October 20
A Case for the Resurrection (Part 4)
Then Jesus told him, "You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who haven't seen me and believe anyway." -John 20:29
If the resurrection of Christ is a lie, why would every one of the apostles go to an early grave for a mere lie? Experience tells us that whenever there is a conspiracy, someone always breaks. This is especially the case when the indictments start flying and someone knows they are going to serve some time. Someone will break. They always do. And when the first person does come clean, others will follow because everyone is trying to save their own hide.
Similarly, if the apostles had stolen Christ's body, why wouldn't they have broken the code of silence and told the truth as they faced death for their belief in Christ? "We stole the body," or "It's all a lie," they could have said. All they had to say was, "I'll tell you where Christ's body is!" But this didn't happen. The apostles not only held to their testimonies, they died for them. As we look over church history and tradition, every single apostle (with the exception of John) died gruesome and painful deaths because they confessed the truth of the resurrected Christ.
But the fact of the matter is that belief in Christ is not a case of stacking up the evidence. Many people saw Christ after the Resurrection and still did not believe (for example, see Matthew 28:1-15). Belief in Jesus is founded upon faith. You might say show me and I will believe. For all practical purposes, God says, "Believe and I will show you." Just take a step of faith and God will more than meet you half way.
Copyright (c) 2004 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright (c) 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.