What is “the Resurrection”? It is Jesus Christ’s return to life on the third day after his death.
Doesn’t it sound impossible, irrational, and unbelievable?
Yet, it is what the Bible tells about Jesus after his crucifixion. Each of the first four books of the Bible in the New Testament describes the events surrounding the resurrection, but I think the best description of the Resurrection was written by apostle Paul, who persecuted Christians before he met the resurrected Jesus. After meeting the resurrected Jesus, Paul became totally devoted to Christianity and eventually died as a martyred.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul wrote:
“…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 Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters 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…”
Paul said that Jesus, the same as “Christ” in the above, died and was buried. Three days later Jesus was “raised”, which means the Resurrection, that Jesus comes back to life. The resurrected Jesus appeared to Cephas, who is the same as Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples. Jesus then appeared to the other disciples whom Jesus chose to follow him at the beginning of his ministry, described as the “Twelve”. Afterward, the resurrected Jesus appeared to more than 500 Christians at the same time. Then, Jesus appeared to his physical brother James, who did not believe Jesus was the son of God before his resurrection. James became a leader in the early church and like Paul, James also died as a martyred.
If you are willing to assume that Jesus indeed “raised” from the death and came back to life, your next question may well be:
Why did Jesus resurrect? Is it just a show of his power?
The Bible gives clear answers to this question. As Jesus is God, it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Jesus’ resurrection guarantees Christians’ resurrection. God has removed death from humans as demonstrated by Jesus’ resurrection. It gives us hope! Furthermore, the resurrection shows the sufficiency of Jesus’ death to “atone” for our sins. I probably have not exhausted all the answers, but I think these are among the clearest answers in the Bible.
The above may be too much to swallow for people who are skeptical about the Christian faith. However, I hope to let all my readers know how important the Resurrection is to Christianity. The Bible says that “if Christ has not been raised, your (Christians’) faith is futile and you (Christian) are still in your (Christians’) sins”.
Christianity has its foundation on the Resurrection.
In fact, if anyone wants to remove Christianity from this world, just prove that the Resurrection is fake!
