Some good reason to place your faith in the resurrection of Jesus!

2. The Empty Tomb

3. "But if there is no
resurrection of the dead,
then not even Christ has
been raised. And if Christ
has not been raised, then
our preaching is in vain
and your faith is in vain."
1 Corinthians 15:13-14

4. Prophecy

5. “The Son of Man must suffer
many things and be rejected by
the elders and the chief priests
and the scribes and be killed, and
after three days rise again” Mark
8:31, see also Matthew 17:22,
and Luke 9:22
Prophecy

6. Two Gospel writers mention
Jesus saying that if his enemies
destroyed the temple (of his
body), he would build it again in
three days.
John (2:19) & Mark (14:58)
Prophecy

7. He also spoke of the “sign of
Jonah” saying He’d be “three
days in the heart of the earth.”
Matthew 12:39; 16:4
Prophecy

8. Again in Matthew (21:42) He
said,
“The very stone which the
builders rejected has become the
head of the corner.”
Prophecy

9. Historicity

10. The resurrection of Jesus Christ
is the most well attested fact in all
of ancient history. If we cannot
believe the resurrection of Jesus,
we need not believe anything
else that happened in ancient
history.
Historicity

11. “For I delivered to you as of first
importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins in
accordance with the
Scriptures, that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third
day in accordance with the
Scriptures…” 1 Corinthians 15:3-
Historicity

12. …and that he appeared to
Cephas, then to the
twelve. Then he appeared to
more than five hundred brothers
at one time, most of whom are
still alive, though some have
fallen asleep. Then he appeared
to James, then to all the
Historicity

13. This is the earliest known creed
of the Christian church. The
words “received” and “passed”
tell us Paul was using an oral
tradition. He wrote Corinthians c
55. Therefore, this creed had
to date earlier…
Historicity

14. …If Jesus died around 30, this
creed can be dated to, at most,
25 years after Jesus’ death.
Prominent New Testament
historians date this creed to
between two and five years of
His death.
Historicity

15. Verifiability

16. The Jews were claiming the
disciples stole the body.
(Matthew 28:11-15)
Why would the Jews ever say
Jesus' body was stolen if the
tomb was not empty?
Verifiability

17. His death and resurrection
happened in the same city
Christianity started.
Those in power in Jerusalem
could have easily produced a
body if Jesus had not rose from
the dead, but they could not.
Vicinity

18. Testimony

19. Paul says Christ appeared to
over 500 people – who were still
alive.
There is no record of anyone
ever having had refuted this.
Testimony

20. Paul was a man who had
everything. He was an important
figure who studied under one of
the most prestigious rabbis of his
day, and on his way to becoming
a prominent religious leader.
Then, he decides to join his
enemies…
Testimony

21. …and throw away his wealth,
authority, social standing, and
everything he had worked for his
entire life in exchange for
lashings, beatings to the brink of
death, stonings, shipwreck,
starvation, and years of
imprisonment.
Testimony

22. Peter denied Christ during His
trial and the disciples fled in fear
for their lives after Judas’
betrayal.
But, after Christ’s resurrection
they became brave and fearless
unto death.
Testimony

23. Jesus’ brothers called him crazy
and mocked him while he was
alive.
After His resurrection James and
Jude wrote books of the Bible
and called Him their Lord.
Testimony

24. Explosivity

25. Right after the death of Jesus,
the thing that should have killed
Christianity, Christianity
exploded! This happened among
people who thought the idea of
worshipping a man as God as
reprehensible.
Explosivity

26. For a millennia and a half the
Jewish community worshiped
God on Saturday.
In one weekend, hundreds, soon
to be thousands, of them stopped
worshiping on Saturday and
began worshiping on Sunday.
Explosivity

27. After the Resurrection, the
Jewish converts of the time,
throngs of them, stopped offering
animal sacrifices to God.
Explosivity

28. Credibility

29. Several different New Testament
authors mention the resurrection.
• Matthew
• Mark
• Luke
• John
• Paul
• Peter
Credibility

30. All four Gospels report that the
tomb of Jesus was discovered
empty by women.
In first-century Jewish society, a
woman’s testimony was worth far
less than that of a man…
Credibility

31. This “embarrassing” detail of the
women being the witnesses to
the empty tomb makes it unlikely
the Gospel writers made it up.
Credibility

32. All four accounts of the gospels
describe the disciples of Jesus as
being surprised, even confused,
when they arrive at the empty
tomb.
Credibility

33. Impossibility

34. • Disciples find the tomb in the dark
• Sneak past the Roman guards
and break the Roman seal
• Steal the body
• Move a 2 ton stone
• Dispose of the corpse unnoticed
• Agree on their story & act
surprised
• Let 100’s of 1,000’s of people die
Impossibility

35. Authenticity

36. There is a self-authenticating
glory in the gospel of Christ’s
death and resurrection as
narrated by the biblical
witnesses. The Holy Spirit does
not do this by telling us that
Jesus rose from the dead…
Authenticity

37. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to
see the beauty of the story and
the person of Jesus in His life,
death, burial and resurrection.
This account has a self-
authenticating glory and beauty!
The truthfulness of the story can
be seen in the story.
Authenticity

38. Undeniablility

39. “He presented himself alive to
them after his suffering by many
proofs, appearing to them during
forty days and speaking about
the kingdom of God.”
Acts 1:3
Undeniablility