Long before Jesus hung on the cross, Job revealed through the assertion, "I know that my Redeemer lives" that he tenaciously clung onto a personal hope for his future. Job 19:25 Unlike Job whose confidence in God was limited to his hopeful expectation of what would transpire, our hope and faith for the future is grounded upon what God has already accomplished by raising Jesus from the dead.
Here is a sampling of some of the different type of reasons some have given for believing that the resurrection really happened. These are nuggets worth sharing in a post-modern world where lives have lost the single compelling focus which God provides and thus are merely drifting in a multitude of directions.
1. Women(!) found the tomb empty
At first glance the skeptic might query, "how can this be significant evidence for the resurrection unless you already believe the story is true?" But such a lighthearted dismissal is itself quickly spurned when the historical cultural facts are known.
In first century Jewish culture when the Gospels were written, women were not even considered credible witnesses in a Jewish court. (Sorry about that ladies) If someone at that time and culture had wanted to fabricate the story of Jesus' resurrection, he or she would not have any motive for undermining the story by creating such embarrassing details as women finding the tomb empty, women speaking with an angel and then women conversing with the risen Lord. To have crafted a story where the primary witnesses were women would not have been persuasive to skeptics in that day. Accordingly, because there was no motive for a writer to have written this unless this is what actually happened, the discovery by women of the empty tomb and their subsequent encounter with the risen Lord bears the stamp of historical authenticity, not legend.
There are also other embarrassing details which further reveal the historical genuineness of this story such as the fact that some of the disciples doubted that they were beholding the risen Lord. This evidence separates the message of the Gospels from fictitious propagandist legends.
2. Even if we were to retreat to the limited textual evidence that skeptics will accept, 1 Corinthians is too early for legendary material to have developed
Even those who are antagonistic to accepting scripture as God's message will admit that Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. And what did Paul write? The apostle Paul wrote about eyewitnesses to the resurrection still being alive (as well as being an eyewitness himself) and practically invited his readers to go check it out! 1 Corinthians 15:5-8 What is significant about this is when Paul wrote these things.
The general consensus based upon the evidence is that this letter was written between 55-57 A. D. In other words, this testimony concerning eyewitnesses to the resurrection was written down less than about 25 years following Jesus' death. Not only this, this letter stands as evidence of the message which Paul had already been preaching for a number years. In other words, the letter of 1 Corinthians is historic evidence that the message that Jesus had risen from the grave was not fabricated decades after his death.* How significant is this?
Could not have Paul (or someone else) created this story at the time of his resurrection? How can proximity between the proclaiming of the message and the actual time of Jesus' death be significant? It is known from history that legends and grand embellishments develop around heroic figures only years after the eyewitnesses have died. Not only does the preaching of Jesus being risen from the dead concurrent with the existence of eye witness reveal that it has not been subject to legendary development, the skeptic was invited to talk with those who had seen him alive!
3. Prior to Jesus' birth, the resurrection of the Holy One of God had been announced
Drawing upon the words of David, Peter proclaimed to those standing before him that he had foretold of Christ's resurrection. Peter claimed that being a prophet, when David had prophecied that God would not allow His Holy One to see decay, he was not writing about himself but was pointing forward to the resurrection of Christ. Acts 2:22-36
The resurrection of Jesus was not an idea which Jesus' followers invented in order to cover over an embarrassing turn of events, rather the news of this event had already been woven into message of scripture long before Jesus had even born.
Conclusion
Can we seek the comfortable position of seeking to avoid offending others by claiming uncertainty? Paul does not permit anyone that luxury; he forces us to either accept the truthfulness of his message or denounce him as a liar. 1 Corinthians 15:14-15
There is evidence embedded in history and scripture which points in the same direction for those who are willing to take a hard long look. Jesus is risen. We can know our Redeemer lives!
Footnote
*Those of us who believe the Bible will point to Peter's sermon in Acts 2, which followed Jesus' resurrection by a mere 50 days, when for the first time Jesus was preached as being crucified and risen.
Other articles which might be of interest:
One Huge Hinge (On The Resurrection)What It Means To Be "Raised With Christ"
The Honest Hourglass (Implications of Jesus' resurrection for meaning in our life)
Barry Newton, Copyright © 2002