APO:Did the resurrection really happen?

   In considering the matter of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is
important to show that each and every one of the present "theories"
claiming that it did not happen is dealt with, in turn. Therefore, it
is on this basis that we will show by the elimination of any other
possibility, that the Resurrection not only occurred but that all known
arguments against it are unfounded and can be rejected as invalid.

   Any explanation of the resurrection MUST take into consideration the
following features:

   1. It must incorporate all known facts surrounding the resurrection
event.

   2. We cannot "whittle" the evidence into a presupposed mold. We must
evaluate the evidence or events in context and within reason of logic,
or, "could it have happened that way?"

   In this vein, there are two major considerations - CHRIST'S TOMB WAS
EITHER (1) OCCUPIED OR IT WAS (2) EMPTY.

   I. CHRIST'S TOMB WAS OCCUPIED

   A. Unknown Tomb

   This theory was based, primarily, on the historical documentation
that indicated that crucified victims were cast over a particular wall
in Jerusalem and burned in a trash pit. This theory was difficult to
refute - other than the Gospels - until 1968 when the grave of a
crucified victim was located in a family tomb just outside of Jerusalem
(Yohanan ben Ha'galgal). The other major failings of this are (1) even
if the disciples and the women did not know where the grave was, Joseph
of Arimathea DID; (2) the Roman Guard knew where it was and (3) the
women sat at the entombment and dressing of the body.

   B. Wrong Tomb

   This theory is a variation on the Unknown tomb theory in that the
women went to the wrong tomb. The major proponent of this heresy is one
Professor Lake. He concludes that the "gardener" told the women, "He is
not here, but see the place where they laid Him." The complete text of
what was said is recorded in the Gospel as "He is not here, for He has
risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.".
Matthew clearly shows in 27:61 (Mark in 15:47 and Luke in 23:55) that
the women had clearly noted the location of the tomb less than 72 hours
before. The professor notes that this explanation provides a natural
explanation for the rock not being at the opening. The professor picks
and chooses his information, but the parts that he ignores clearly
refute his position. An additional thought is not as clearly refuting
it, but have you buried a loved one and ever lost the location of that
grave in your mind?

   C. Legend Fantasy

   This theory fails immediately when we read Paul's comments that
there were over 500 eyewitnesses still alive to prove the resurrection.
History proves the writings of the Gospels and the accounts of the
resurrection to be no later than 56 A.D. The writings were directed to
people that could have, easily, gone to the grave themselves and
verified if the grave was empty. The FACT is that the accounts were NOT
written many years later.

   D. Spiritual Resurrection Only

   In Luke 24:39, Jesus Christ, himself, demolishes this theory. READ
that verse. Later on, Jesus even eats some fish. this, again, proves a
body. Matthew tells how they grabbed the feet of Jesus. I do not
believe that you can grab the feet of a spirit! This is a major precept
of the Jehovah Witnesses.

   E. Hallucinations

   DEFINED: "wandering of the mind, idle talk, etc." But the American
Psychiatric Association defines it as "a false sensory perception in
the absence of an actual external stimulus." And elsewhere it is
defined as "an apparent perception of an external object when no such
object is present". It is also recognized by science that
hallucinations occur only in certain people and are linked to the
person's personal experiences. The fact that many diverse people saw
Jesus and all concurred with their versions of that sighting negates
this theory completely. A hallucination does not sit down with you, eat
with you, allow certain persons to examine the wounds, or talk with
certain individuals of a group. Hallucinations are highly subjective
and no two people have ever been found to experience the same
hallucination - how then can 500 people do so?! Hallucinations recorded
are within a specific time frame and under favorable conditions -
usually the person having the hallucination had been concentrating on
the object or desiring the object prior to the hallucination. These
conditions are absent in the resurrection. No expectancy, fifteen
different appearances, many different people, 500 at one time to one or
two people. Hallucinations usually occur with regularity and this is
not the case here. When the day of Pentecost came, no other reports or
stories occurred as to having seen the risen Lord!

   I wish to point out that NONE of the above theories uses the two
"rules" of evidence spoken of at the beginning of this session.

   If the tomb were EMPTY, then there are two additional possibilities.
These are (1) it was by NATURAL causes and (2) it was due to
SUPERNATURAL causes.

   II. CHRIST'S TOMB WAS EMPTY DUE TO NATURAL REASONS

   A. Stolen by Disciples

   This theory is the most common (especially in Jewish communities)
possibility expressed. In fact, Matthew even records this theory, but
did not take time to refute it as it was so false that he didn't feel
the need to refute it. It is recorded that the Roman guard went to the
high priest and were bribed to tell the stolen body story. This also
refutes the idea that it was Temple Guards that guarded the tomb - the
high priest would not have needed to bribe his own guards. (Matthew
28:11-15)

   Let's take the matter on logic. If the Roman guard had fallen asleep
how could they have known that it was the disciples that took the body.
If you have ever watched Perry Mason, you could well imagine an
attorney getting this testimony in court!

   The other factor is to look at the possibility of the ENTIRE guard
unit falling asleep. This SECURITY UNIT of the Roman army was the most
devoted to duty because the failure to be on guard meant certain death
if discovered! This unit was highly skilled in fighting and would have
made mincemeat of the disciples had they attempted to steal the body.
(Also look to Matthew 26:56 where he describes the courage of the
disciples "All the disciples left him and fled"!)

   The two ton boulder is another matter to contend with. The Greek
shows that the stone was not just moved to the side but actually picked
up and moved away from the tomb area! I cannot picture any one group of
men being able to move such a weight without making enough noise to
"wake the dead"! This problem of the stone is really a "roadblock" to
any of the theories.

   The final feature of this theory is to consider the very character
of the disciples. History records that these men, because of some
unexplained (secular world only) reason, became men of the highest and
purest thought and deeds. Their moral character and honor were NEVER
questioned by anyone - even the very people who put them to death. The
very idea that these men could conceive of such a lie in direct
conflict with what Jesus had taught and to continue the lie EVEN TO
THEIR OWN DEATHS is absurd. This one factor is not recorded anywhere
else in history. No other person has had the testimony of men such as
the Apostles who never recanted their faith or their Lord. If this had
been a lie, these "ordinary" men did not break under the most severe
pressure. I can only believe that ONLY a face to face confrontation
with the Living Jesus could have given them the knowledge that a death
on this Planet was only the door to be with the risen Lord!

   Finally, if the body had been stolen, how can you explain the
manifestations of Christ to the many eye witnesses - including the 500?

   B. Moved by Authorities

   One of the strangest of all theories is this one about the Priest,
or Romans, taking the body themselves to prevent deception should
anyone preach a resurrection. If this had been the case, why didn't the
authorities produce the body to silence the preaching of the
resurrection that BEGAN in Jerusalem? If the authorities had taken the
body, it would have been far better to cart the body down the main
street to put an end to the resurrection lies! The ONLY conclusion is
that they did not produce the body because the COULDN'T produce the
body. We must remember the words of Paul - "If Christ is not risen then
our faith is in vain".

   History is silent on this point and the "silence of the Jews is
louder than the voices of the Christians". (Acts 5:33-42)

   C. Swooned

   The next one is possibly the saddest theory that is believed by some
men in the world today. The believe that Jesus did not die on the cross
- but that he only "swooned" or passed out from the exhaustion of the
ordeal. The Disciples (who had no medical knowledge and what was known
in that day was very poor) mistook Him for dead and placed Him in the
tomb as dead. Now, when Jesus had been placed in the tomb, the coldness
of the tomb (Solid Rock) revived Him. Because of the ignorance of the
Disciples, they could not believe that Jesus had been resuscitated so
the believed that he had been resurrected.

   First, Jesus was subjected to SIX TRIALS, three Roman and three
Jewish. The actuality of a man called Pontius Pilate was considered
fable UNTIL 1961, when archaeologists in the city of Caesarea uncovered
a large inscription which read, "Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea, has
presented the Tiberium to the Caesareans" and proved that such a Roman
Governor did exist. The trials were [1] Annas, the high priest [2]
Caiaphas [3] the Sanhedrin [4] Pilate [5] Herod and [6] Pilate. History
records that there were two Sanhedrin bodies. One consisted of 23
members and tried cases of capital punishment, another consisted of 71
members and was for trials of Heads of State, High Priests, or matters
of crimes against the Temple. The Sanhedrin of 23 was the most probable
body that tried Jesus.

   Second, the very death by crucifixion was invented by the Persians
who felt that the ground was consecrated to their Gods and a death on
the ground would be against the gods; so they invented a method of
death that would not defile the ground by placing the people on a stake
and later a cross bar on a stake to lift them off the ground and allow
the punishment of death to take place without defilement to the gods.
Alexander the Great utilized the crucifixion as a major deterrent
force. The Romans felt the death was so degrading that a Roman citizen
could not be crucified except by order of the Emperor and then this was
usually after the person's citizenship was stripped from him. The
Romans usually reserved the punishment for political cases. The very
accusation against Christ was directed as political as you can read in
Luke 23:2.

   The Romans added; However, another twist to the process of
crucifixion. The added the "scourging" of the criminal. This consisted
of a period of time that was set by the trial or could be set by the
scourgers, themselves, of beating the accused with a form of brass
knuckled fist and consisting of a minimum of six men. This usually left
the facial features of the accused unrecognizable. The next step of the
scourging consisted of the whipping of the accused with a Flagrum. This
whip had numerous leather thongs of various lengths and braided into
each of the thongs were bits of metal and bone. One Dr C.T. Davis has
described the whipping with the flagrum in this manner:

   "The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again
across the accused's shoulder, back and legs. At first the heavy thongs
cut through the skin, only. Then, as the the blows continue, they cut
deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of
blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting
arterial bleeding from the vessels in the underlying muscles. The small
balls of lead first produce large deep bruises which are broken open by
the subsequent blows. Finally the skin of the back is hanging in long
ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding
tissue. When it is determined by the Centurion that the prisoner in
near death, the beating is finally stopped". A historian of the third
century, Eusebius writes "The sufferer's veins were laid bare and the
very muscles, sinews, and bowels of the victim were open to exposure.

   After this ordeal, Christ had a crown of thorns jammed into his
head. The blood from this act must have been severe. Jesus was then
subjected to another beating with a rod! After all this, our Lord was
then forced to carry His "patibulum" to His place of execution. At the
place of execution, Christ was nailed to his cross. History was devoid
of any proof that nails were used until the discovery in 1968 of
another tomb that contained the remains of a person who had been
nailed, both hands and feet, to a cross. History then came to the
defense of the Gospels and once again, the Bible is proven correct.

   Computers for Christ - San Jose
