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COVER
• A brief outline of events as described in the
Gospels
• Examine four fields of evidence
• Discuss possible explanations of evidence
• Draw a conclusion from the evidence covered
A BR IEF OUTL INE O F
EV EN TS
• Jesus preached for 3 years
• Was crucified on the cross
• Jesus’ body laid in the tomb of Joseph of
Arimathea
• On the third day the body of Jesus was discovered
to be missing from the tomb
• Jesus appears to many of his followers
• Jesus’ followers begin to preach the good news that
Jesus had risen from the grave
FOUR FIE LD S OF
EXA MINATI ON
1. That Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of
Arimathea
2. That on the third day the tomb was found empty
3. Jesus’ appeared to many people after the
resurrection
4. The changed lives and teaching of Jesus’ followers
1. The Tomb of Joseph of
Ar imathea
I. Burial site known to Jew and Christian
II. 1 Cor. 15:37 mention that he was buried
III. Verified by Mark’s Gospel
IV. Joseph of Arimathea not legendary
V. No competing burial stories
1. The Tomb of Joseph of
Ar imathea
“We know more about the burial of the Lord Jesus than
we know of the burial of any single character in all
of ancient history…we know the very tomb in
which this body was placed, the name of the man
who owned it, Joseph, of a town known as
Arimathea. We know even where this tomb was
located, in a garden nigh to the place where He
was crucified, outside the city walls.”
Smith, Wilbur M. Therefore Stand: Christian Apologetics, pg 370,371
2. The Tomb was Found Empty
• Was part of early source material for Mark’s
Gospel dating to possibly as early as A.D. 37 –
Classical Historian A.N. Sherwin concluded that
not even two full generations was enough time for
legend to develop
• Empty tomb implied in 1 Cor. 15
• Women’s testimony embarrassing if fabrication
• Earliest Jewish teaching taught an empty tomb
2. The Tomb was Found Empty
“In Jerusalem, the place of Jesus’ execution and grave,
it was proclaimed not long after his death that he
had been raised. The situation demands that within
the circle of the first community one had a reliable
testimony for the fact that the grave had been
found empty. The resurrection proclamation could
have not been maintained in Jerusalem for single
day, for a single hour, if the emptiness of the tomb
had not been established as a fact for all
concerned.”
Pannenburg, Wolfhart, Jesus God and Man, pg. 100
3. Jesus’ Appearances After
Resurr ec tion
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also
• received, how that Christ died for our sins
Jesus appear to many different groups
• according to the scriptures; And that he was buried,
List of eyewitnesses given in 1 Cor. 15 – the
and that he rose again the third day according to
teaching in 1 Cor. 15:37 can be dated from
the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas,
between 2 – 8 years after the resurrection
• then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above
Many passages have multiple attetestations so
five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater
highly likely to be credible accounts
part remain unto this present, but some are fallen
asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of
all the apostles.”
1 Corinthians 15:37
3. Jesus’ Appearances After
Resurr ec tion
“This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are
witnesses.” Acts 2:32
“…And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised
from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.”
Acts 3:15
3. Jesus’ Appearances After
Resurr ec tion
“But God raised him from the dead. And he was seen
many days of them which came up with him from
Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto
many people.”
Acts 13:30,31
3. Jesus’ Appearances After
Resurr ec tion
“Note that when the disciples of Jesus proclaimed the
resurrection, they did so as eyewitnesses and they did so
while people were still alive who had had contact with
the events they spoke of. In 56 A.D. Paul wrote that
over 500 people had seen the risen Jesus and that most
of them were still alive (I Cor. 15:6). It passes the
bounds of credibility that the early Christians could
have manufactured such a tale and then preached it
among those who might easily have refuted it simply by
producing the body of Jesus.”
Montgomery, John Warwick, History and Christianity, pg. 78
4. The Changed Li ves of Jesus’
Fo ll owers
I. The Law of Moses said “he that is hanged (on a
tree) is accursed of God”
II. Jewish belief had no expectation of anyone rising
from the dead before the resurrection
III. Suddenly disciples begin preaching that Jesus rose
from the grave
IV. The disciples were convinced that Jesus had risen
from the dead
4. The Changed Li ves of Jesus’
Fo ll owers
“Think of the character of the witnesses, men and women who
gave the world the highest ethical teaching it has ever
known, and who even of the testimony of their enemies
lived it out in their lives. Think of the psychological
absurdity of picturing a little band of defeated cowards
cowering in an upper room one day and a few days later
transformed into a company that no persecution could
silence – and then attempting to attribute this dramatic
change to nothing more convincing than a miserable
fabrication they were trying to foist upon the world. That
simply wouldn’t make sense.”
Anderson, J.N.D. “The Resurrection of Jesus Christ”, Christianity Today, pg. 6
CO NCLU DI NG TH OUGHTS
The most logical and
satisfactory explanation we
have is that God did in fact
raise Jesus Christ from the
dead