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SHOW NOTES
Welcome to a new week of the Hope Rescue Podcast. As we approach Easter this year, we wanted to take a couple of weeks to discuss common questions and topics surrounding the holiday. One of the most common questions about Easter is, “How do we know Jesus was actually resurrected?” Many religions besides Christianity believe that Jesus was a real person and possibly even a prophet who died for his faith. In the Christian faith though, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is central. First Corinthians 15:14 says, "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” Today we are going to break down a few reasons why we can know with confidence that Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Keep reading or listening to find out!
How do you know you were born? How do you know your biological parents are your parents? Although you were present for your birth, you do not remember it or the first few years of your life. You have to believe based on anecdotal evidence, as well as documentation.
Well-known atheist Sam Harris is quoted as saying, “Faith is nothing more than the license that religious people give one another to believe such propositions when reasons fail.” Many have believed for years that they have to choose between science and religion. We have probably all heard someone say that the reason they don’t believe in God is because they believe in science, as if you cannot have both. But when we don’t have science to prove something that happened in history, there are other ways to determine what is true such as legal historical evidence.
In a court of law, the judge always comes to a conclusion whether there is scientific evidence or not. If a crime occurs but there is no DNA left at the crime scene, the investigators are left looking for other sources of evidence, such as eye witnesses or verification in writing.
What legal historical evidence do we have to support our faith in Jesus’s death and resurrection? In Matthew 20, Jesus prophesied exactly how he would die, where he would die, and what would happen after his death. Matthew 20:17-19 says, "And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
Another example of evidence to support the resurrection of Jesus is the broken seal on the tomb. On Easter morning, the Roman seal was broken. No disciple or guard would have broken the seal on the tomb because the consequences for breaking the seal were very severe and sometimes resulted in death. Another piece of evidence from that Sunday morning was the empty tomb. No one ever denied that the tomb was empty, and if someone had lied and said it was empty, it would have been easily disproved.
Lastly for today, First Corinthians 15:3-8 says, "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” In Jesus’s time, there were literally hundreds of eye-witnesses that saw Jesus resurrected, and those events were recorded in the text.
Join us next week as we dive deeper into evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Thank you for listening!
REFERENCED SCRIPTURE
1 Corinthians 15:14 "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”
Matthew 20:17-19 "And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”
