Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead?...

Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead?...
by Steven R. Hemler



The gospel or "good news" proclaimed since the beginning of
Christianity is essentially the news of Christ's Resurrection. This
"good news" is that a man who claimed to be the Son of God and the
Savior of the world has indeed risen from the dead. For if Jesus
really rose from the dead then that validates everything he said and
did, including his claim to be divine and not merely human, because
rising from the dead is beyond human power. Given the centrality of
the Resurrection in Christian belief, how can we know the Resurrection
really happened? The best way to discover the truth about Jesus'
Resurrection is to rationally examine the alternatives. There are five
possible alternatives: swoon, hallucination, myth, conspiracy, and the
"good news" of Christianity.

First, the "swoon theory" is that Jesus did not die on the cross, but
that he revived while in the tomb. However, it is highly unlikely that
Jesus could have survived the crucifixion. Roman execution procedures
just didn't allow that to happen. Roman law even proscribed death to
any soldier who bungled a crucifixion and allowed a capital prisoner
to escape. By piercing his side with a spear and not breaking Jesus'
legs, which was done to hasten death by asphyxiation, the soldiers
established that Jesus was dead. Even if Jesus did survive his
crucifixion, how could he have moved the stone at the entrance of the
tomb, especially considering he had nail holes in his hands? It is
also very unlikely that he would have been able to walk very far with
pierced feet. However, even if Jesus did revive and get past the Roman
guards, he would have been a battered, bleeding pulp of a man who
would have been pitied by his followers, not worshiped. It is
impossible for Jesus' disciples to have been so transformed if he had
merely struggled out of a swoon, badly in need of medical treatment. A
half-dead, staggering man who had narrowly escaped death is not
fearlessly worshipped as divine and the conqueror of death!

Second, the Resurrection could not have been a hallucination because
hallucinations happen privately and only to individuals. Numerous
people do not simultaneously experience the same hallucination,
especially over a period of 40 days. Hallucinations usually last only
a few seconds or minutes. Furthermore, if the Resurrection was a
hallucination of the Apostles, why didn't the Jewish leaders just
produce the corpse of Jesus to refute their claim that he had risen?

Third, the Resurrection could not be a myth because there was not
enough time after the actual event for a myth to have developed. There
is not a single example in recorded history of where a great myth or
legend based on a historical figure has been written so soon after
that person's death. Several generations need to pass before added
mythological elements can be mistakenly taken as fact. Furthermore,
many of the recorded details of Jesus' life and Resurrection
distinguish the Gospels from myth. A prime example is the claim that
the first witnesses to the Resurrection were women. Given that women
at the time had low social status and were not even permitted to serve
as legal witnesses, why would a legend say that women were the first
witnesses to the Resurrection? If the empty tomb was an invented
legend, its inventors would not have had it discovered by women, whose
testimony was considered unreliable.

Fourth, the Apostles' proclamation of Jesus' Resurrection could not
have been a deliberate lie or conspiracy based on stealing his body
from the tomb because what would the Apostles have to gain by
promoting such a lie? What could possibly have been their motive? By
claiming that Jesus rose from the dead, they all faced persecution and
death. However, not one of them ever denied their claim of Jesus'
Resurrection, even when faced with death. People just don't give their
lives for what they know is a lie.

By far, the most compelling evidence of the truth of the Resurrection
is the radically transformed lives of Jesus' followers afterwards.
After Jesus was crucified, his followers were discouraged and
disheartened. So they dispersed. Then, after a short time they
abandoned their occupations, gathered back together, and fully
committed themselves to spreading the "good news" that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God who after dying on a cross, returned to life and was
seen alive by all of them. They spent the rest of their lives
proclaiming this, without anything to gain from a human perspective.
They faced a life of hardship. They often went without food and slept
exposed to the elements. They were ridiculed, beaten and imprisoned.
They knew that torture and death would be their fate if they didn't
stop preaching about Jesus Christ. But they couldn't stop. They all
kept talking about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection to anyone who
would listen. Eventually, most of them were executed in torturous
ways. However, all of them maintained to the very end that Jesus had
risen from the dead. Why didn't they recant? The only plausible
explanation is they were absolutely certain they had seen Jesus Christ
alive from the dead. Their bold courage and steadfast witness prove
their story is the truth. And that makes it, even for us today, a
truth worth living for.


i'm amazed by the good news...!
we are an immortal being!
can you believe that!!!




hsi


..................



morning animators,

for me, definitely no doubt about it, He did Rise from the Dead.
thats the mystery and wonders of our FAITH, that we must treasure more than anything else, every seconds of our existence.

junjun


.................


i think it's beyond faith....


.................



yup! but the very foundation of that 'beyond faith" is true FAITH itself.
no faith, means, more doubtful and more "no earth" we become....
as we norture our faith and let it grows deeper & deeper, the more crystal clear all those mysteries of Christ's Life will become....

junjun

................


it becomes more crystal
more clearer.
more tangible.
more real...

so it might not be even true faith
it's there staring at you face to face..
what can we say about it,
when hope and faith are gone...?



................



hmmm.....very well then, for sure we don't believed that Jesus did really rise from dead,,,
we belong to a "to see is to believe"....


tell then...have a nice weekend...

its me,
dudun



...............



they saw (even to the point of offering their lives)
and we believe..




the truth is...



...............


a winter breeze morning to all,

i felt the winter breeze is here already....brrrrrrrrrr

well,,,, "the truth is".... Jesus really Rise-up from the dead! and no matter what happen, hold on to your faith.... for faith is our only key to eternal glory.


dudun