Is Jesus Alive?

Confession: This is not a new question and answer, nor is it original with me. But with the current milieu of conflicting claims about religion and “facts” it seems like a good time to reiterate the real truth. The doubt of Jesus’ existence occasionally arises, but is easily quashed by a simple appeal to secular historians. If the “Jesus story” is discounted, then all of history until about 1700 or even later is in doubt. If any recorded history is suspect, then all recorded history is suspect. The validity of any account must be assessed by the veracity of the witnesses and not the content of the subject matter.

Doubt of Jesus’ historical presence is not a serious objection. The real “weakness” of the Jesus story is actually the resurrection. He can be a good man, an exalted teacher, and inspiring leader who just met an untimely end–on a cross. But if He did rise from the dead, then it becomes a different story altogether. Even Paul, the Apostle and Apologist for Christianity, conceded that in 1 Corinthians 15:17-18 If Christ is not risen...
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

With that pivot point then, it is imperative that we explore this fully. And many critics have done just that. There are fundamentally two approaches. One is that Jesus merely swooned on the cross and revived in the tomb, unimaginable as that is. The other is that He did not arise and “someone” stole the body. This one has some cachet particularly since there were “eyewitnesses” who claimed just that. Look at Matthew 28:11.

“His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.”
Verse 15 confirms it. “...and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.”

Where did these witnesses come from? Back to chapter 27 concerning the tomb:
65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.”

At least four and perhaps as many as 16 “soldiers” were guarding the tomb. (We will ignore the question of whose soldiers they were for now.) And “some of them” (28:11) went to the chief priests and reported what had happened. Consequently we have a witness to tell us what happened. To be honest and consistent, we will have to address that testimony.

Notice immediately their description: “while we were sleeping.” That, in court, is called, “testifying against interest.” They essentially confessed to wrongdoing with their statement. A good lawyer would have stopped them at “stole Him away.” But they had no lawyer and the statement stands. How reliable and probative is it?

First, it tells us that there was no body in the tomb. It, He, was gone. And to the careful observer, that is all that it tells us. They admitted that they were asleep. So how could they accuse anyone of taking it? Either they were awake and merely watched, violating their charge, or they were cooperating with the removal and were rebelling against their orders. They were either acquiescent or accomplices. Their treatment by “the authorities” seems to deflect either of those options. Are there any other accounts?

There are, and that helps a lot. Matthew 28:2-4 fills in a lot of gaps.
And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.

They were not just asleep, they were catatonic. Sleeping sounds better, doesn’t it? Our exploration of the testimony gives us a crucial bit of evidence. The body was gone. And looking back at the following activities in Chapter 28 verses 12-15 we find the conspiracy between the soldiers, the chief priests, and the elders who agreed to propound the falsehood of body snatchers.

And how does that help us determine the truth? The soldiers escaped the death sentence which was summarily imposed on sleeping guards. But it does confirm the empty tomb. And, as a passing reference, it pretty well decimated the concept of a semi-invalid convalescent pushing back the stone and if not overpowering the guards, slipping away unnoticed. The “swoon” explanation just swooned.

Our military or paramilitary witnesses performed a valuable service for us. They confirmed the empty tomb. And they also discounted a spurious claim that they “Jews” removed it to prevent the disciples from gaining possession of it. (This is not a prevalent theory, but I have heard it, ludicrous as it is.) If the Jews had the body, it would have been trotted out sometime at an inopportune time for the disciples and destroyed the story of the resurrection. (Anytime in Acts would be good, for instance.)

If a witness points out a spurious agent, does that exonerate the agent? Probably not, but it certainly damages the credibility of the witness. So anything they said must pass the double truth filter before it can be deemed probative.

There are many good arguments against a conspiracy of disciples, but the most telling is the performance of miracles by these same scaredy cats that included raising people from the dead. If they could raise the dead, Dorcas, it certainly is not incredible that their Leader had been resurrected.  (Acts 9)

“Resurrection from the dead,” is used at least eight times in the New Testament both before and after Jesus did just that. The evidence supports this event more completely than any event in ancient history. Discounting that, as mentioned before, invalidates history for everything else. Disregarding it invalidates any hope for the future.

Past, present, and future all hinge upon the Resurrection of Jesus. He is alive.