He is Risen Indeed!

There’s a tradition amongst Christian churches on Easter morning.  When greeting a fellow believer, you say “He is risen.”  The fellow believer responds: “He is risen indeed.”  But how do we really know Jesus rose from the tomb?

Did you know the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead is the best documented ancient event in history?

We have thousands of copies of excellent ancient documents written by eyewitnesses and describing the resurrection of Christ.  These would include the majority of the New Testament documents.  Even Revelation mentions Jesus’ resurrection:

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.  (Rev. 1:17-18)

Copies of these documents number in the thousands (more than 5,000 copies of the New Testament manuscripts in Greek alone and more than 19,000 copies of the New Testament manuscripts in other languages. This itself is astounding, but there’s more.

The Roman historian Tacitus, writing around 115 a.d., mentions the Christians worshipping Christ and that they taught He was raised from the dead.  Remember this was written just a few years after the death of the Apostle John who, as an apostle, was to keep the faith pure.  The faith and belief Tacitus records is the faith and belief we see today.

Another Roman historian, Josephus, writing at the end of the first century, recorded the following:

“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man if it be lawful to call him man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure.  He drew over to him many Jews, and also many of the Greeks.  This man was the Christ and when Pilate had condemned him to the cross upon his impeachment by principal man among us, those who had loved him from the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive on the third day, the divine prophets having spoken these and thousands of other wonderful things about him.”

Besides these documents, there are testimonies of lives changed by the resurrection story.

Paul was a murder of Christians and sought to destroy the faith yet miraculously, his life was changed and his alliances reversed through meeting the resurrected Jesus.

The conversion of James, the Lord’s half brother is another example.  He was a doubter but became a believer and bishop of Jerusalem after seeing the risen Christ (1 Cor. 15:7).  He was martyred for his faith in the resurrected Christ.

All of the New Testament except John’s writings was completed and circulated by 70 a.d. while there were still thousands living who had seen and heard Jesus and hundreds who had seen Him after the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:3-11).  These writings were never discounted by those who heard Jesus and followed His teachings because they were accurate accounts.

There are other proofs: the very existence of the early church in the city where Jesus was crucified.  The fact hundreds were willing to die in the arena as a testimony of the risen Jesus of Nazareth within three decades of His resurrection is another.

The greatest evidence of the risen Christ is indeed the changed lives of millions of men, women, and children who have placed their trust in the Man who rose from the dead nearly 2,000 years ago.

Why is this important?

Christianity is based solely on a truth claim, the claim of a miracle, some say a very difficult miracle to prove. Skeptics may say “It can’t be true because it’s not possible.  They’ve never seen a man who has been pronounced dead and three days later has come back to life.  The body begins to decompose almost immediately.  It just can’t happen.”

It’s not so difficult to prove, though.  The executioner who had killed hundreds of criminals and most certainly could recognize death came to Jesus’ cross and pronounced Him dead.  So, there is no doubt Jesus died on the cross.  Eyewitnesses who saw Jesus die also saw Him alive, spoke with Him, and touched Him three days later:

 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ² the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— ³ that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete (1 John 1:1-4)

¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty (2 Peter 1:16)

There is no doubt about this.  We have documented eyewitness accounts, accounts from skeptics, and the evidence of changed lives due to the resurrection of the Man Jesus.  So, when someone says “He is risen” to you on Easter you can reply with full confidence, “He is risen indeed!”