Fatal torment: It is vital to prove that Jesus Christ actually suffered to such an extent that he died, for the obvious reason that one must be dead before one can be resurrected. But this is vitally important for another reason. One line of argument that has been leveled against the resurrection down through the centuries is the belief that Jesus did not really die on the cross. Oh, he might have come close, but he did not die. Rather he experienced a semi-comatose state that mimicked death. Those who laid his body in the tomb thought he was dead. But he was not. And during the time he was in the tomb, he slowly came back to consciousness and eventually gained enough strength to leave the tomb and reappear to his disciples. This, my friend is quite the absurd argument for these reasons: For starters, the gospel record is quite clear: Jesus was dead! When the legs of the two criminals crucified with Jesus were broken to hasten their death, Jesus' legs were not broken. Why? Because when they came to Jesus he was already dead, making the breaking of his legs unnecessary (see John 19:31-37). In addition, even IF Jesus had survived the brutality of the flogging, beatings, and crucifixion - would he have had the strength to move the stone which lay across the opening of the tomb, fight off the Roman guard posted outside the tomb and then go on to appear to his disciples in such a way that they would be convinced that he had indeed risen from the dead? I think not! I believe there is no doubting that Jesus suffered fatal torment.
Empty Tomb: This is important for if Jesus' body were still in the tomb in which it was laid - then all discussion on whether or not the resurrection ever occurred could be forever put to rest. But the tomb was and is to this day EMPTY! Where's the evidence? Consider the following: First, there is the the story (Matthew 28) of the Roman guard as they reported back to the Jewish leaders concerning their experience of Jesus' resurrection in the predawn hours of that first Easter. The Jewish leaders had a problem on their hands - an empty tomb. To explain it, they bribed the Roman soldiers to spread the lie that the disciples had come while they were sleeping and stole the body of Jesus. That was why the tomb was empty. (Note: this is a ridiculous story, for several reasons. The Roman army's penalty for falling asleep on watch duty was death. So to think a whole contingent of soldiers would have fallen asleep is HIGHLY unlikely. In addition, to think that the disciples of Jesus would have risked a confrontation with a group of battle tested Roman soldiers is not credible. In the days following Jesus' crucifixion, the disciples spent their time behind locked doors (See John 20:19). They were afraid they were next on the execution list. Hardly in any state of mind or heart to take on the Roman guard. And lastly, if the soldiers were truly asleep - how would they know what happened to Jesus' body?). So all that to say - the Jewish leaders had an empty tomb on their hands that they had to explain. Their attempt to do so was lame at best and down right laughable at worst. In addition to this story consider also Acts 2. This is the account of the Day of Pentecost when Peter stood up IN JERUSALEM and proclaimed to a crowd of thousands the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, given that this was a mere 50 days after the crucifixion of Christ, if Jesus' body was still in the tomb just outside the walls of JERUSALEM - why didn't someone point out that fact? They didn't because the tomb where Jesus' body was laid to rest was EMPTY!
Tomorrow I will look at two additional lines of evidence for Jesus' resurrection. Until then let me ask you ... was this event a fraud or a fact of history?
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
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