Over the centuries, there have been many denials of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. I’d like to look at some of these in case you run into them.
The Swoon Theory – This is the belief Jesus didn’t die on the cross but fainted (swooned). Once in the tomb, He revived due to the cool damp conditions and escaped. He then claimed resurrection and remained with His disciples for a time.
Let’s go through this briefly. There was the Roman scourging. This was done with a sort of “cat of nine tails.” The whip had sharpened pieces of stone, metal, and glass embedded in the strands meant to tear the flesh from the bone of the victim. The Jews allowed only 39 stripes when scourging. The Romans had no such limitation. The soldier could lay as many stripes on Jesus as he wished. The men who did the scourging usually enjoyed their job. Many who were scourged died from it even before they reached the cross.
Additionally, we know Jesus was crucified, nailed to a cross, and a spear pierced His side reaching His heart, but was He dead? Pilate himself ordered Jesus’ body be checked to be sure He was dead. He was inspected and pronounced dead by a Roman soldier who’s assigned duty was pronouncing the victims dead after crucifixion. (Mark 15:44-45). Jesus was definitely dead.
He was then left wrapped in strips of cloth, immobile, for three days, somehow He revived, and moved a 1.5 to 2 ton stone aside by Himself in a weakened state and stepped into history? Silly, don’t you think?
It was the Wrong Tomb – This is the idea the women went to the wrong tomb on Easter morning and found it empty. This would mean Joseph of Arimathea, the owner of the tomb, went to the wrong tomb. Nicodemus went to the wrong tomb. The Romans went to the wrong tomb, the Jews went to the wrong tomb, and John and Peter went to the same wrong tomb (John 19:38-42). And, we still have the problem of Jesus showing Himself alive to more than 500 people (1 Cor. 15:6). Highly unlikely!
The Twin Theory – This is one of my favorites. It states that Jesus had a twin brother He knew nothing about. It happened on the third day, this twin brother entered Jerusalem and was mistaken for Jesus and went with it fooling Jesus’ disciples who had spent every day for three years with Jesus. He carried no scars from the scourging, no marks of the nails or crown of thorns, and the disciples did not go to the tomb to verify He was gone. Really?
Someone Stole the Body – This is the answer the Jews had thought of (Matt. 28:13). The Jews started the story the disciples had stolen the body. There are a lot of problems with is one. The disciples were huddled in fear of the Jews (John 20:19). They weren’t going to steal the body. They were scared to death they would be next. Then there was the 1.5 to 2 ton stone to move quietly so as not to wake the Roman guard.
The tomb had been sealed with a Roman seal and guarded by Roman guards (Matt. 27:66). The penalty for breaking a Roman seal was death. The punishment for a Roman soldier sleeping on duty was to be burned to death in a fire started with his own clothes. These soldiers were tough. They used the Roman soldiers’ training manual to train our Green Berets. Roman soldiers proudly claimed the Emperor could be defended by only nine of them. Tough guys. Notice the soldiers didn’t run to their commander but to the Jewish leaders (Matt. 28:11). They knew telling their commander meant death.
So, the disciples didn’t steal the body nor did the Romans. Who was left, the Jews? No. They wanted the body to stay in the tomb because they knew Jesus had predicted raising it (John 2:18-22). The only one remaining who could have removed the body is Jesus.
Why is this important?
The biggest problem all of these theories need to face is the fact within a few weeks of Christ’s crucifixion, in the very city where He was crucified, men and women began to claim Jesus had risen, and thousands believed this and came to Jesus as their Savior. Over the next few decades, all but one of the apostles, the eye witnesses, died telling the same story of the death, burial, and miraculous resurrection of Jesus. None testified otherwise even to save their own life.
Jesus’ resurrection is the one central doctrine upon which our faith rests. This is why so many have attacked this miracle. We need to have answers for those who would discount this grand miracle. I hope I’ve provided some.
If there is no resurrection, we are all to be pitied:
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins (1 Cor. 15:7)
If you would like to see some of the evidence for Christ’s physical resurrection, look at my blog from last Easter: He is Risen Indeed.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 