How do you know Jesus is alive?
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This is a question every Christian will ask. I sure did. While I can't share with you all the evidence we have to prove Jesus is indeed alive (I don't know it all), I will share with you some of what I have learned.
The Bible says so.
Clearly the Bible teaches that Jesus was raised from the dead in the New Testament. Pay close attention to these verses, For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas (Peter), then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 1 Cor. 15:4-9
There are, of course many more verses that teach Jesus rose from the dead. Once a person comes to understand that the Bible is truly the Word of God then believing in the resurrection becomes as easy as simply believing what you read because the God who wrote the Bible Cannot lie. Titus 1:2Not only does the New Testament teach the resurrection, the Old Testament does as well. There may be over 400 prophecies about Jesus Christ. Some are yet to be fulfilled. But, those that spoke of His life, death, and resurrection were each fulfilled in detail. By the way, the odds of one man fulfilling the prophecies about Jesus by accident are astronomical. Its no accident Jesus fulfilled them all. Psalm 16:10 clearly states, You will not leave my soul in Sheol (the home of departed spirits) neither will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. This says clearly that the Holy One (Jesus) will not be left after death in Sheol and His body will not be left to decay.
In Psalm 22, we see an accurate and horrible description of the events on the cross, as though Jesus Himself spoke them. Yet as verse 22 begins, we see the words of a resurrected Lord.
In Daniel 9, we see the unmistakable details of the Messiahs coming and the statement that at His coming, the Messiah shall be killed cut off (Daniel 9:26). The rest of Gods Word tells us of a Messiah that shall rule forever and ever. The only conclusion from this is that the Messiah that was cut off must also be resurrected. This resurrected Messiah can be seen in the Old Testament. In Zechariah 12, we see a description of the time in which the Messiah shall reveal Himself to Israel and in verse 10 we read, and I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Clearly the scars of the crucifixion remain to this day and shall forevermore. John saw Jesus in Revelation as, A Lamb that had been slain. This same Jesus had placed His nail scarred hands upon John in Revelation 1:18 and declared to John, I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore. Without question the Scriptures declare that Jesus was to die and be resurrected.
The Roman soldiers survived.
This may not seem like much evidence that Jesus was resurrected, but it should. It was Roman law that if a Roman soldier failed to complete his mission he was to die a painful death. In the case of Jesus, the Roman soldiers were to guard the tomb of Christ. Pilot understood this might not be easy when he said, Make it as secure as you know how (Matthew 27:62-66). Everyone knew of Jesus and his miracles. Even Pilot had some idea that He might raise from the dead. For this reason, mercy was given to the Roman soldiers, and they were not killed for failing to guard a dead body.
No body was ever produced.
Once the Apostles began to preach a resurrected Jesus, simply producing His body could have destroyed Christianity. Because Jesus rose from the dead His body was never produced.
The unwavering testimony of the saints.
The Bible declares that the resurrected Jesus walked with the disciples for 40 days after His death. At one point he appeared to over 500 people at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6). What convinces me this is true is the unwavering testimony of the apostles and these 500 people. It became the common practice to torture and kill those who believed in the resurrected Jesus. Paul was the man who wrote 1 Corinthians, and at one time it was his goal in life to find, imprison, torture, or kill Christians. Paul himself then claims to have seen Jesus alive in verse 15:8. Those 500 people and the apostles suffered greatly for believing in the resurrection. Not only did they believe it, they claimed to have seen it. As a result they lost their jobs, their homes, their friends, and in many cases their wives and children left them. Those were the lucky ones. Torture and death came to the less fortunate. And in some horrible cases, these people had to witness the torture and death of their own wives and children who gave their own lives for Christ.
We know that people will sometimes die for what they believe in when they dont know it is a lie. However, if a person knows he is telling a lie, he will confess the lie rather then suffer torture and death. You will never convince me that these men and women suffered the horror of being tortured and watching their own children die, all the while knowing that they really did not see Jesus alive. I once heard an interview with an ex-CIA agent. He explained that with torture you could make a man say he was Brittney Spears. He then said the greatest motivation in getting a man to speak was to use his family against him. The men and women who were tortured for Christ could have made the pain stop at any time. All they had to do was reveal that they had not seen Jesus alive. I might have lied to save my children or myself if I were in their shoes. What was it that gave them the strength to endure to the end without wavering? The answer is simple: They had indeed seen and been with Jesus after his resurrection. They knew He was alive and they knew that heaven awaited them.
One final thought. He still changes lives. In 1996, Jesus radically changed my life. Ive seen him do the same in others as well. Miracles still happen every day all over the world and each time I have the privilege to see one I feel the presence of Christ. Plain and simple, dead men dont do miracles. Jesus is alive!
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