Articles
If Jesus Really Did Rise from the Dead
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If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. . . . If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor. 15:14, 17-20)
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For Paul, the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was the foundation of his faith. To deny that historical event was to cripple Christianity of its power. That's why, when some in Corinth dismissed it as a myth, Paul confronted the heresy head-on.
To believe that a human can return from the dead, never to die again, is a tall order, no doubt. We understand the skepticism with which many people greet such a doctrine. But for the sake of discussion, let's assume that it really did happen in the case of Jesus of Nazareth. What are the implications of such an event?
First, if Jesus really did rise from the dead, then sin and suffering do not have the last word. The ghastly toll that evil takes on our race cannot be denied. But how shall we explain it? How shall we respond to it? The skeptic has no answers. In the story of Jesus, we have an answer: God goes under the knife to share the suffering with us; but in His resurrection, Jesus demonstrates that evil does not have the last word. As painful as this life may be, it is only a temporary aberration in the larger arc of God’s plan. Someday, God will make everything right again. The resurrection of Jesus is the promissory note.
Furthermore, if Jesus really did rise from the dead, then everything He taught about life and relationships and human happiness is validated, and we ought to take it seriously. Much of what Jesus taught seems so counterintuitive: The path to greatness is through serving others? Lose your life to save it? Overcome evil with good? We struggle to appreciate the wisdom of these conventions, but the story of Jesus establishes their legitimacy.
Finally, if Jesus really did rise from the dead, then death is not the end for me, either. No matter how majestic or miserable my life may be, or how long or short, my inevitable demise is merely a gateway into another realm. I shall live again, and that hope inspires me to face life with confidence and serenity.
But how can I know that He was resurrected? Space prohibits an exhaustive review of the evidence, but an honest mind can find it. The resurrection of Jesus is no more implausible than the idea of an entire universe suddenly appearing out of nothing.
Jesus rose from the dead, and that simple fact changes everything . . . starting with me.
--David
