Jesus Christ Essay

Jesus is standing alone in a desert oasis. A gentle breeze flutters the leaves of the stately palms behind him. Soft Mideastern music caresses the air. Jesus holds in his have a bottle of wine at which he gazes adoringly. Turning toward the camera, he says, “When I transformed water into wine at Cana, this is what I had in mind”. Why in the world would Jesus say something like this? He wouldn’t. This is the image our society has of Him. Personally it really irks me that someone would stoop to such a level as to put Him in a wine commercial.

One of the most controversial subjects in our world today has been whether or not Jesus Christ was actually resurrected. When people are asked whether or not they believe Jesus was raised from the dead, they usually give a straight yes or no answer, but they can’t explain why they believe that to be true. Personally, I believe Jesus was raised from the dead because there is factual evidence. One thing is for sure, however, the resurrection is either one of the most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever to be know by human beings, or it is the most amazing thing to happen in our history.

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First, is the New Testament really reliable? Some critics say that most of the manuscripts that were found, were written several decades after the supposed resurrection. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, archaeological discoveries of early papyri, written scrolls made from a papyrus plant, bridged the gap between the time of Christ and those manuscripts from a later date. Going along with these discoveries, many other manuscripts came to light, and now over 24,000 early New Testament manuscripts are known to be in existence today. These findings have increased the confidence of scholars in the reliability in the Bible. William F. Albright, one of the world’s best biblical archaeologist, said, “We can already say emphatically that there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the New Testament after about A.D. 80, two full generations before the date between 130 and 150 given by the more radical New Testament critics of today”.

Now there is the question of whether or not someone could have possibly just pillaged Jesus’ tomb and took his body. A little background about Jesus’ burial shows that, as was the Jewish custom, Jesus was wrapped in a linen cloth, and this cloth was bound to him by mixing about 100 spices to make a sticky substance. After he was placed in the solid, rock tomb, an extremely large stone was put in the opening. This stone probably weighed about two tons which was usually rolled using some kind of lever. After that, they had many Roman guards place a Roman seal on the tomb and then stand watch. Somehow three days later, Jesus disappears from the tomb and appears to his disciples and many other followers.

So what does this have to do with the resurrection? Well there is the obvious fact that his tomb was empty. Paul Althaus states that the resurrection “could not have been maintained in Jerusalem for a single day, for a single hour if the emptiness of the tomb had not been established as a fact for all concerned.” Both Jews and Romans admit to an empty tomb, but it can’t be said that the tomb was completely empty. Those who had investigated the tomb had found Jesus’ linen wrapping where it was supposed to be. There was just one interesting fact about that. The wrapping was still in the form of a body just slightly caved in and empty.

Next, would be the breaking of the Roman seal. This seal stood for the power and authority of the Roman empire. The consequences of breaking that seal were extremely severe. Once they found that the seal was broken they would send out people to apprehend the person or persons who had broken it. They were then executed by being placed on the crucifix upside down. The people were fearful after the breaking of that seal. Even Jesus’ disciples went into hiding. One of them even denied he knew Jesus. I seriously doubt anyone would be foolish enough to try and steal the body.

What about the stone that covered the tomb? Those who had seen the stone after the resurrection describe it as having been rolled up on a slope away not just from the entrance of the tomb, but away from the tomb all together. They said it had looked as though it had been picked up and carried away. I don’t see how anyone could have moved that large rock. Especially without waking up all those guards. Anyway I seriously doubt that they would all fall asleep considering how harsh punishment would be if they had failed in the task that was assigned to them. Dr. George Currie, a student of Roman military discipline, wrote that fear of punishment “produced flawless attention to duty especially in the night watches.”

Then I would assume that the extreme amount of witnesses would suffice for confirming the resurrection. One of the earliest records is a letter written within thirty years of the resurrection. It states that Christ had been seen by more than 500 people at one time. The writer also reminded people during that time that the people were still alive and could be questioned.

It is also argued that Christ only appeared to his followers. That is not all that true. What about Saul of Tarsus? He despised Jesus with all of his soul and spent a great deal of time persecuting Jesus and his followers. When Christ appeared to him, he became a follower. So in a way the statement that he only appeared to his followers is true because most of the non-believers he appeared before became believers and followers of Christ.

Of course this is just my interpretation of the records. Everyone has his or her own opinions about the resurrection. There are just too many facts that I cannot ignore. There is the empty tomb, the broken seal, the linen wrappings, and the witnesses. In my mind and through these facts Jesus had been resurrected. For those who don’t believe despite the factual evidence, produce a body and then we will talk.

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