The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his126/bibl06.arj/BIBL06.TXT

Text File | 1991-10-28 | 14KB | 251 lines

                 DID THE RESURRECTION REALLY HAPPEN?

.    In considering the matter of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, it
is important to show that each and every one of the present "theories"
claiming that it did not happen is dealt with, in turn.  Therefore, it
is on this basis that we will show by the elimination of any other
possibility, that the Resurrection not only occurred but that all
known arguments against it are unfounded and can be rejected as
invalid.

.    Any explanation of the resurrection MUST take into consideration
the following features:

1. It must incorporate all known facts surrounding the resurrection
event.

2. We cannot "whittle" the evidence into a presupposed mold.  We must
evaluate the evidence or events in context and within reason of logic,
or, "could it have happened that way?"

.    In this vein, there are two major considerations - CHRIST'S TOMB
WAS EITHER (1) OCCUPIED OR IT WAS (2) EMPTY.

I. CHRIST'S TOMB WAS OCCUPIED

.    A. Unknown Tomb

.    This theory was based, primarily, on the historical documentation
that indicated that crucified victims were cast over a particular wall
in Jerusalem and burned in a trash pit.  This theory was difficult to
refute - other than the Gospels - until 1968 when the grave of a
crucified victim was located in a family tomb just outside of
Jerusalem (Yohanan ben Ha'galgal).  The other major failings of this
are (1) even if the disciples and the women did not know where the
grave was, Joseph of Arimathea DID; (2) the Roman Guard knew where it
was and (3) the women sat at the entombment and dressing of the body.

.    B. Wrong Tomb

.    This theory is a variation on the Unknown tomb theory in that the
women went to the wrong tomb.  The major proponent of this heresy is
one Professor Lake.  He concludes that the "gardener" told the women,
"He is not here, but see the place where they laid Him."  The complete
text of what was said is recorded in the Gospel as "He is not here,
for He has risen, just as He said.  Come, see the place where He was
lying."  Matthew clearly shows in 27:61 (Mark in 15:47 and Luke in
23:55) that the women had clearly noted the location of the tomb less
than 72 hours before.  The professor notes that this explanation
provides a natural explanation for the rock not being at the opening.
The professor picks and chooses his information, but the parts that he
ignores clearly refute his position.  An additional thought is not as
clearly refuting it, but have you buried a loved one and ever lost the
location of that grave in your mind?

.    C. Legend Fantasy

.    This theory fails immediately when we read Paul's comments that
there were over 500 eyewitnesses still alive to prove the
resurrection.  History proves the writings of the Gospels and the
accounts of the resurrection to be no later than 56 A.D.  The writings
were directed to people that could have, easily, gone to the grave
themselves and verified if the grave was empty.  The FACT is that the
accounts were NOT written many years later.

.    D. Spiritual Resurrection Only

.    In Luke 24:39, Jesus Christ, himself, demolishes this theory.
READ that verse.  Later on, Jesus even eats some fish.  This, again,
proves a body.  Matthew tells how they grabbed the feet of Jesus.  I
do not believe that you can grab the feet of a spirit!  This is a
major precept of the Jehovah Witnesses.

.    E. Hallucinations

.    DEFINED: "wandering of the mind, idle talk, etc."  But the
American Psychiatric Association defines it as "a false sensory
perception in the absence of an actual external stimulus."  And
elsewhere it is defined as "an apparent perception of an external
object when no such object is present".  It is also recognized by
science that hallucinations occur only in certain people and are
linked to the person's personal experiences.  The fact that many
diverse people saw Jesus and all concurred with their versions of that
sighting negates this theory completely.  A hallucination does not sit
down with you, eat with you, allow certain persons to examine the
wounds, or talk with certain individuals of a group.  Hallucinations
are highly subjective and no two people have ever been found to
experience the same hallucination - how then can 500 people do so?!
Hallucinations recorded are within a specific time frame and under
favorable conditions - usually the person having the hallucination had
been concentrating on the object or desiring the object prior to the
hallucination.  These conditions are absent in the resurrection.  No
expectancy, fifteen different appearances, many different people, 500
at one time to one or two people.  Hallucinations usually occur with
regularity and this is not the case here.  When the day of Pentecost
came, no other reports or stories occurred as to having seen the risen
Lord!

.    I wish to point out that NONE of the above theories uses the two
"rules" of evidence spoken of at the beginning of this session.

.    If the tomb were EMPTY, then there are two additional
possibilities. These are (1) it was by NATURAL causes and (2) it was
due to SUPERNATURAL causes.

II. CHRIST'S TOMB WAS EMPTY DUE TO NATURAL REASONS

.    A. Stolen by Disciples

.    This theory is the most common (especially in Jewish communities)
possibility expressed.  In fact, Matthew even records this theory, but
did not take time to refute it as it was so false that he didn't feel
the need to refute it.  It is recorded that the Roman guard went to
the high priest and were bribed to tell the stolen body story. This
also refutes the idea that it was Temple Guards that guarded the tomb
- the high priest would not have needed to bribe his own guards.
(Matthew 28:11-15)

.    Let's take the matter on logic. If  the Roman guard had fallen
asleep how could they have known that it was the disciples that took
the body.  If you have ever watched Perry Mason, you could well
imagine an attorney getting this testimony in court!

.    The other factor is to look at the possibility of the ENTIRE
guard unit falling asleep.  This SECURITY UNIT of the Roman army was
the most devoted to duty because the failure to be on guard meant
certain death if discovered!  This unit was highly skilled in fighting
and would have made mincemeat of the disciples had they attempted to
steal the body.  (Also look to Matthew 26:56 where he describes the
courage of the disciples "All the disciples left him and fled"!)

.    The two ton boulder is another matter to contend with.  The Greek
shows that the stone was not just moved to the side but actually
picked up and moved away from the tomb area!  I cannot picture any one
group of men being able to move such a weight without making enough
noise to "wake the dead"!  This problem of the stone is really a
"roadblock" to any of the theories.

.    The final feature of this theory is to consider the very
character of the disciples.  History records that these men, because
of some unexplained (secular world only) reason, became men of the
highest and purest thought and deeds.  Their moral character and honor
were NEVER questioned by anyone - even the very people who put them to
death.  The very idea that these men could conceive of such a lie in
direct conflict with what Jesus had taught and to continue the lie
EVEN TO THEIR OWN DEATHS is absurd.  This one factor is not recorded
anywhere else in history.  No other person has had the testimony of
men such as the Apostles who never recanted their faith or their Lord.
If this had been a lie, these "ordinary" men did not break under the
most severe pressure.  I can only believe that ONLY a face to face
confrontation with the Living Jesus could have given them the
knowledge that a death on this Planet was only the door to be with the
risen Lord!

.    Finally, if the body had been stolen, how can you explain the
manifestations of Christ to the many eye witnesses - including the
500?

.    B. Moved by Authorities

.    One of the strangest of all theories is this one about the
Priest, or Romans, taking the body themselves to prevent deception
should anyone preach a resurrection.  If this had been the case, why
didn't the authorities produce the body to silence the preaching of
the resurrection that BEGAN in Jerusalem?  If the authorities had
taken the body, it would have been far better to cart the body down
the main street to put an end to the resurrection lies!  The ONLY
conclusion is that they did not produce the body because the COULDN'T
produce the body.  We must remember the words of Paul - "If Christ is
not risen then our faith is in vain."
.    History is silent on this point and the "silence of the Jews is
louder than the voices of the Christians".  (Acts 5:33-42)

.    C. Swooned

.    The next one is possibly the saddest theory that is believed by
some men in the world today.  They believe that Jesus did not die on
the cross - but that he only "swooned" or passed out from the
exhaustion of the ordeal.  The Disciples (who had no medical knowledge
and what was known in that day was very poor) mistook Him for dead and
placed Him in the tomb as dead.  Now, when Jesus had been placed in
the tomb, the coldness of the tomb (Solid Rock) revived Him.  Because
of the ignorance of the Disciples, they could not believe that Jesus
had been resuscitated so the believed that he had been resurrected.

.    First, Jesus was subjected to SIX TRIALS, three Roman and three
Jewish.  The actuality of a man called Pontius Pilate was considered
fable UNTIL 1961, when archaeologists in the city of Caesarea
uncovered a large inscription which read, "Pontius Pilate, Prefect of
Judea, has presented the Tiberium to the Caesareans" and proved that
such a Roman Governor did exist.  The trials were [1] Annas, the high
priest [2] Caiaphas [3] the Sanhedrin [4] Pilate [5] Herod and [6]
Pilate.  History records that there were two Sanhedrin bodies.  One
consisted of 23 members and tried cases of capital punishment, another
consisted of 71 members and was for trials of Heads of State, High
Priests, or matters of crimes against the Temple.  The Sanhedrin of 23
was the most probable body that tried Jesus.

.    Second, the very death by crucifixion was invented by the
Persians who felt that the ground was consecrated to their Gods and a
death on the ground would be against the gods; so they invented a
method of death that would not defile the ground by placing the people
on a stake and later a cross bar on a stake to lift them off the
ground and allow the punishment of death to take place without
defilement to the gods.  Alexander the Great utilized the crucifixion
as a major deterrent force.  The Romans felt the death was so
degrading that a Roman citizen could not be crucified except by order
of the Emperor and then this was usually after the person's
citizenship was stripped from him.  The Romans usually reserved the
punishment for political cases.  The very accusation against Christ
was directed as political as you can read in Luke 23:2.

.    The Romans added; However, another twist to the process of
crucifixion.  The added the "scourging" of the criminal.  This
consisted of a period of time that was set by the trial or could be
set by the scourgers, themselves, of beating the accused with a form
of brass knuckled fist and consisting of a minimum of six men.  This
usually left the facial features of the accused unrecognizable.  The
next step of the scourging consisted of the whipping of the accused
with a Flagrum.  This whip had numerous leather thongs of various
lengths and braided into each of the thongs were bits of metal and
bone.  One Dr. C.T. Davis has described the whipping with the flagrum
in this manner:

.    "The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again
across the accused's shoulder, back and legs.  At first the heavy
thongs cut through the skin, only.  Then, as the the blows continue,
they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an
oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and
finally spurting arterial bleeding from the vessels in the underlying
muscles.  The small balls of lead first produce large deep bruises
which are broken open by the subsequent blows.  Finally the skin of
the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an
unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue.  When it is determined
by the Centurion that the prisoner in near death, the beating is
finally stopped".  A historian of the third century, Eusebius writes
"The sufferer's veins were laid bare and the very muscles, sinews,and
bowels of the victim were open to exposure.

.    After this ordeal, Christ had a crown of thorns jammed into his
head.  The blood from this act must have been severe.  Jesus was then
subjected to another beating with a rod!  After all this, our Lord was
then forced to carry His "patibulum" to His place of execution.  At
the place of execution, Christ was nailed to his cross.  History was
devoid of any proof that nails were used until the discovery in 1968
of another tomb that contained the remains of a person who had been
nailed, both hands and feet, to a cross.  History then came to the
defense of the Gospels and once again, the Bible is proven correct.

Computers for Christ - San Jose