The Reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

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The Reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

April 1, 2013

Written by praise4ever

Resurrection Quotes

The tomb of Christ is famous because of what it DOES NOT CONTAIN. — Sam Morris

We live and die; Christ died and lived! — John Stott

The resurrection of Jesus changes the face of death for all His people. Death is no longer a prison, but a passage into God’s presence. Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there. — Clarence W. Hall

The primary source of the appeal of Christianity is Jesus – His incarnation, His life, His crucifixion, and His resurrection. — K. Latourette

…Luke associates John with Peter in Acts, when, after the Resurrection, that strange boldness had come upon the disciples. — Alfred Noyes

“The cross is a one time visual representation of God’s grief over sin.” — Dean L. Harvey

“Live in the awareness that Christ lives and that He lives in His people.” — Julien B. Weil

“The cross is the victory, the resurrection is the triumph…The resurrection is the public display of the victory, the triumph of the crucified one.” — Leon Morris

“The best proof that Christ has risen is that He is still alive. And for the immense majority of our contemporaries, the only way of seeing Him alive is for us Christians to love one another.” — Louis Evely

♪ ♫ “Christ the Lord is risen today, sons of men and angels say. Raise your joys and triumphs high; Sing ye heavens, and earth reply.” — Charles Wesley (from the Hymn “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”)

All of heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, hell afraid of it, while men are the only ones to ignore its meaning. — Oswald Chambers

According to the laws of legal evidence used in courts of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history. — Harvard Law Professor Dr. Simon Greenleaf

♪ ♫ “Hear the bells ringing!
They’re singing that we can be born again!
Hear the bells ringing!
They’re singing, ‘Christ is risen from the dead!’

The angel up on the tombstone said, He is risen just as he said!
Quickly now, go tell His disciples that Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the world! He is risen! Alleluia!”

— Keith Green, The Easter Song

There is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ. — Brooke Foss Wescott

The Gospels do not explain the Resurrection; the Resurrection explains the Gospels. Belief in the Resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith; it is the Christian faith. — John S. Whale

♪ ♫ “Up from the grave he arose; with a mighty triumph o’er his foes!
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
and He lives forever with His saints to reign!
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

— from ‘Up from the Grave He Arose’

Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime. — Martin Luther

The resurrection power of Jesus broke Satan’s captive power. When He led the Old Testament saints from paradise to heaven, He led captivity captive! — Leon Morris

Our justification hinges on a risen life, present in us now because Christ is present with us now. — Paul F.M. Zaul

Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection. — Watchman Nee

The entire plan for the future has its key in the resurrection. – – Billy Graham

There is more evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived or that Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three. – – Billy Graham

Note: The quotations and scriptures above were found at http://www.unlockingthebible.org/resurrection-easter-quotes-bible-verses/

“It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. It was the Lord speaking to us all and showing us over and over again the birth, life, death, and resurrection of his only begotten Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord. It was like a best-loved story being told day after day with each sunrise and sunset, year after year with the seasons, down through the ages since time began.” ― Francine Rivers The Last Sin Eater

“…left to ourselves we lapse into a kind of collusion with entrophy, acquiescing in the general belief that things may be getting worse but that there’s nothing much we can do about them. And we are wrong. Our task in the present…is to live as resurrection people in between Easter and the final day, with our Christian life, corporate and individual, in both worship and mission, as a sign of the first and a foretaste of the second.” ― N. T. Wright Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

“It is not easy to convey a sense of wonder, let alone resurrection wonder, to another. It’s the very nature of wonder to catch us off guard, to circumvent expectations and assumptions. Wonder can’t be packaged, and it can’t be worked up. It requires some sense of being there and some sense of engagement.” ― Eugene H. Peterson

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”
― Charles Colson

“The devil, darkness, and death may swagger and boast, the pangs of life will sting for a while longer, but don’t worry; the forces of evil are breathing their last. Not to worry…He’s risen!” ― Charles R. Swindoll

“He, the Life of all, our Lord and Saviour, did not arrange the manner of his own death lest He should seem to be afraid of some other kind. No. He accepted and bore upon the cross a death inflicted by others, and those other His special enemies, a death which to them was supremely terrible and by no means to be faced; and He did this in order that, by destroying even this death, He might Himself be believed to be the Life, and the power of death be recognised as finally annulled. A marvellous and mighty paradox has thus occurred, for the death which they thought to inflict on Him as dishonour and disgrace has become the glorious monument to death’s defeat.” ― Saint Athanasius of Alexandria On the Incarnation

“Christianity, unlike any other religion in the world, begins with catastrophe and defeat. Sunshine religions and psychological inspirations collapse in calamity and wither in adversity. But the Life of the Founder of Christianity, having begun with the Cross, ends with the empty tomb and victory.” ― Fulton J. Sheen Life of Christ

“No tabloid will ever print the startling news that the mummified body of Jesus of Nazareth has been discovered in old Jerusalem. Christians have no carefully embalmed body enclosed in a glass case to worship. Thank God, we have an empty tomb. The glorious fact that the empty tomb proclaims to us is that life for us does not stop when death comes. Death is not a wall, but a door.”
― Peter Marshall (Congressional Chaplain)

“The Bible says He was raised not just after the blood-shedding, but by it. This means that what the death of Christ accomplished was so full and so prefect that the resurrection was the reward and vindication of Christ’s achievement in death.” ― John Piper Passion of Jesus Christ

Note: The quotations above were found at http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/resurrection?page=1

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MORE RESURRECTION SCRIPTURES

John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Romans 6:4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Romans 6:9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.

1 Corinthians 15:3-5 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day pin accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection. Author: Watchman Nee

The Word of truth teaches in the clearest and most positive terms that all of the
dead will be raised. No doctrine of the faith rests upon a more literal and emphatic
body of Scripture authority than this, nor is any more vital to Christianity.
Author: C.I. Scofield

The first thing that stuck in the minds of the disciples was not the empty tomb, but
rather the empty grave clothes – undisturbed in form and position.
Author: Josh McDowellOn what does the Christian argument for Immortality really rest? It stands upon
the pedestal on which the theologian rests the whole of historical Christianity — the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Author: Henry Drummond

I went to a psychologist friend and said if 500
people claimed to see Jesus after he died, it was
just a hallucination. He said hallucinations are an
individual event. If 500 people have the same
hallucination, that’s a bigger miracle than the
resurrection.
Author: Lee Strobe lThe truth of the resurrection gives life to every
other area of gospel truth. The resurrection is the
pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without
which none of the other truths would much matter.
Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so
much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside
all other human philosophy and religious speculation.
Author: John MacArthurNote: The quotations above were found at
http://christian-quotes.ochristian.com/Resurrection-Quotes/page-3.shtml

Here (below) is an article about proof for the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from http://christianity.about.com/od/easter/a/7-Proofs-Of-The-Resurrection.htm

Is the resurrection of Jesus Christ an historical event that really happened, or is it
only a myth, as many atheists claim? While no one witnessed the actual resurrection,
many people swore they saw the risen Christ after his death, and their lives were never
the same.

Archaeological discoveries continue to support the Bible’s historical accuracy. We tend
to forget that the Gospels and book of Acts are eyewitness accounts of the life and death
of Jesus. Further nonbiblical evidence for Jesus’ existence comes from the writings of
Flavius Josephus, Cornelius Tacitus, Lucian of Samosata, and the Jewish Sanhedrin.
The following seven proofs of the resurrection show that Christ did, indeed, rise from the
dead.

The Resurrection Proof #1: The Empty Tomb of Jesus

The empty tomb may be the strongest proof Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Two major
theories have been advanced by unbelievers: someone stole Jesus’ body or the women
and disciples went to the wrong tomb. The Jews and Romans had no motive to steal the
body. Christ’s apostles were too cowardly and would have had to overcome the Roman
guards. The women who found the tomb empty had earlier watched Jesus being laid away;
they knew where the correct tomb was. Even if they had gone to the wrong tomb, the
Sanhedrin could have produced the body from the right tomb to stop the resurrection
stories. Jesus’ burial cloths were left neatly folded inside, hardly the act of hurrying grave
robbers. Angels said Jesus had risen from the dead.

The Resurrection Proof #2: The Women who were
Eyewitnesses

The women who were eyewitnesses are further proof that the Gospels are accurate
historical records. If the accounts had been made up, no ancient author would have used
women for witnesses to Christ’s resurrection. Women were second class citizens in Bible
times; their testimony was not even allowed in court. Yet the Bible says the risen Christ
first appeared to Mary Magdalene and other women. Even the apostles did not believe
Mary when she told them the tomb was empty. Jesus, who always had special respect
for these women, honored them as the first eyewitnesses to his resurrection. The male
Gospel writers had no choice but to report this embarrassing act of God’s favor, because
that was how it happened.

The Resurrection Proof #3: Jesus’ Apostles’ New-Found
Courage

After the crucifixion, Jesus’ apostles hid behind locked doors, terrified they would be
executed next. But something changed them from cowards to bold preachers. Anyone
who understands human character knows people do not change that much without
some major influence. That influence was seeing their Master, bodily risen from the
dead. Christ appeared to them in the locked room, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee,
and on the Mount of Olives. After seeing Jesus alive, Peter and the others left the
locked room and preached the risen Christ, unafraid of what would happen to them.
They quit hiding because they knew the truth. They finally understood that Jesus is
God incarnate, who saves people from sin.

The Resurrection Proof #4: Changed Lives of James and
Others

Changed lives are yet another proof of the resurrection. James, the brother of Jesus,
was openly skeptical that Jesus was the Messiah. After the death and resurrection
of Jesus, James became a courageous leader of the church at Jerusalem, even being
stoned to death for his faith. Why? The Bible says the risen Christ appeared to him.
What a shock to see your own brother, alive again, after you knew he was dead.
James and the apostles became effective missionaries because people could tell these
men had touched and seen the risen Christ. With such zealous eyewitnesses, the early
church exploded in growth, spreading west from Jerusalem to Rome and beyond.
For 2,000 years, encounters with the resurrected Jesus have changed lives.

The Resurrection Proof #5: Large Crowd of Eyewitnesses

A large crowd of more than 500 eyewitnesses saw the risen Jesus Christ at the same
time. The Apostle Paul records this event in 1 Corinthians 15:6. He states that most
of these men and women were still alive when he wrote this letter, about 55 A.D.
Undoubtedly they told others about this miracle. Today, psychologists say it would
be impossible for a large crowd of people to have had the same hallucination at once.
Smaller groups also saw the risen Christ, such as the apostles, and Cleopas and his
companion. They all saw the same thing, and in the case of the apostles, they touched
Jesus and watched him eat food. The hallucination theory is further debunked because
after the ascension of Jesus into heaven, sightings of him stopped.

The Resurrection Proof #6: Conversion of Paul

The account of the conversion of Paul records the most drastically changed life in the
Bible. As Saul of Tarsus, he was an aggressive persecutor of the early church. When
the risen Christ appeared to Paul on the Damascus Road, Paul became Christianity’s
most determined missionary. He endured 5 floggings, 3 beatings, 3 shipwrecks, a
stoning, poverty, and years of ridicule. Finally the Roman emperor Nero had Paul
beheaded because the apostle refused to deny his faith in Jesus. What could make a
person willingly accept—even welcome—such hardships? Christians believe that the
conversion of Paul came about because he encountered Jesus Christ who had risen
from the dead.

The Resurrection Proof #7: They Died for Jesus

Countless people have died as martyrs for their faith in Jesus, absolutely certain that
the resurrection of Christ is an historical fact. Tradition says 10 of the original apostles
died as martyrs for Christ, as did the Apostle Paul. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of
early Christians died in the Roman arena and in prisons for their faith. Down through
the centuries, thousands more have died for Jesus because they believed that the
resurrection is true. Even today, people suffer persecution because they have faith that
Christ rose from the dead. An isolated group may give up their lives for a cult leader,
but Christian martyrs have died in many lands, for nearly 2,000 years, believing Jesus
conquered death to give them eternal life.

(Information in this article was compiled and summarized from the following sources:
gotquestions.org, xenos.org, faithfacts.org, newadvent.org, tektonics.org,
biblicalstudies.info, garyhabermas.com, and ntwrightpage.com)

READ MORE!

Here are links to two excellent articles
about proof of the resurrection of Christ:

http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics-more/resurrection-evidence.htm

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/historical-evidence-for-the-resurrection

Here are links to some wonderful articles
about the resurrection of Christ and what it means:

http://www.jesus.org/death-and-resurrection/resurrection/what-does-the-resurrection-mean-
for-us.html

http://www.cru.org/how-to-know-god/did-jesus-christ-really-rise-from-the-dead/

http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Articles/What-the-Resurrection-Means-for-You.aspx

http://www.gotquestions.org/resurrection-and-life.html

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The information in this post was compiled from the sources noted by Cynthia A. Boyd

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