The world can never deny that there is a man named Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph and Mary who onced lived here on earth. And this Jesus was the Jesus our Bible was telling, even some of those Jesus’ teaching who scattered around the world was the evidence that there onced Jesus who lived on earth. Now, the only questionable thing about Jesus is his miracles, and one of these is His resurrection (and I think this will validate that all of His miracles are real).

Do you really believe that Jesus Christ did rose from th dead? I’ve just read recently that, if Jesus really did not rose again from the dead, means your faith is now in vain.

Let us read, 1 Corinthians 15:12-15.

Is there evidence of Jesus’ resurrection?  And if there is, what are those? So, we can be assure that our faith in Jesus Christ was not in vain.

It is proved that Jesus’ resurrection was true because of the three realities. One of these is the empty tomb.

Body:

Empty Tomb

One of the truths that proves Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is His empty tomb. But there are some agnostics of this miracle of Christ and saying that “Jesus is not truly dead; he did escape into His tomb.” They are saying that Jesus escaped from His tomb and showed himself to His disciples after three days.

“Jesus is not truly dead; he did escape into His tomb.”

Regarding this argument that He just escape. How can they justify the wounds of Jesus? Before Jesus was crucified on Thursday night after his last supper with his disciples (before he died), he came to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. In the dawn of Friday, Jesus was arrested in that same garden and brought to the temple. At that same day Jesus was whipped more or less than forty times and then He carried His cross up to the hill of Golgotha outside the city of Jerusalem – around a mile and maybe an hour of walk. Then He was crucified (there are so much of reliable evidence that Jesus was really crucified). Now, how would a man that has no sleep, whipped forty times, beaten up, full of bruises, wounded, pierced in his side would have a strength to roll out a giant stone and escape? a man would really die on receiving those things. Therefore, Jesus literally died on that day.

Jesus of Nazareth, if he is just a man, he won’t be able to come outside that tomb and proclaim to his disciple that he rose again. He would really die. Only a God man would be able to resurrect and show to his disciples his fresh wound, pierce hands and feet.

Some would also argue that:

“his disciples stole his body and spread the news that he rose again”.

The Pharisees knows that Jesus is claiming that he would die and rose again on the third day, they also come to think of it, that Jesus’ disciples may steal his dead body and proclaim that Jesus rose again. So, they put their soldiers on the tomb to guard it until the third day, to secure that the tomb is sealed by that massive stone and is heavily guarded by those roman soldiers.

The disciples witnessed what happened to Jesus, and they know that it may happened to them too if they will proclaim to people that they are follower of Jesus. Peter’s denial of Jesus, with his reaction when he is asked by a servant girl after after Jesus was arrested is one of the evidence of the disciples' fear and trauma.

Stealing a dead body may be a possible work of scheme for the disciples, but witnessing what happened to their Master may give them trauma, depression and the fear they are experienced will cause them unable to think of stealing a dead body from a tomb sealed by a massive stone and guarded heavily by the roman soldiers. Therefore, this argument of his disciples stole his body and spread the news that he rose again” is not possible considering all of the things Jesus’ disciples going through at that time after the death of Jesus.

Considering that two arguments regarding the empty tomb. It is clear that the tomb is empty not because of a human effort. That tomb was empty because the person inside it had risen and resurrected, and His name is Jesus. Only a God man would be able to resurrect and show to his disciples his fresh wound, pierce hands and feet. That empty tomb is a hope for every Christian who believed in Jesus Christ that their faith is not in in vain.

Another evidence that Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead was his eyewitnesses.

Eyewitnesses

The Resurretion of Jesus is confirmed by His eyewitnesses. His Resurrection is proven by His witnesses.

Christ witnesses are not just one, but a number of people witnessed His resurrected body inseveral days, places, and occurences. Because Jesus stayed on earth for forty days after his resurrection before He came up to heaven.

Some opposition to Jesus’ resurrection says that “The things saw by the disciples were just a hallucination, or merely an illusion they saw.”

This argument some are saying may be true if there is only one person who confessed of Jesus’ resurrection, or a group of people in one place on one occasion hallucinates at one time – though I’m not sure if this second occurennce is quite posisble. Let’s say this may be true, but how can they explain the numerous occurrences of Jesus appearance with different persons in different places; teaching and having fellowship with his disciples. How would they explain those fervent testimonies of these people who witnessed Jesus’ resurrected body that they are willing to die for this testimony of His resurrection and to share His teachings and the Goodnews that He resurrected that who so ever believes in his life death, and resurrection may not perished but have everlasting life.

Did you ever saw a group of people willing to die just for a lie? These martyrs are tortured to death, many of them, if not all of them suffered that kind of death.

Threfore, Jesus cannot be proved wrong by that said argument. The life and testimony of these people who are willing to die for the truth that they are preaching are enough to spread this news up to this twenty first century. To some, this may not be enough and keep on saying that “Someone pretended to be Jesus and appeared to His disciples.”

This sound quite true and possible than hallucination, right? But can this man pretending to be Jesus, can fake the wounds of his pierced hand and feet, and those bruises from the whipped of those roman soldiers? Tell me, if someone, or anyone in here can think of faking those wounds and pierced body, and let some people touch your wound. Then if there is no one in us can even think of it being able to fake a heavy wound, then in Jesus' time there would be also no one that can even make it possible to fake and show to many people and let some touch its wound.

Therefore, “pretending to be Jesus and apeared to His disciple” is a nonesense argument of those who cannot accept the reality that Jesus died and rose again, and His eyewitnesses was also one of those great evidence that Jesus resurrected from the dead. Those testimony of the eyewitnesses of His death and resurrection was so powerful, that after Jesus came up to heaven, and after the Holy Spirit came down on them, they became willing to die for this truth and just to share this goodnews about Jesus Christ.

Because of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit in His disciples, God established His church here on earth, beginning from the Apostles and to all of the early believer. God established His Ekklesia through his Apostles, and that is one of the great pieces of evidence of Jesus’ resurrection – His Ekklessia. The Church.

Ekklesia

Ekklesia is a Greek word that means Church. Meaning, one of the living evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the Church. The faith of the early fathers of the church and the early believers was guided by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the guidance of the Holy Scripture, was passed down up to this twenty first century.

The living testimony of the goodnews of the resurrection of Christ Jesus is the Church. Do you know what does that mean? It means, you and I - is a living testimony to the world! Your life believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and your life believing that it brought salvation to us, to those who believe.

 The reason we are sharing the Gospel to the people is the same reason Jesus’ declared to his disciples in Acts 1:8, “You will be my witnesses”. We will be a witness of everything about Jesus and what God is offering to this world through Christ. And the same Spirit that you have received is the same spirit that the apostles received when they are afraid and anxious. Therefore, the same “power when the Holy Spirit has come upon” the disciples, is the same power that is in you when you believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord, God and Savior. The same Spirit who gave them power to overcome their fear of speaking the truth in Jesus’ name and sharing the goodnews in Jesus’ name, is the same Spirit who will also give us the courage in our fear and strength in our weaknesses. And the same power who will give us the might to leave the life in sin and live the life in Christ. A life changed by the power of the Spirit of God declaring that Jesus is alive.

Conclusion:

With the evidence I mentioned earlier (The Empty Tomb, The Eyewitnesses) and the compelling arguments presented, it is clear that our faith is not in vain. Because the arguments were all meaningless, and the truth only remains - the Lord Jesus Christ truly died, was buried, and rose again on the third day. The faith of those who believed in Jesus Christ was not in vain.

Church, if it is now settled to us, and we hold on into this truth. Let us declare this belief to the world. Rember this, we are the Ekklesia of God, who can be great evidence of God’s power into salvation in these times. The life of the church declaring the reason why the tomb is empty, the intention of every believer to share the gospel is declaring that the works and blood eyewitnesses of Jesus’ resurrection was never in vein. As we journey in this world, until we never get to our final home – in the presence of our Father and of our Lord Jesus, let encourage each one of us to live our faith whenever we are in our home, office, work, school, community, wherever we are and even up – living as an instrument of hope up “to the end of the earth” .

"We are the Ekklesia of God, who can be great evidence of God’s power into salvation in these times"