What if it's true?

Hans Urs von Balthasar once said, "If one does away with the fact of the Resurrection, one also does away with the Cross, for both stand and fall together, and one would then have to find a new center for the whole message of the gospel."

Since its Easter Sunday, I would like to briefly comment on the resurrection. There are no if's ands or buts - The Christian faith lives and dies by the resurrection. The apostle Paul described this reality in 1 Corinthians 15:14 where he said, "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain."

But what if the claims about the resurrection are true? What if Jesus really is the resurrection and the life?

I should say that while there is credible evidence for the resurrection one cannot undermine the need for faith. We cannot come to faith in Jesus Christ through or by any human effort. Salvation is the gracious invitation of God. Here are a few points that add credibility for the resurrection.

The Eye witnesses - The amount of witnesses chronicling the resurrection are great and numerous. If a court room were filled with this many witnesses the judge would not be able to merely throw out a well established claim.

The Empty Tomb - Historical Jewish and Roman records speak about the empty tomb. But what really happened some 2000 years ago. Jesus was wrapped in linen that was weighed down with about 100 lbs of spices. A large stone that weighed about 2 tons or 4000lbs was placed in front of the entrance. Moreover, a trained Roman soldier stood guarding the tomb. The Roman seal would have acted as a deterrent for anyone thinking of defrauding the buried body. If someone did such a thing they would be subject to the wrath of the Roman law - meaning being crucified while hanging upside down. Secondly, the early followers of Jesus preached the resurrection in the most unthinkable city of Jerusalem. Paul Althaus states that the resurrection "could have not been maintained in Jerusalem for a single day, for a single hour, if the emptiness of the tomb had not been established as a fact for all concerned." Thirdly, why would the Roman guard vanish and disappear? He would automatically be subject to death under Roman law. Fourthly, how can one describe the unaltered and unmoved grave clothes which lay in the empty tomb? Some suggest that we have identified the wrong tomb. But really, would the Roman army (who was asked to guard the tomb) have been mistaken about the location? It can neither be considered geographically inaccurate because the Jewish authorities would have immediately replaced or come up with a body. Another suggestion has been that the body was stolen. The disciples were scared and were in no position to risk death under Roman law. Equally, one cannot say that Jewish and Roman authorities moved Jesus body. As Josh McDowell explains saying, "If the authorities had the body in their possession or knew where it was, why, when the disciples were preaching the resurrection in Jerusalem, didn't they explain: "Wait! We moved the body, see, He didn't rise from the grave"?

The Embarrassment Factor - Why would the disciples preach a embarrassing message - one that would lead to endless persecution and for some death. Why would they lie. As someone once said, "Lies don't make a martyr." Lies die out. If it weren't true, John would have been back fishing, Matthew would have been back collecting taxes, and so on and so on.

The gospel records are brutally honest. They convey emotions of doubt, fear and joy. Why would the gospels write against cultural norms and address doubt if they were trying to convey anything but the truth. For example, the testimony of a women would have been seen as non-sense or insignificant. Yet, the first persons to encounter the risen Christ were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Mary. The Bible also doesn't seek to cover up the fact that initially some of the followers doubted this "absurd claim." But Thomas one of the twelve was truly taken back when Jesus appeared to him saying, "Put your fingers here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side." Thomas response was simple, "My Lord and my God!"