Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead?

Today Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Christ Jesus. Three days after Jesus died, He rose again. This event never happened to anybody else. The Bible recorded some people who lived again after someone prayed for them, like the son of a widow in Zarephath (1 Kings 17), Eutychus (Acts 20:9), and Lazarus (John 11). But their resurrections are different from what happened to Jesus because later, all of them died again, while Jesus lives forever. When they came back to life, their spirits came back to their same bodies, but when Jesus was resurrected from the dead, His spirit came back to a different body. Jesus' resurrected body was a new one that could not be weak, get sick or die again. His resurrected body also was not limited by time and space. That is why after His resurrection, Jesus could suddenly appear in a locked room and at a beach to meet His disciples. That is why the resurrection of Jesus is called "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Cor.15:20) and "And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy" (Colossians 1:18)

Unfortunately, some people today still doubt whether Jesus really rose from His death. They think that is impossible and that it doesn't make sense! Therefore, they try to build theories to deny the resurrection of Jesus.

The first theory is called the Lying Theory, which states that Jesus' disciples secretly stole the body of Jesus, but they claimed that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. In other words, the disciples spread the lie about the resurrection of Christ. Let's evaluate this theory. First, the Lying Theory is based on a lie that the chief priests created. Let's read Matthew 28:11-15: 11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. So, who lied here, the priests or Jesus' disciples?

Other arguments that I would ask are: how could Jesus' disciples steal the body of Jesus? Remember, Roman soldiers guarded Jesus' tomb. Not only that, but a big stone also sealed Jesus' tomb. Why in the world would Jesus' disciples steal His body and then spread the news that Jesus was resurrected from the dead? What for? Remember, the disciples were so afraid after Jesus was captured. Everybody left Jesus except Peter, who quietly saw Jesus from a distance. And after Jesus died, where were His disciples gathering? They were in a secret locked room because they were so afraid that they would also be captured and killed. So, it doesn't make sense for the disciples to steal Jesus' body.

The second theory is Fainting Theory, which states that Jesus was not dead yet, but they thought he did. Therefore, they put Jesus' body in a tomb, and three days later, Jesus gained His consciousness. Let's respond to this theory: first, the night before, Jesus didn't sleep at all, and then in the morning, he was beaten cruelly 39 times, and then He had to walk to Golgotha carrying His cross, but because He was so exhausted he fell. Therefore, the soldier forced Simon to take Jesus' cross. And then Jesus was nailed (not tied with ropes!) on the cross. He was hung for six hours. To make sure that Jesus really died, what did the soldier do? John 19:33-34 recorded:" But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water." And then what happened? Verses 38-40 explain: "Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was following Jewish burial customs." If Jesus merely fainted, how could he have freed Himself from the shroud and then got out from the tomb, which was sealed by at least a two-ton stone? And when His disciples met Him, why didn't they recognize Him anymore since He looked so healthy and radiant?