Why is the resurrection of Jesus so important?

Who would dare ask such a question? Doesn’t the Bible tell us that on the first Easter, Jesus miraculously stepped out of the tomb? Obviously from the initial reports that such an event had taken place, many did question it and did not realize its importance.  Even the closest followers of Jesus disbelieved the first resurrection report brought to them by some women and sought evidence to support the news they were hearing. Having immediately become doubters, some of the disciples did the obvious – go and see for themselves. The thing the disciples discovered was the same that those in opposition to Jesus discovered[1]; the tomb was empty – leaving us with several explanations, but with basically two options. Either Jesus did in fact rise from the dead or he did not.

But back to the original question, why is the resurrection of Jesus so important? As Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 15, if the resurrection of Jesus did not take place, then we have no basis for our faith in Him as being our propitiation and expiation.[2] “The point is that Christianity is a gospel, it is good news about how God sent his Son to be our Saviour. But if Christ did not really rise, then we have no assurance that our salvation has been accomplished.[3]”

But if Christ did in fact rise, as is supported by the evidence of many more eyewitnesses than it took to condemn him, then a multitude of questions about God are answered – not the least of which would be God’s very existence. The statements Jesus makes about his own divine nature have the support of an historical resurrection event. The many references Jesus makes to passages from the Old Testament lend His divine authority to the veracity of those scriptures. Jesus even gives the key to understanding the Old Testament when he explained to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, that beginning with Moses and all the Prophets – all the Scriptures point to himself. [4]

Finally, if the resurrection of Jesus did not happen then we have no evidence that our own resurrection will one day take place as promised by The Lord himself. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live… [5]” 18th century minister John Logan preached, “Christians, behold in the resurrection of Christ, the proof and the earnest of your own resurrection.” Surely it was (in part) this eyewitness knowledge of the resurrection of Jesus that gave the timid disciples the ability to become His steadfast Apostles and face certain death themselves. And it was on the Apostles’ reliable evidence for the resurrection that many members in the early church suffered martyrdom – with confidence in their own salvation through the atonement of Christ.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. [6] [emphasis mine]

I believe in the physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

           

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[1] The earliest existing report of the rumor propagated by Jewish authorities is found in the Gospel of Matthew.  In support of that rumor one scholar writes: “Either the audience of the first evangelist knew of this rumour or they did not. If they did not, then the rumour itself could have been a Matthean invention. However, there is no apparent reason why the gospel writer would invent a non-existent rumour and then expend himself in responding to such. It is furthermore unlikely that the gospel writer would risk discrediting himself in the presence of Jews who could easily say, ‘No such rumour exists among us’, or in the presence of his own audience who could say, ‘We have heard of no such rumour from the other Jews around us’. Either there actually was such a rumour in the environment of the gospel writer, or he is engaging in self-sabotage. The gospel writer may in fact be engaging in self-sabotage, but that would make it extremely difficult to explain the survival and historic importance of his gospel in the early church.”  Quoted from: Matthew 28:1-6 as Temporally Conflated Text: Temporal-Spatial Collapse in the Gospel of Matthew.  Kenneth L. Waters, Sr.  The Expository Times 2005 116: 295.  DOI:10.1177/0014524605053988

[2] “Expiation speaks of the process by which sins are nullified or covered. Propitiation, taking a personal object, speaks of the appeasement of an offended party—specifically the Christian God—from wrath or anger. Expiation falls under the concept of propitiation. In Scripture it cannot exist without propitiation. Other terms used for propitiation are appeasement and placation.”  Quoted from:  Russell, J. H. (2003). Expiation, Propitiation. In (C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen, & T. C. Butler, Eds.)Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

[3] Morris, L. L. (1996). Resurrection. In (D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman, Eds.)New Bible dictionary. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Lk 24:27). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Jn 11:25). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (1 Co 15:12–19). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

His Faith?

In Hebrews 11:1 we are told, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”[1] We are also told in Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” [2] The Bible is filled with statements regarding faith, but am I required to accept these statements without any supporting evidence? Many opponents to Christianity criticize what they call our blind faith as being foolish and meaningless, without any basis in fact. But is there evidence to support the claims of Christianity? I believe there is.

At this point I could begin the defense of my faith by quoting a litany of scripture passages to support my beliefs, but that would be considered by a skeptic to be an attempt to use the Bible to prove itself. Instead, my method is to contemplate the work of scholars[3] that have done the difficult task of researching historic texts (since in nearly every field of study we are dependent on the research of others) and consider “only those data that are so strongly attested historically that they are granted by nearly every scholar who studies the subject, even the rather skeptical ones.”[4] And while it is not the consensus of scholarship that is our goal, rather it is the consensus that helps point us to the data we need to make an informed discovery. We need to be “drawn to the sources and eager to learn what might be knowable, and with what reliability, about Jesus from Nazareth.”[5] For example, this is some of the data a majority of scholars affirm:[6]

1. Jesus died by crucifixion. This is confirmed in at least five non-Biblical sources (multiple, independent attestation.)
2. The disciples of Jesus believe he rose from the dead and appeared to them. This is confirmed in nine early and independent sources.
3. The church persecutor Paul was suddenly changed. Again, confirmed by early, multiple and first-hand information and accepted by recent scholarship.
4. The skeptic James, brother of Jesus, was suddenly changed. This is documented by Josephus and other early sources.
5. The tomb of Jesus was found empty. “Roughly 75 percent of scholars on the subject accept the empty tomb as a historical fact.”[7]

At this point, I can begin to look to the New Testament for supporting documentation – not as the divinely inspired book I believe it is, but simply as containing reliable historic data. With one criteria of acceptance of the New Testament by the early church being that proposed documents were written within living memory of the events they record, many serious scholars do not discount the validity of the New Testament simply because it is a religious document, but rather accept the bias they know it contains and consider much of it to be valid historic source material.[8]

Therefore, taking the above paragraphs into consideration, we read where Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15 that there is one event he considers to be pivotal within Christianity – that the resurrection of the crucified Jesus actually took place. He wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”[9] In verses 3b-7 of the same chapter, Paul writes for us what most scholars think to be the earliest Christian tradition available. Most date this creed (verses 3b-5) to within 5 years of the resurrection[10] with some (skeptics included) placing it as early as AD 30.[11] Verses 6 & 7 are considered by some to be a part of the same creed – and by others to be equally important Christian tradition from the same date. Here is the creed:

3b. that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,  4. that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5. and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

6. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still            alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. [12]

In 1921, skeptic Cavendish Moxon wrote, “The Christian Creeds are rich in symbols of primitive unconscious desires. The Creeds therefore make a direct appeal to the unsatisfied and repressed persons who desire a refuge from the world as it is. They offer a comforting metaphysic for the mind and a strong support for the will, in other words, revelation and salvation. The revelation is not to be denied, but it is a revelation of the men who made the Creeds…”[13] But the historic documentation points to the 1 Corinthians creed as being a reporting of the resurrection they believed happened – not the wishful thinking of Christ’s followers. The authors of the New Testament have given us both primary and secondary documentation of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. They did this at the peril of persecution and death – at the cost of embarrassing testimony about themselves – offering testimony that ran contradictory to their own understanding and culture – yet with great confidence that the events to which they were eyewitnesses (or recording eyewitness reports) had eternal importance.

In conclusion, my faith is in Christ. But it is through the information contained in the Bible – Old and New Testaments that direct me to that faith. But the resurrection is the key to our understanding. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I have faith in the existence of God. Because of the resurrection, I have faith in the divine nature of Jesus Christ. Because of the resurrection, I have faith in the validity of both the Old Testament scripture that points us to Christ and the New Testament that shows us Christ. Finally, because of the resurrection I know that the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross was acceptable to satisfy the wrath of a holy and just God. John wrote in his gospel that “these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”[14] With the wealth of documentation that is available to us, a faith in Christ is anything but blind faith. Yet:

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.[15]

Notes:
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Heb 11:1). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[2] ibid (Eph 2:8).
[3] Dr. John Dickson considers “mainstream scholarship” to be the 80% of peer reviewed scholarship in the middle of a continuum where 10% of skeptics on one end and 10% of apologists on the other market sensational material directly to the arena of public opinion rather than being juried by their peers.
[4] Gary R. Habermas;Michael Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Kindle Locations 340-341). Kindle Edition.
[5] Charlesworth, James H. (2008-01-01). The Historical Jesus: An Essential Guide (Essential Guides) (p. 16). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.
[6] Habermas, Gary R. 2005. "RESURRECTION RESEARCH FROM 1975 TO THE PRESENT: WHAT ARE CRITICAL SCHOLARS SAYING?." Journal For The Study Of The Historical Jesus 3, no. 2: 135-153. Religion and Philosophy Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed January 7, 2014).
[7] Gary R. Habermas;Michael Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Kindle Location 619). Kindle Edition.
[8] Dickson, John (2010-12-21). The Christ Files: How Historians Know What They Know about Jesus (Kindle Locations 546-547). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
[9] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (1 Co 15:14). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[10] Gary R. Habermas; Michael Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Kindle Locations 488-490). Kindle Edition.
[11] Walter Kaspar, Jesus the Christ, new ed., trans. V. Green (Mahweh: Paulist, 1976), 125.
[12]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (1 Co 15:3–7). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[13] MOXON, CAVENDISH. "A Psycho-Analytic Study of the Christian Creed." The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis 2 (Jan 01, 1921): 54, http://search.proquest.com/docview/1298177581?accountid=12085.
[14]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Jn 20:31). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[15] Words: Edward Mote, circa 1834; first appeared in Mote’s Hymns of Praise, 1836.
Music: Solid Rock, William B. Bradbury, 1863

Bibliography

Siniscalchi, G. (2012), Early Christian Worship and the Historical Argument for Jesus’ Resurrection. New Blackfriars, 93: 710–732. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-2005.2011.01447.x

Dialog: A Journal of Theology, Vol. 45; No. 3 (Fall, 2006), pp. 288-297; published by Blackwell Publishing, UK.

Dickson, John (2010-12-21). The Christ Files: How Historians Know What They Know about Jesus. Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Gary R. Habermas; Michael Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Kindle Edition.

Walter Kaspar, Jesus the Christ, new ed., trans. V. Green (Mahweh: Paulist, 1976).

Moxon, Cavendish. "A Psycho-Analytic Study of the Christian Creed." The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis 2 (Jan 01, 1921): 54, http://search.proquest.com/docview/1298177581?accountid=12085.

Charlesworth, James H. (2008-01-01). The Historical Jesus: An Essential Guide (Essential Guides) Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.

Habermas, Gary R. 2005. "RESURRECTION RESEARCH FROM 1975 TO THE PRESENT: WHAT ARE CRITICAL SCHOLARS SAYING?." Journal For The Study Of The Historical Jesus 3, no. 2: 135-153. Religion and Philosophy Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed January 7, 2014).

Craig, William Lane (2008-07-23). Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics. Good News Publishers. Kindle Edition