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Resurrection? Prove It to Me
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
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on Colossians after Easter

Caravaggio (Italian painter, 1571-1610), "The Incredulity of Saint Thomas"
(1601-02), Oil on canvas, 107 x 146 cm, Sanssouci, Potsdam.
Larger image. |
"Raised from the dead? Sure. Right. And I have a bridge
I'd like to sell you."
That's how Thomas might have responded if he had lived in our day.
"Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger
where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not
believe it."1 He'd seen dead people before. And Jesus
was dead. He sounds like sophisticated rationalists of the Twenty-first
Century. "It isn't plausible," they would contend.
"It didn't happen."
But what if it did happen?
Thomas was convinced when Jesus appeared to him, reached out his
hands to Thomas, and said, "Put your finger here."
Thomas dropped to his knees. "My Lord and my God!"2
It was self-hypnosis, you counter. The disciples wanted to believe
that their Lord was not dead, so they just invented it out of
whole cloth.
Really? Let's look at some of the evidence.
- Jesus' body was missing. If the Jews could have found
it, they could have stilled the preaching of Jesus' resurrection
that filled Jerusalem. But they could not.
- The body wasn't stolen. The Romans had no motive. The
Jews had no motive. Ah-ha, you say, the disciples stole it. There
is the matter of the Roman guards, and the disciples' initial
disbelief when the women brought them the news early that Easter
morning. This brings me to my third point.
- If the disciples had stolen the body, you wouldn't expect
them to risk their lives. People don't die for what they know
is not true. But the disciples put their lives on the line, and
nearly all were eventually martyred for their faith. They certainly
believed it.
- The church mushroomed size in Jerusalem, the very
place he was crucified. Followers of Jesus in the city of Jerusalem grew from a few
dozen to thousands upon thousands soon after Jesus' resurrection.
They believed it was true.
- Contemporary documents refer to the event. Thallus the
Samaritan, Suetonius, Tacitus, Pliny contain references to Jesus.
Jewish historian Josephus writes about Jesus' crucifixion and
resurrection. They knew something had happened.
Jesus' resurrection from the dead is actually more plausible than
any other explanation. That's why we Christians make such a big
deal about Easter. That's why we celebrate.
Jesus' resurrection means that death is not the end. That though
my body may lie mouldering in the ground, Jesus, whom the Father
raised from the dead, gives me eternal life. Ultimately, we Christians
believe, our bodies, too, will be raised from the dead.
And since Jesus is not dead, people can encounter him today. You
can know him through a personal relationship. I could point to
lots of people who can testify what Jesus has done in their lives
to bring them from the brink of disaster to peace and meaning
and joy. He changes people for good.
If you're not sure can't really say you've met this risen Jesus,
this Easter Sunday why don't you slip into church to seek him.
And perhaps in the midst of our celebration, you'll find him
for yourself.
He's alive, you know. That's what Easter is all about!
- John 20:25 (NIV).
- John 20:27-28 (NIV).
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