An empty tomb alone would not account for a converted skeptic like James or a converted enemy like Paul.

1. 1 Corinthians 15:1-2
Now brothers, I want to remind you of the
gospel I preached to you, which you
received and on which you have taken your
stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you
hold firmly to the word I preached to you.
Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
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2. 1 Corinthians 15:3-5
For what I received I passed on to you as of
first importance: that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, that He
was buried, that He was raised on the third
day according to the Scriptures, and that
He appeared to Peter, and then to the
Twelve.
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3. 1 Corinthians 15:6-8
After that, He appeared to more than five
hundred of the brothers at the same time,
most of whom are still living, though some
have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to
James, then to all the apostles, and last of
all He appeared to me also, as to one
abnormally born.
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4. 1 Corinthians 15:9
For I am the least of the apostles and do
not even deserve to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.
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5. 1 Corinthians 15:10-11
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and His grace to me was not without effect.
No, I worked harder than all of them—yet
not I, but the grace of God that was with
me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is
what we preach, and this is what you
believed.
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6. The resurrection is the
FIRST and FINAL answer to,
‘Why Jesus?’
If you DISBELIEVE the resurrection you have
difficulty explaining the emergence of the
CHURCH
…Paul quoting from an earlier Christian
CREED dated within a few short years…

7. Before we can talk about a
BODILY resurrection, we
must first verify His DEATH
UNDISPUTED historical facts point to Jesus’
death…and making ‘historically secure’ the
EMPTY TOMB
All four Gospels speak of Joseph coming to
ask for and BURYING the body of Jesus.

8. …witnesses without an
empty tomb would quickly
have been proven FALSE
A PHYSICALLY RAISED Jesus is dependent on
an empty tomb.

9. We are not left with only
an empty tomb, but the
APPEARANCES of Jesus
An empty tomb ALONE would not account
for a converted SKEPTIC like James or a
converted ENEMY like Paul.
When you eliminate all other possibilities,
whatever remains…must be the TRUTH.

10. Please take a moment to fill out your
Communication Card
My Next Step Today is to:
( ) Do the home life help (in bulletin)
( ) Read through the resurrection accounts piecing
together the various details
( ) Reflect on the arguments explaining the empty tomb
( ) Evaluate how my belief in the resurrection is shaping
how I live
( ) Reflect on the relevance of the resurrection of Jesus
for me.
( ) Other________________________