"This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses" (Acts 2:32).
One of the greatest proofs that Jesus is exactly who He said He was-the
Son of God and the only One through whom eternal life is offered-is
His resurrection from the dead.
His followers were convinced that He was the Messiah and the Son of
God. His miracles, His sinless life and His teachings all proved to
them who He was. But His resurrection confirms every claim Jesus made
to all people for all time.
What is astounding is that Jesus put everything on the line with His
own statements that He would die and be raised to life again. He foretold
His own resurrection on several occasions. "And He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three
days rise again" (Mark 8:31).
When the scribes and Pharisees wanted a sign from Him, He said only
one sign would be given: "For as Jonah was three days and three nights
in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days
and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40).
It is quite risky to foretell your own resurrection. Yet Jesus not
only foretold His resurrection, but announced precisely when He
would be resurrected (see "When
Was Jesus Christ Crucified and Resurrected?").
So it comes down to this one event. How do we know that Jesus' resurrection
from the dead happened? If it didn't happen just as He said, then we
have no reason to believe that the way of life that Christ brought was
any better or more right than any other religion. There would be nothing
earthshaking about Jesus of Nazareth; He would be simply another religious
fraud.
