“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” (1 Corinthians 15:12-15).

 All of Christianity hinges upon the resurrection of Christ. Paul argues that if he has not been raised, we are still in our sins and are completely misrepresenting God. But if he has been raised, Paul argues in Acts 17:31, everything he said and did, including his perfect life and sacrificial death, is vindicated. Therefore, it is not a stretch to say that if we do not have confidence in the resurrection, we cannot have confidence in our salvation.

But Christ has been raised! We can and should be confident in his resurrection. Here are seven reasons why:

1. The Empty Tomb

Jesus was buried in a known location. His tomb was owned by Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin. It was also guarded by Roman soldiers, who must have been told which tomb to guard and where it was. If the tomb was occupied, Jesus’ body could have been easily produced by the Roman guards or the Jews. Everyone who went there found the exact same thing- an empty tomb.

2. The Soldiers’ Response

Matthew reports that the guards immediately reported to the Jewish leaders. That’s interesting in and of itself. Why didn’t they go to Roman leaders? Because they would have been killed! The Jewish leaders paid the soldiers to spread the lie that Jesus’ disciples stole the body in the night. They told the guards, “if this [the empty tomb] comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble” (Matt 28:14). The soldiers’ lives were on the line. Yet they “took the money and did as they were told” (Matt 28:15).

Here’s the question. Why would the Roman soldiers trust the Jewish leaders who promised to “satisfy”  the governor and keep them out of trouble? They didn’t have that much influence. And the soldiers knew that. But they had no other option. The tomb was empty. Their life was in danger. Their best bet was to take the money, spread the lie, and take their chances on the Jewish leader’s protection. They had no other option.

3. The Early Claims

Claims of Jesus’ resurrection began days after his death. Once again, if these claims were false, why did no one prove it? Critics will say that resurrection claims camemuch later, even decades after Jesus’ death, too far from his death to really prove such claims false. But 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 proves this such theories false. Paul writes,

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

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 in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”

Many scholars believe that verses 3-5 are an early creed that dates immediately after Jesus’ death up to five years later. And Paul is quoting this creed in his letter written in the 50s, only two decades after Jesus’ death. So we can be confident that the claims regarding his resurrection did not arise later. They began as early as the day the women discovered the empty tomb.

4. The Transformation of the Disciples

Peter denied Jesus three times at his mock trial. The other disciples fled when Jesus was arrested. Only one disciple was present at the scene of the crucifixion. They were hiding for their lives. Until they saw the resurrected Christ.

These eleven men turned the world upside down as they boldly preached the message of the gospel. Other than John, they were all persecuted and brutally martyred for their message- the epicenter of which was the resurrection. If Jesus was not resurrected, what else could explain the transformation of these disciples from cowering in fear to boldly preaching the gospel even in the face of death? This is why the stolen body theory doesn’t make sense. Even if they were able to successfully over-power professionally trained Roman guards, why would they all knowingly give the rest of their lives spreading and eventually dying for a lie?

Jesus also appeared to his brother James (1 Cor 15:7), which is likely the cause of his transformation of an unbelieving family member to a disciple, church leader, and an author of the New Testament.

5. The Testimony of Eyewitnesses

In addition to the disciples, Paul writes that the resurrected Jesus appeared to “to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive” (1 Cor 15:6). This is significant, because these witnesses could have been consulted. Only a few of them had died. The message of the resurrection spread like wildfire because of those who shared what they saw. Several theories have been posed by critics in an attempt to describe how so many people could have been deluded. Maybe they all hallucinated together at one big event or all had wishful dreams of seeing the resurrected Jesus and claimed that as “seeing him.” Or maybe they really saw Jesus.

Paul writes that he too saw the resurrected Jesus. “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he also appeared to me” (1 Cor 15:8). Similar to the above point, what else could explain Paul’s transformation from one of the chief persecutors of the church to one of the chief proclaimers of the gospel, even in the midst of great persecution and suffering?

6. The Growth of the Early Church

There were several self-proclaimed messiahs around the time of Jesus who where snuffed out by Rome. If Jesus was just another one, how did he change the world? How did the early church explode, and continue to explode, in a political environment that was hostile to their faith? The Jews were against them. The Romans were against them. Yet their growth was explosive. And the church has continued to grow for the last 2,000 years! What can that be attributed to, other than the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and the power of the gospel? 

7. The Theological Necessity

Theologically speaking, Jesus could not stay dead. The miracle of the incarnation is a wonderful mystery. In it, the Son of God takes on flesh, lives, and dies. But it is impossible for him to stay dead. He is the author of life, after all (Acts 3:15). We know that no one took Jesus’ life from him. No one had the authority to do that. He laid it down himself. He said so in John 10:18. But He also said, “I have the authority to take it up again.” And so he did!

The resurrection was a theological necessity to vindicate Jesus’ claims of divinity. It was also necessary for the Father to affirm that the Son’s sacrifice was sufficient to pay for the sins of the world and conquer death. Jesus lived perfectly and died as a spotless sacrifice, fulfilling all that the law required and that his Father sent him to do. Thus, his resurrection was inevitable.

Therefore, we can be confident in the resurrection of Christ. We are not those who ought to be pitied, our preaching is not in vain, and our faith is not useless, we are not misrepresenting God, because he did raise Christ from the dead. Therefore, our preaching is powerful, our faith is meaningful, and we are accurately portraying the One True God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent (1 Cor 15:14-16).