A common theme is our world today is when young people, who grew up in the church, come home from secular university questioning everything they have been taught, and many walk away from their Christian roots. This is called Deconstruction. It’s become increasingly common. And this has left many Christian parents devastated. Obviously, we know that our faith is anchored in the resurrection of Jesus. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:14: “If Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.” Here’s the thing… there is concrete evidence of the resurrection, so we need not question it. Here are a few evidences:
Fulfilled prophecy: The Psalmist writes in Psalm 16:10: “For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.” There is not stronger evidence than fulfilled prophecy. Studying biblical prophecy authenticates the Bible and substantiates Jesus’ claims.
Eyewitness accounts! After Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to many people… women, the disciples, Peter, James. In fact, we can be assured of the resurrection because the men who wrote the gospel account narratives tell us that the first person to see Jesus alive was Mary Magdalene. Women were considered unreliable witnesses in that day so because Mary and other women are included in the story, we can believe that it really happened the way it did. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul tells us that over 500 people saw Him at one time. He also tells us that he saw Him in His resurrected body. We can believe that Jesus came back to life because of those who witnessed it with their own eyes.
Theory of Jesus’ body stolen is debunked! It began on the day of the resurrection when the Jewish leaders paid the soldiers to tell the Roman officials to say that the disciples stole Jesus’ body in the night. This theory is all washed up. First, by the Jewish leaders doing this, they admit to an empty tomb. Second, the disciples were hiding behind closed doors because they were afraid, not bold enough to pull off a stunt like that. And third, the disciples found Jesus’ burial clothing folded up. If they had stolen the body, why would they take the time to fold up His clothing? In fact, wouldn’t they have been in a hurry? And if they did try and remove the clothes, would the clothes have come off so easily? No. The clothes were put on Jesus’ bloodied body, so they would have ripped to shreds when they were being removed.
Because He lives, so will we. There are so many evidences of Jesus’ resurrection. Let’s not doubt, but cry out with the angels, “He is not here! He has risen! I say hallelujah!