Answer me this...

It’s not enough for sceptics to merely assert that it’s impossible for anyone, let alone Jesus, to have risen from the dead.  For someone to assert that he did not rise from the dead, in fairness, they should also provide a feasible alternate explanation for the historical record regarding the rise of Christianity.  Just as it is inadequate to merely claim the Holocaust did not happen. A Holocaust denier is obligated by objectivity to provide substantive reasons explaining the preponderance of evidence to the contrary.

Here are some of the historical facts regarding Christianity that require explanation:

• Why did Christianity emerge so rapidly, with such power?
• What changed the worldview of so many thousands of individuals virtually overnight?
• No other band of messianic followers in that era concluded their leader was raised from the dead — why did this group do so?
• No group of Jews ever worshipped a human being as God. What led this group to do so?
• And how to account for the hundreds of eyewitnesses to the resurrection who lived on for decades and publicly maintained their testimony, eventually giving their lives for their belief?

There are at least three substantial categories of evidence supporting the reasonableness of Jesus’ Resurrection as the only credible answer to these questions:

1. The fact that his tomb was empty
2. The abundance of witnesses to his Resurrection
3. And the substantial confirmation provided by the cultural context.

The Case for the Resurrection

Faith in Jesus consists of a deeply intimate relationship, a personal friendship, with him and thus with the Father.  And for this relationship to blossom in those who don’t know him, I am convinced that getting to know God is facilitated by recognizing that it is reasonable to conclude he exists and has communicated a desire for a relationship with each of us.

In the last series, we tackled the question of why Christ had to die.  Now we will consider the case for his subsequent Resurrection. And once again we rely on the scientific approach of Critical Rationality. Belief in the Resurrection of Jesus, given the historical record, is the most reasonable of all conclusions one can come to. This does not mean, however, that those-who-don’t-know-God will be reasonable. Yet upholding reasonableness -coupled with prayer - is the best strategy for reaching them.

The primary resources for the content of this series are: The Reason For God, by Timothy Keller and an essay, Jesus’ Resurrection and Christian Origins by N. T. Wright.

The Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is central to Christianity.  If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, well then, we are free to ignore anything and everything that he said. However, if Jesus did rise from the dead, then we are compelled by that fact to accept all that he said.  Christianity challenges us less by Christ’s radical teachings than by the question of whether or not he rose from the dead. 

"Why?" - the Conclusion

On the cross Jesus went beyond even the worst human suffering and experienced cosmic rejection and pain that exceeds ours as infinitely as his knowledge and power exceeds ours. In his death, God suffers in love, identifying with the abandoned and godforsaken.

Why then, did Jesus have to die? Even Jesus asked that question. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he asked if there was any other way. There wasn’t.  There isn’t. 

The conduct of Adam and Eve had far reaching consequences, the conduct of the Israelites had significant consequences, our rejections of God’s reaching out to us in love has personal consequences.  Nonetheless, Jesus disregarded revenge and forgives all of us - absorbing all of the pain and the consequences. Furthermore, he goes beyond forgiveness and confronts us with his love and his consequential sacrifice manifested through his death the cross.

This concludes the reflection on why Jesus had to die.  Next time I will present the persuasive evidence for his resurrection, making use once again of the concept of Critical Rationality from science.  When you take into account the facts, consider all possible explanations for those facts, the most rational, reasonable conclusion is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.