[Faith-talk] FW: [masterslist] Did Jesus Really Die and Live Again? (A Must Read)

[Eric Calhoun]

Original Message: 
From: "Michael J. Knight" <michaelnight82 at yahoo.in>
To: masterslist at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [masterslist] Did Jesus Really Die and Live Again? (A Must Read)
Date: 
Sun, 24 Apr 2011 19:03:52 -0000


We hear many skeptics today say the resurrection was made up to give
people hope about this life. And that there is no proof of it. They
often challenge people to prove it to them, sit back with their arms
folded and say "show me".

Through a great deal of study on the Bible, Biblical history and also on
the history of non Christian authors who wrote of it, (not to forget the
Holy Spirit) I bring that proof to you.

I know the following is a long read?but it's worth the read.

Did Jesus Really Die and Live Again?

"This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses" (Acts
2:32).

One of the greatest proofs that Jesus is exactly who He said He
was?the Son of God and the only One through whom eternal life is
offered?is His resurrection from the dead.

His followers were convinced that He was the Messiah and the Son of God.
His miracles, His sinless life and His teachings all proved to them who
He was. But His resurrection confirms every claim Jesus made to all
people for all time.

What is astounding is that Jesus put everything on the line with His own
statements that He would die and be raised to life again. He foretold
His own resurrection on several occasions. "And He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three
days rise again" (Mark 8:31).

When the scribes and Pharisees wanted a sign from Him, He said only one
sign would be given: "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in
the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40).

It is quite risky to foretell your own resurrection. Yet Jesus not only
foretold His resurrection, but announced precisely when He would be
resurrected.

So it comes down to this one event. How do we know that Jesus'
resurrection from the dead happened? If it didn't happen just as He
said, then we have no reason to believe that the way of life that Christ
brought was any better or more right than any other religion. There
would be nothing earthshaking about Jesus of Nazareth; He would be
simply another religious fraud.

But if it did happen, there is one great difference between Jesus and
all other religious leaders: Jesus' teachings are true, and everything
He said is true, and He is exactly who He claimed to be.

In his book Reasonable Faith, Dr. William Craig gives three great,
independently established facts on which the evidence for Jesus'
resurrection rests: the empty tomb, the resurrection appearances and the
origin of the Christian faith (p. 272). Let's examine the details and
implications of each of these.

Did Jesus really die?

That Jesus died and was buried is one of the best-established facts
about Jesus. The Bible says again and again that Jesus died. Some
critics have argued that Jesus wasn't completely dead when He was
entombed. The Koran, considered holy by Muslims, claims that Jesus only
seemed to be dead. Some skeptics have claimed that He merely appeared to
be dead, possibly drugged, but revived while in the tomb and escaped to
convince His disciples that He had risen from the dead.

But when we examine the facts, what such theories suggest is physically
impossible. The extent of Jesus' tortures and wounds was such that no
man could have survived the crucifixion and three days and nights
isolated in a dark, cold tomb.

To say that He was drugged ignores the record. He turned down the
painkiller that was usually given to crucifixion victims (Mark 15:23).
Later He was offered a sip of sour wine from a sponge, but there is no
indication of a drugging effect on Jesus from this because of His
obvious agony and final death cry (verses 36-37).

Death at the hands of Roman torturers and executioners was certain and
could come from several causes. Journalist Lee Strobel, in an interview
with Dr. Alexander Metherell, describes the death of Jesus from a
medical point of view (The Case for Christ, 1998, pp. 193-200).

Jesus had been beaten repeatedly and lashed with a Roman scourge before
His crucifixion (Matthew 27:26). The leather scourge, a type of whip,
was designed to inflict maximum pain and damage on the victim. It was
braided with pieces of bone and metal woven into the ends that tore into
the flesh with each stroke. The scourge would rip into the underlying
muscles and produce strips of quivering, bleeding flesh.

Eusebius, a third-century historian, reports that "the sufferer's veins
were laid bare, and the very muscles, sinews, and bowels of the victim
were open to exposure" (quoted by Strobel, p. 193). Many victims would
die from the scourging before they could be crucified.

The extreme pain, coupled with loss of blood, would often cause the
victim to go into shock?his blood pressure would drop and cause
fainting, collapse and intense thirst. The Gospels record that Jesus
experienced these symptoms on His way to Golgotha. Weakened to the point
of collapse, He couldn't bear the weight of the beam He was carrying and
a bystander, Simon of Cyrene, was forced to carry it part of the way for
Him (Mark 15:21). When He was crucified, He said, "I thirst" (John
19:28).

He had already suffered savage beatings before the scourging. At His
trial before the Sanhedrin, "they spat in His face and beat Him; and
others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, 'Prophesy to
us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?'" (Matthew 26:67-68). When
they turned Him over to the Roman soldiers, they further brutalized Him,
beating Him with their fists, slapping Him and shoving a crown of thorns
on His head (Matthew 27:29-30; Mark 15:16-19; John 19:3).

The extent of this beating is indicated in the prophecy of Isaiah 50:6:
"I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled
out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting".

Another prophecy in Isaiah 52:14 is even more graphic: "His form,
disfigured, lost all human likeness; his appearance so changed he no
longer looked like a man" (REB). What this tells us is that He was so
badly beaten, so bloodied and maimed, that He was scarcely recognizable
as a human being.

Pilate appears to have thought that when he had Jesus brought out to the
crowd after the beatings and scourging, He would present such a pitiable
spectacle that it would satiate His accusers' thirst for blood (John
19:1, 4-6). But their hatred of the bloodied man from Nazareth would not
be satisfied. They insisted He be crucified.

The agony of crucifixion

Because of the terrible effects of these beatings and the scourging,
from a medical standpoint Jesus would have already been in serious to
critical condition even before He was taken away to be crucified
(Alexander Metherell, M.D., quoted by Strobel, p. 196).

In a crucifixion, the Romans typically used iron nails, five to seven
inches long and about three eighths of an inch square, driven into the
victim's wrists and feet to fasten him to the wooden members. The Bible
says nails were driven through Jesus' hands, but in the language of the
day the wrist was considered part of the hand. Nails were driven into
the wrists, between the arm bones, because the hands themselves could
not support the weight of the body.

This placement of nails is supported by the 1968 discovery in Jerusalem
of the bones of a man who had been crucified and buried in a
first-century tomb. His right heel bone still had a large iron nail
embedded in it, and one of his right forearm bones had a groove and wear
marks consistent with a nail being driven between the two arm bones near
his wrist.

The nails pounded through the wrists would have crushed the median
nerve, the largest nerve going to the hand, causing indescribable pain.
"The pain was absolutely unbearable," says Dr. Metherell. "In fact, it
was literally beyond words to describe; they had to invent a new word:
excruciating. Literally, excruciating means 'out of the cross.'

"Think of that: they needed to create a new word, because there was
nothing in the language that could describe the intense anguish caused
during the crucifixion" (quoted by Strobel, pp. 197-198). Nails driven
through the feet would have brought similar pain.

We can't know for sure whether Jesus was crucified on a simple stake or
a cross with a crossbeam. Either way, being hung by His arms would have
caused great stresses on His body. His arms would have been stretched
several inches and both shoulders likely were dislocated.

The prophecy of Christ's suffering in Psalm 22:14 refers to His tortured
condition: "I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of
joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within me."

Dr. Metherell continues with a description of the agonies Jesus endured:
"Once a person is hanging in the vertical position...crucifixion is
essentially an agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation. The reason is
that the stresses on the muscles and diaphragm put the chest into the
inhaled position; basically, in order to exhale, the individual must
push up on his feet so the tension on the muscles would be eased for a
moment. In doing so, the nail would tear through the foot, eventually
locking up against the tarsal bones.

"After managing to exhale, the person would then be able to relax down
and take another breath in. Again he'd have to push himself up to
exhale, scraping his bloodied back against the coarse wood of the cross.
This would go on and on until complete exhaustion would take over, and
the person wouldn't be able to push up and breathe anymore" (Strobel,
pp. 265-266).

What was the cause of Jesus' death?

Many people assume that Jesus simply expired from the trauma or
suffocated, which were the common causes of death in crucifixion.
Various medical doctors have studied execution by crucifixion and come
to similar conclusions. Some theologians and churches have taught that
Jesus died of a broken heart. Can we know what actually killed Him?

Zechariah 12:10 contains a prophecy of Jesus' crucifixion. Referring to
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, it says: "They will look on me, the one
they have pierced". Time and time again the Scriptures speak of the
importance of Christ's shed blood (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 2:13; Hebrews
9:11-14; 1 Peter 1:18-19). Jesus Himself said that the wine of the New
Testament Passover represented "my blood...which is poured out for many
for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28).

Clearly a central focus of Christ's sacrifice was His blood, which He
shed as a sacrifice for the sins of all humanity. Regrettably, this is
obscured somewhat in John 19:30-34, which makes it appear that Jesus
died and then later was stabbed by one of the Roman soldiers, "bringing
a sudden flow of blood and water" (verse 34). However, there is a
problem if this were the specific order of events, because dead bodies,
once the heart has stopped its pumping action, no longer bleed like
that.

This problem is resolved when we consider many older manuscripts of
Matthew's Gospel, which contain words that appear in a few Bible
translations but were left out of most modern versions. These missing
words tell us the proper sequence of events.

The Twentieth Century New Testament, which includes these words, reads:
"And about three [o'clock in the afternoon] Jesus called out loudly:
'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani'?that is to say, 'O my God, my God, why
has thou forsaken me?' Some of those standing by heard this, and said
[mistakenly]: 'The man is calling for Elijah!'

"One of them immediately ran and took a sponge, and, filling it with
common wine, put it on the end of a rod, and offered it to him to drink.
But the rest said: 'Wait and let us see if Elijah is coming to save
him.' However another man took a spear, and pierced his side; and water
and blood flowed from it. But Jesus, uttering another loud cry, gave up
his spirit" (Matthew 27:46-50).

The missing words, noted here in italics, show that Jesus was stabbed in
the side with a spear, uttered a loud cry and then died. Other versions
that contain the missing words include the Moffatt Translation and the
Rotherham Emphasized Bible, and various other Bible versions include a
footnote or marginal reference noting the omitted words.

So does Matthew's account conflict with John's? No. Both describe the
same events, but from different perspectives.

Matthew jumps immediately from Jesus' death to a description of the
temple veil being torn in half, while John focuses on the fact that, in
contrast to the two criminals crucified with Jesus, not one of His bones
was broken. John then explains parenthetically how Jesus had already
died so that His bones did not need to be broken?His side had been
pierced with a spear (John 19:31-34).

John then tells us in verse 36 that this took place in fulfillment of
Psalm 34:20 and the symbolism of the Passover lambs, which were to be
slain and not have a single bone broken (Exodus 12:6, 46; Numbers 9:12).
The Passover lambs that had their bloodshed to save the Israelites
(Exodus 12:6-7, 13) pictured Jesus, "the Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world" (John 1:29).

The final fatal blow

Continuing in John 19:37, John explains that the prophecy of Zechariah
12:10 that Jesus' body would be pierced was fulfilled. What was this
final, fatal thrust like that ended Jesus' life?

John Lyle Cameron, M.D., explains: "The soldier was a Roman: he would be
well trained, proficient, and would know his duty. He would know which
part of the body to pierce in order that he might obtain a speedily
fatal result or ensure that the victim was undeniably dead...

"The soldier, standing below our crucified Lord as He hung on the cross,
would thrust upwards under the left ribs. The broad, clean cutting,
two-edged spearhead would enter the left side of the upper abdomen,
would open the...stomach, would pierce the diaphragm, would cut, wide
open, the heart and great blood vessels, arteries and veins..., and
would lacerate the lung.

"The wound would be large enough to permit the open hand to be thrust
into it [compare John 20:24-27]. Blood..., together with water from
the...stomach, would flow forth in abundance. The whole event as
described by St. John must, indeed, have happened, for no writer could
have presented in such coherent detail so recognizable an event, unless
he or someone had actually witnessed its occurrence" (quoted by R.V.G.
Tasker, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: John, 2000, pp. 212-213).

The idea that Jesus didn't really die, that He fainted or was drugged
and was later resuscitated, has no basis in fact when you consider the
clear statements that He died. The apostle John had been an eyewitness
to that death, having been right there with others as these events
unfolded (John 19:25-27, 35).

The Roman soldiers, too, knew He was dead. They may not have been
medical experts, but they were used to seeing executions and knew when
someone was dead. Before releasing the body of Jesus to Joseph of
Arimathea, Pilate confirmed with the centurion overseeing the execution
detail that Jesus was indeed dead (Mark 15:43-45).

Even if we assume Jesus could have physically survived the crucifixion,
how could He then have lived for three days and nights in a tomb, sealed
away from any kind of medical care or treatment?

There is one other point we should make here. Assuming the seemingly
impossible notion that a man could somehow have lived through all this,
the accounts of Jesus appearing to His disciples after the ordeal would
have been just that much more impossible. And even if He had somehow
managed it, He certainly couldn't have appeared as One who would inspire
His disciples to proclaim that He had been resurrected to a glorious and
powerful state. He would've been a severely broken, wounded
man?psychologically traumatized, physically crippled and maimed for
life.

Any theory to explain that Jesus really didn't die cannot be taken
seriously in light of the clear evidence we have.

Jesus' burial

Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea in a new tomb that Joseph had
reserved for himself.

Because Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the same Jewish high court
that condemned Jesus, he is unlikely to be a Christian invention. Mark's
Gospel tells us that "Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council
member,? taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of
Jesus" (Mark 15:43).

Given permission to take the body, Joseph "bought fine linen, took Him
down, and wrapped Him in linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been
hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb"
(verse 46).

No one trying to contrive and pawn off a fabrication would have invented
a person who did not exist and say he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the
ruling council of the Jewish nation. Members of the Sanhedrin were
widely known. Because Joseph was a respected public figure, many people
would have known the location of his tomb. If Jesus had not been buried
in his tomb, the ruse would have been all too easy to expose.

Notice also the precautions taken to make sure nothing could happen to
the body of Jesus once it had been placed in the tomb: "The next
day...the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 'Sir,' they
said, 'we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said,
"After three days I will rise again."

"'So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day.
Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people
that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse
than the first.' 'Take a guard,' Pilate answered. `Go; make the tomb
as secure as you know how.' So they went and made the tomb secure by
putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard" (Matthew 27:62-66).

Roman guards were placed around the tomb the day after Jesus' burial.
Surely they would have noticed had Jesus awakened from a near-death
state or His body been stolen by His followers. Their orders were clear:
They were to make sure nothing happened to the body of Jesus. If they
failed at this duty, they could be put to death just as Jesus had been.

Both the Jews and the disciples of Christ would have known the location
of this tomb. The women who would figure prominently in the discovery of
the empty tomb observed where the tomb was and that Jesus was in fact
laid inside it (Luke 23:55). They also knew a massive stone had been
rolled over the entrance of the tomb (Mark 15:46-47) and knew it had to
be rolled back when they returned to the same location to apply the
burial spices they had prepared (Mark 16:3).

There was no question in the mind of the women and His other disciples
that Jesus was in that tomb.

Women discover the empty tomb

Mark also records for us the detail that three women?Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of James, and Salome?approached the tomb before
sunrise to anoint the body of Jesus with spices. Finding the heavy stone
rolled away, they entered the tomb and were shocked and afraid when they
saw "a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right
side." The man told the women, "He is risen!" and instructed them to go
and tell Jesus' other disciples (Mark 16:1-8).

In the society of the day, the testimony of women was held in such low
regard that they were not even permitted to serve as witnesses in a
court of law. How remarkable it is, then, that women were the
acknowledged discoverers of Jesus' empty tomb!

Had someone fabricated the story at a later date, as many critics assume
to have been the case, the plot surely would have made male disciples
such as Peter and John the discoverers of the empty tomb. That it was
women who were the chief witnesses to the fact of the empty tomb is best
explained by the straightforward truth that the women named were indeed
the actual discoverers.

The Gospel writers faithfully recorded what for them was an awkward and
potentially embarrassing detail.

Jesus' enemies acknowledged that the tomb was empty

What was the reaction of Jesus' enemies to the disciples' stunning
declaration that Jesus was alive again after having been publicly
executed?

Their reaction is very revealing. Did they respond that the disciples
were lying, that Jesus' body still lay in the rock-hewn tomb? No. Did
they claim that the disciples were hallucinating? No. Instead, they
bribed the Roman soldiers responsible for guarding the sealed tomb to
spread what they knew was a lie. They told them to spread a cover story,
to claim that Jesus' disciples had come and stolen His body while they
slept, and that they would cover for the soldiers if they got in trouble
with the Roman governor.

Read the account in Matthew 28:11-15. This was the best excuse the
authorities could come up with to explain why Jesus' body was missing
and could not be found!

Here we have evidence from the very enemies of Christ that His tomb was
empty. The best rationale they could come up with they knew to be a lie.
There is no other explanation for how the tomb became empty except that
Jesus was resurrected bodily and left the tomb.

Eyewitness accounts of His appearances

On multiple occasions and under various circumstances individuals and
groups of people saw Jesus alive after knowing He had died.

Notice what the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church: "He was
seen by Cephas [Peter], then by the twelve. After that He was seen by
over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to
the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by
James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me
also, as by one born out of due time" (1 Corinthians 15:5-8).

How did Paul receive this information? He was acquainted and had spoken
with the people involved. He had heard the account in their own words.
Most who could verify it were still alive. He is making this assertion
knowing he could be proven wrong if it were not true!

Such eyewitness accounts cannot be dismissed as fantasy. They must refer
to actual events that were witnessed by many people alive at the time of
Paul's writing. Paul even lists the names of the best known of the
witnesses so others could verify the facts of Jesus' resurrection for
themselves!

Appearances in bodily form

All of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances in the Gospels are in bodily
form. "Why do doubts arise in your hearts?" He asked His apostles when
He appeared to them, as recorded in Luke 24:36-43.

He invited them, "Behold [look at] My hands and My feet, that it is I
Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as
you see I have." When they still did not believe, perhaps because it was
too good to be true, He asked them for food, which He took and ate in
front of them.

Then there is the occasion when Jesus appeared to all His apostles,
including Thomas, who apparently was missing on the previous occasion.
Thomas was adamant that he would not believe unless he saw Jesus' wounds
with his own eyes and felt the wounds with his own hands (John
20:24-29). Yet he was absolutely convinced when Jesus appeared to them
all and specifically invited Thomas to verify that He was indeed the
same Jesus whom Thomas and the rest had known for so long.

On yet another occasion Jesus appeared to the disciples on the shore of
the Sea of Galilee. On this occasion He performed a miracle, fixed and
ate a breakfast of bread and fish with them and gently rebuked Peter for
returning to his life as a fisherman rather than taking care of the far
more important business of tending to His Church (John 21:1-23).

It's been suggested that these appearances were merely hallucinations on
the part of the disciples. But this theory cannot account for the fact
that the appearances were in different places, at different times and in
front of different groups of people. Jesus appeared in ways that were
convincing to all the apostles. These appearances left no doubt in their
minds?including that of Thomas, who staked out his position that he
wouldn't believe unless he literally saw and felt the Jesus whom he
knew.

The disciples' astounding transformation

One of the major proofs of the resurrection of Jesus is the dramatic
change in the lives of His disciples.

The Gospel accounts are not flattering to the apostles (which is further
evidence that they didn't fabricate the story). At the time of Christ's
arrest and trial, all His apostles forsook Him and fled (Matthew 26:56).
Peter, who vowed that he would always stand by Jesus, even cursed and
swore in denying that he knew Him (verses 69-75).

Jesus, we remember, foretold Peter's weakness and even forewarned His
apostles that they would also stumble because of their association with
Him (verses 31-35).

Within a short time, however, we see a dramatic change. We find the
apostles speaking to large crowds and openly declaring that Jesus had
risen from the dead. Far from running away and hiding; now they boldly
confronted the civil and religious authorities with the fact that Jesus
had been killed and raised to life again.

They defied orders threatening them with imprisonment if they continued
to speak about this man Jesus (Acts 4:1-23). They courageously faced
beatings and endured death threats because they preached that Jesus was
alive and was the Messiah (Acts 5:17-42).

Whereas only weeks before they had denied they even knew Him, now
nothing could stop them from openly publicizing what they obviously knew
to be true. Only one explanation for their new unshakable belief even in
the face of imprisonment and execution is plausible: They saw Jesus
Christ alive after they knew He was dead. They spoke with Him, ate with
Him, received extensive instructions from Him, spent time with Him and
touched Him.

These men gave the remaining years of their lives, and ultimately life
itself, for the One they knew had conquered death. Had they all been
only participants in a giant hoax, could we believe these men would give
their lives for something they knew to be a lie?

Peter's remarkable change

The apostle Peter is the best known of the disciples whose lives were so
remarkably changed. His boldness on the Feast of Pentecost was amazing.
At the temple he addressed a huge crowd of people, from which 3,000
became disciples of Jesus the Messiah.

Peter spoke to people who lived in Jerusalem and all of Judea as well as
many other parts of the Roman world. They were in Jerusalem to observe
the Feast of Pentecost, also called the Feast of Weeks, as God had
commanded in Deuteronomy 16:16. Peter reminded them that they all knew
who Jesus was and what had happened to Him seven weeks earlier at the
Passover feast (Acts 2:22-24).

Peter, who had denied his acquaintance with Jesus before He died, now
fearlessly proclaimed to the people that they were the ones who had
crucified the promised Messiah?but that God had raised Him up.

The reaction of the people is quite telling. There is no denial, no
outcry, no attempt to stone Peter for this apparently outrageous charge.
Many of them knew of the events surrounding the arrest, trial and
crucifixion of Jesus. They knew that many?perhaps even some of those
standing there listening to Peter?had shouted for Christ's blood.
They knew of the strange disappearance of the body from the tomb, a
mystery no one had been able to solve.

They knew or had heard of other strange events that took place at the
time: the mysterious darkness that descended on the land as Jesus was
being crucified, people being resurrected from the grave and walking the
streets of Jerusalem, and the massive veil in the magnificent temple
tearing from top to bottom with no apparent cause.

How were these events to be explained? What did they mean? Peter was
giving them the amazing explanation?an explanation that would
require them to make a decision that would affect the rest of their
lives.

Peter contrasted the empty tomb of Jesus with the nearby tomb of
Israel's greatest king, David. "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to
you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his
tomb is with us to this day" (Acts 2:29). His point was unmistakable:
Everybody knew where David's tomb was and that this was where the king's
body was buried. But Jesus, unlike David, was no longer bound by the
grave!

Jesus of Nazareth, Peter declared, had been raised up by God, and many
witnesses could testify to that fact. Once again there was no argument
from the crowd. On the contrary, the people asked what they should do
now that they, too, were convinced that Peter was right. Peter replied
that they should repent and be baptized and that they also would receive
the Holy Spirit, as the disciples had on that very day (Acts 2:37-38).

The only way to explain the dramatic transformation of the disciples
from a frightened band ready to throw everything away and flee back to
Galilee is that Jesus left behind dramatic and powerful evidence: an
empty tomb and then multiple bodily appearances. Ordinary men from
ordinary walks of life, who had denied their Master and failed Him
miserably, suddenly changed almost overnight into dynamic leaders of a
Church that was to defy and challenge the ancient pagan world.

James, half brother of Jesus, becomes a believer

Perhaps an even more remarkable transformation took place in the life of
James, the half brother of Jesus (James was the natural son of Mary and
Joseph while Jesus was the son of Mary and God the Father). Notice how
J.P. Moreland describes events in James' life as recorded in the Bible
and contemporary history:

"Why did these men change? Why did they undergo hardship, persecution,
pressure, and martyrdom? Consider James the brother of Jesus. Josephus,
the first-century Jewish historian, tells us that he died a martyr's
death for his faith in his brother. Yet the Gospels tell us that during
Jesus' life, he was an unbeliever and opposed Jesus.

"Why did he change? What could cause a Jew to believe that his own
brother was the very Son of God and to be willing to die for such a
belief? It certainly was not a set of lovely teachings from a carpenter
from Nazareth. Only the appearance of Jesus to James (1 Corinthians
15:7) can explain his transformation.

"As with James, so it is with the other disciples. One who denies the
resurrection owes us an explanation of this transformation which does
justice to the historical facts" (Scaling the Secular City, 1987, pp.
178-179).

Paul the persecutor is transformed

The apostle Paul is another remarkable example. As a devout Jewish rabbi
and strict Pharisee, he was resolutely convinced that Jesus'
resurrection had not taken place. Paul persecuted members of the early
Church for believing in such nonsense. He staked his whole mission in
life on his conviction that the resurrection was a fabrication and the
movement was a threat to every tradition he held sacred.

This new movement, he was convinced, deserved to be stamped out by any
means, including imprisonment and execution (Acts 22:4)?and this
would be his personal crusade. Then something happened. Jesus Christ
appeared to Paul and spoke to him.

Paul was not a man given to the vivid imaginations of superstitious
people. He was a levelheaded intellectual. Yet he later was prepared to
defend his zeal for Christ before hostile mobs as well as governors,
kings and other rulers. In the end Paul was prepared to die for what he
knew was true: Jesus was indeed the Messiah and was alive and well at
the right hand of God.

The existence of the Christian Church

Dr. Moreland puts it this way: "What cause can be postulated to explain
the fact that the Christian church transformed the world of the first
century? The odds for its success were antecedently poor. Several
religions existed in the first century and some of the elements of
Christianity can be found in them. Why did Christianity succeed,
especially when it was such an exclusivist faith which frowned on
syncretism? What caused the church to get started? There never was a
form of Christianity which did not emphasize the centrality of the death
and resurrection of a divine Jesus.

"The resurrection of Jesus is the explanation the church herself gave,
and it is the only adequate one. Cambridge New Testament scholar C.F.D.
Moule argues this way: 'If the coming into existence of the Nazarenes, a
phenomenon undeniably attested by the New Testament, rips a great hole
in history, a hole of the size and shape of Resurrection, what does the
secular historian propose to stop it up with?'" (ibid., pp. 180-181).

That Jesus Christ really was resurrected from the dead is the only truly
reasonable conclusion.

I hope this will help you to face those skeptics and prove to them that
our Lord has indeed RISEN!!!

Remember
Only one life, will soon be past,
Only what is done, for Christ will last.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. (2 Corinthians
13:14)

Love & Prayers,

Michael J. Knight.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A-C-T-S/
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A-C-T-S/>

What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.