be believed?
The first thing to realise is that people in Jesus’ time were not especially naïve. They knew people didn’t rise from the dead.
Even though Jesus himself had told his followers he would rise again, they were sceptical when they first heard reports of his resurrection. So-called Doubting Thomas is chief among those, asserting that he would not believe until he saw and touched Jesus. But when he did see and touch Jesus his mind changed radically!
Numerous appearances by Jesus following his death convinced many – hundreds – that he really was alive again. And despite the passage of time, no evidence has emerged that any of these ever recanted their conviction.
On the other hand, some have said that Jesus was seen alive because he never died on the cross in the first place. And yet, all the evidence – and not just in the Bible – points to the fact that Jesus was crucified, died and was buried.
More, if the authorities had wanted to quash claims that Jesus had risen, why not just produce his dead body? They couldn’t, because it couldn’t be found.
Perhaps Jesus’ followers stole the body and foisted a giant hoax on the world, but that overlooks the weakness and fearfulness of Jesus’ followers in face of the might of the Roman Empire. And if it was all a con, how can we explain the preparedness of Jesus’ followers to die for the belief that Jesus had risen?
In weighing up the evidence, the most plausible explanation for what is otherwise utterly implausible, is that Jesus rose from the dead.
That being so, the wisest thing must surely be to believe in him.