The Miracle of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Written by Jimmie Burroughs

Can the Miracle of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus be logical to believe? Did Jesus rise from the grave and if so what evidence is there to support such a belief? It has been traditionally believed by the church for the past 2,000 years and is taught clearly in the Bible and was witnessed by more than 500 people at the time.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the very capstone of Christianity. In 1 Corinthians 15 St. Paul reasoned, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. . . .We are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.” In that same chapter he says “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen sleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” But then Paul triumphantly declares, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:14-20).

In the witness of two or three history is confirmed. There is more evidence concerning the history of Jesus than there is concerning Napoleon Bonaparte. Justin Martyr who lived in the second century spoke of the birth of Christ.

However for those who rather not believe in the resurrection, there are some alternatives; I’ll mention a couple of the most common ones:

• The swoon theory: Jesus just fainted and later woke up and left the tomb. Yeah sure! Just like he survived several hours on the cross and a spear wound to the side and then just woke up shook off the tightly wound grave clothes and pushed away the huge stone weighing several tons and walked right pass the guards.
• His disciples stole the body away to make it look like he rose from the grave. You mean the same disciples that were so fearful of the Roman Army that they ran and hid and now they came to face the guards just to steal the body of Christ. I guess this also gave them the courage to lay down their life for Jesus, which all the ten did with the exception of John who was exiled to the lonely Island of Patmos.

John 20:1-10

¹The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

²Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the LORD out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

³Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, [John] and came to the sepulchre.

⁴So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.

⁵And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.

⁶Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,

⁷And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.

⁸Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.

⁹For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

¹⁰Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

The Roman Army sealed and guarded the tomb

Keep in mind that the people who crucified Jesus had warned the Romans that there was a saying that Jesus would rise from the grave on the third day. They of course didn’t believe it but insisted that the Romans guard the tomb to make sure that his disciples didn’t try to steal the body to make it look as if he did rise from the dead. So the Romans sealed the tomb with a very large stone and then placed guards there for the first three days to make sure that nothing happened to the body of Jesus.

On the first day of the week

The first to the tomb on Sunday morning, the first day of the week, was Mary Magdalene. Although Mary had formerly been a prostitute she had received Jesus and was a dedicated follower and it shows since she is the first to the tomb of Jesus on this day. Although Jesus had taught his resurrection, somehow his disciples did not comprehend it so Mary was not coming there expecting what she saw: the great stone that sealed the doorway of the sepulchre had been rolled away and the guards were as dead men. Mary seeing it drew her own conclusions; without any further investigation she runs to John and Peter and says to them: “They have taken away the LORD out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him”.  Peter and John both came running to the tomb but John arrived first.

Importance of the use of words

“And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in”. The English language is different from the Greek language of which the New Testament was first written. Greek has several words for describing different layers of meaning for one topic. For example the scripture in: John 21:17 Jesus is speaking to Peter, “He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”

There are three words for love in the Greek and the one Jesus is using is different from the one Peter was using. Jesus is using the Greek word “Agape” which is the highest expression of love and Peter is using the Greek word “Phileo” which is a lower expression of love.

There is a similar application in the setting at the sepulchre when John first arrives and peers in; he sees the grave clothes and the cloth that covered Jesus’ face lying to the side but the word “saw” here indicates a lack of understanding for what they saw. It is like the expression we use when we say, “I saw it out of the corner of my eye.” We saw but not well enough to describe what we saw. So it is with John; both he and Mary “saw” but didn’t understand.

Now Peter arrives and goes into the tomb and so does John and after a closer look another form of the word “saw” is used that indicates a complete intellectual understanding. “Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed”.

What do you suppose brought about this understanding? Was it something that they saw with a closer inspection? There is no other explanation. What they saw: “Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.”

There is a great message here: Two things that convinced them without a doubt was that the grave clothes were still as they would have been if the body was still there. The body was prepared for burial by wrapping it with linen and placing spices in-between each layer so the grave clothes would have been stiff and would probably have retained their original shape even though the body was no longer there. The cloth also that was upon the face of Jesus was neatly folded and placed in another place.

A signal

There was a custom in those days that when the master of the house ate his meal the servants would stand in another room but within eyeshot of the master’s table; when the master of the house was finished eating he would take the napkin and clean his mouth and beard and then would wad it up and toss it down but on the other hand if he had to leave the table for any reason but intended to return then he would neatly fold the napkin and lay it down. This was a signal to the servants that he was not finished but would return.

So it was with the Lord; the face cloth being neatly folded signaled the disciples that he was not yet finished but would return. Wow! What a powerful message. No wonder that they now saw and believed.

How do we know that the resurrection was real?

1 Corinthians 15:1-8

¹Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

²By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

³For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

⁴And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

⁵And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

⁶After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

⁷After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

⁸And last of all he was seen of me also, (Apostle Paul) as of one born out of due time.

Jude the Brother of Jesus

Another person who saw and believed who is not mentioned in the text above unless he was among the 500 was Jesus’ own brother in the flesh, Jude. Even though Jude was raised right alongside of Jesus, he never accepted him as savior until after the resurrection. He later penned the powerful book of Jude in the New Testament.

People impossibility

It is absolutely impossibly for a host of people like mentioned to carry on a hoax. Someone would have said, “Now wait a minute here; I was there and I saw nothing.” That did not happen; actually when the disciples saw the resurrected Lord it transformed their life. No longer was they fearful as they were before the crucifixion, when they all except Peter and John went into hiding and Peter was scared and denied that he even knew the Lord three times.

The disciples who saw Jesus after the resurrection were willing to die for what they saw and believed concerning him.

These same men who were scarred and who ran and hid before the resurrection went forward with all boldness proclaiming the Lord and it would cost their lives with the possible exception of John who was exiled to the Island of Patmos. Peter according to tradition was also crucified but insisted on being crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as the Lord.

The Resurrection of Jesus, the Lord is real and it was not in vain because he died for sinners to pay for their sins with his own death. He now offers complete forgiveness to anyone who will believe in him. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The Miracle of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is born out again every time a person receives him as savior and receives a new life.

For more information on how to start depending on God rather than yourself go to: www.otobefree.com

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Who Is Jimmie Burroughs?

Jimmie Burroughs has been involved in teaching Personal Development off and on for more than 30 years.

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