This Sunday on the church calendar is known as Easter. Although there are pagan implications with the word “Easter”, nevertheless, all true believers accept and assert the historical reality that our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week. There is a Christian song that says, “You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart!” Experientially, this is true of every born gain believer. However, our faith rests on historical evidence that affirms the literal, bodily resurrection of Christ. Let’s explore these 10 reasons for the resurrection of Christ:

1) The First Eyewitnesses were Women

All the Gospels note that the first individuals to discover the tomb empty were women. Matthew notes that “After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb…The angel told the women, ‘Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay” (Matthew 28:1, 5-6).

The resurrection account is built on the testimony of women. In the world of first century Palestine, a woman’s testimony was not recognized as legally binding. Frankly, it was an embarrassment for our first century brothers and sisters, that the resurrection account is pinned on the testimony of women. It is not something that you would write into the story unless, of course, it is actually true (and you are more concerned with the truth than avoiding embarrassment).

Rebecca McLaughlin writes, “The fact that all four Gospels make the women central to their resurrection claim appeals to us as 21st-century readers. But it would have had the opposite effect on literate men in the Greco-Roman world. As Richard Bauckham explains, “Women were thought by educated men to be gullible in religious matters and especially prone to superstitious fantasy and excessive religious practices.”

“When he took aim at Mary Magdelene, the second-century Greek philosopher Celsus was voicing what many of his contemporaries would’ve thought: After death [Jesus] rose again and showed the marks of his punishment and how his hands had been pierced. But who saw this? A hysterical female, as you say, and perhaps some other one of those who were deluded by the same sorcery.

“From Celsus’s perspective, Mary Magdalene and the other weeping women who witnessed Jesus’s so-called resurrection were a joke. If the Gospel authors had been making up their stories, they could have made Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus the first resurrection witnesses: two well-respected men involved in Jesus’s burial. The only possible reason to emphasize the testimony of women - and weeping women at that - is if they really were the witnesses.”

2) Minimal Facts Concerning the Resurrection

Gary Habermas has popularized the so-called ‘minimal facts’ argument for the resurrection. The minimal facts are those things that are accepted by nearly all New Testament scholars. The minimal facts are:

1. Jesus died by crucifixion.
2. Jesus’ disciples believed that he rose and appeared to them.
3. The church persecutor Paul was suddenly changed.
4. The skeptic James, brother of Jesus, was suddenly changed.
5. The tomb was empty. 

These facts are nearly universally accepted by New Testament scholars, as historical events, including many atheists, agnostics, Jewish scholars, and liberals.

3) Transformation of the Early Disciples

As noted in the minimal facts, James, the brother of Jesus, was changed from a skeptic to a believer because of the resurrection. James along with his brothers did not believe in Jesus during Jesus’ early ministry (see John 7:5). However, Jesus appeared to James (1 Corinthians 15:3-9) and James became a leader in the early Jerusalem church.

Paul is another example of one who was completely transformed by the resurrection of Jesus. Paul, a Jewish Pharisee, had been a persecutor of the church. After witnessing the risen Jesus, Paul became a proclaimer for the church.

4) Embarrassing Details of the Resurrection

Historically speaking, embarrassing details add veracity to a historical claim. The fact that women were the first witnesses, that a member of the Sanhedrin (the same Sanhedrin that executed Jesus) had to give Jesus a proper burial, that Jesus own brothers rejected his claims at one point, that Paul was a persecutor of the church, and that the disciples were fearful and fled all serve as embarrassing factors for the resurrection account.

5) Willingness to Die for What Was Known

Many people will die for what they believe to be true. But no one will die for something they erroneously invented. The disciples knew if they were telling the truth. Yet, one finds that the disciples were willing to die for what they knew to be true. Stephen died by stoning (Acts 7:54-60), James of Zebedee died by the sword at the hands of Herod (Acts 12:2), James the brother of Jesus died as a martyr, and Peter and Paul died at the hands of Nero.

6) Documentary Evidence

The documentary evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is quite good. The historian seeks to find how many primary and secondary sources can be gathered for an event to determine the event’s historicity. Concerning primary sources, the resurrection has Matthew’s account, John’s account, and Paul’s account in 1 Corinthians 15, including the additional references by James and Jude.

7) Circumstantial Evidence

Douglas Groothius notes that one of the most powerful circumstantial pieces of evidence for the historicity of the resurrection is: “Namely, the practice of the early church in observing baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Sunday worship.”

8) The Missing Motive

Warner Wallace has noted in his lectures and books that when a conspiracy is formed, three motivating factors are behind such a move - power, greed, and lust. What motivating factors existed for these disciples to invent such a story? None! The only reason the disciples taught the resurrection of Jesus was because Jesus’ resurrection had occurred.

9) Enemy Attestation of the Resurrection

Historically speaking, if one holds enemy attestation to an event, then the event is strengthened. When one considers the claims of the authorities that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus (Matthew 28:11-15), the testimony of the resurrection is strengthened.

10) Multiple Post-Resurrection Eyewitnesses

Finally, there is multiple eyewitness testimony pertaining to the resurrection of Jesus. Several people had seen Jesus alive for a period of 40 days. The eyewitnesses include Mary Magdalene (John 20:10-18), the women at the tomb accompanying Mary (Matthew 28:1-10), the Roman guards (Matthew 28:4), the Eleven disciples (John 21), the two men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), an indeterminate number of disciples (Matthew 28:16-20); over five-hundred disciples (1 Corinthians 15:6), to James (1 Corinthians 15:7) and to Paul (1 Corinthians 15:8-9).

Conclusion

History backs up the claim that George Washington was the first President of the United States. In like manner, history backs up the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. Now the question is this: what will you do with such information? Some will try to ignore the event. Some will try to dismiss it.

Others will acknowledge the factual nature of the event and bow their knees in surrender to the only Savior of sinners and worship Him as their risen Lord. It is my prayer that you will do the latter.