Sunday, April 17, 2022

Easter 2022: Christ's Resurrection

by Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

As we approached this year's Easter Celebration a New York Times editorial proclaimed it is time to get rid of God.  The enemies of the United States Constitution and your Natural Rights denies the existence of God, and the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  

Jesus Christ is the only religious figure in history to conquer death, and that resurrection is founded on historical facts, eyewitness accounts, and the personal conviction of each person who comes to know Jesus.

The existence of Jesus is confirmed by both the Holy Bible, and non-biblical writings.  The disciples who followed Jesus all were convinced He was crucified and that He rose from the dead.  Eyewitness accounts describe in detail His arrest, that He was beaten, and that He was crucified on a hill with two other men.  He was confirmed dead when a spear was thrust into His side.  He was wrapped in cloth, and sealed inside a tomb with a heavy stone across the entrance.  Sixteen Roman Soldiers were charged with guarding the tomb.  Even under heavy persecution not a single disciple or witness changed their story.  They also testified that He appeared to them after His death, a claim they also never turned away from, despite all of the efforts by those who persecuted them to get them to.  Afterward, Paul, a sworn enemy of Christians who carried pride in his citizenship as a wealthy and powerful Roman and was proud of his merciless persecution of Christians suddenly changed his mind and became a Christian after claiming to see Jesus after He had risen.  Jesus' skeptical half-brother James also shed his doubt and became a follower of Christ.  

The most striking evidence of all was that the tomb that held the body of Jesus was empty.  

There have been arguments that the Resurrection of Christ is the greatest cover-up in the history of the world.  The disciples, as the story goes, stole the body and hid it while all claiming He had risen.  If the story was made up, then why are the early parts of The Gospel showing them in a very fragile light?  Peter often spoke before thinking and denied Christ three-times; yet became an important part of the launch of the early church.  They were all prideful in their arguments about which of them were the greatest, or the most faithful.  Nobody writes or talks about themselves in such a manner, especially in a planned deception.  

The empty tomb was well-guarded by professional Roman Soldiers, yet those who argue that the disciples found a way to steal the body don't have an argument about how they did it against a fighting force that was guarding the tomb who had years of experience facing an opposition.  And even if they were able to fool the guards, or get past the guards, they would still have had to roll away a four thousand pound stone blocking the only entrance into the tomb, and then successfully hide the body from a city swarming with people searching for the body of Jesus.

There was nothing to gain by lying, and they were persecuted for their claim.  So, if it was all a ruse at least one of them would have broke and confessed to the deception.  In fact, five of them were martyred due to their claim.  People don't allow themselves to die defending something they are sure is not true.

The disciples not only touched Jesus, over 500 people saw Jesus alive after the resurrection.  They heard Him, touched Him, and saw Him eat food.  And, they didn't just see him, the whole event from arrest, crucifixion, resurrection and seeing Jesus Christ walking among the people after his death was described in detail by those who witnessed it, with an agreement to the details by a number of different sources, and done so shortly after the events transpired; unlike legends which tend to develop over long periods of time and is written down generations later.  

The disciples and other witnesses publicly displayed their faith in what they knew to be true.  People from surrounding areas came to Jerusalem to learn more.  For displaying their faith they were tortured and thrown in prison, yet, despite all of the persecution the church grew.  

Even more supportive that the claim by Christians regarding the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is true is that the church first emerged and grew in the very same place where Christ had lived and died.  If the foundation of the faith was not accurate the emergence of the church would not had been at the same place where so many people had been witnesses, and could claim to know the true facts.  If the life, death, and resurrection of Christ was a great deception the church would have emerged as far away as possible from where people would be that could disprove it.  After all, the life of Jesus was very public, as was his crucifixion.  Therefore, it was the truth, there was no fear of being disproven, and it was the very people who witnessed the events in question who flocked to the new church and served as its early leaders.

The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus really happened, and He died so that you could live forever with Him in Heaven.

He Is Risen.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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