There is one more piece of evidence that I believe supports the idea that Jesus resurrection is true.
Think about the fact that the Jewish religious leaders hated Jesus. I pause at that word “hate.” I don’t think it is too strong. When we read the Gospel accounts, the many interactions between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders are usually very testy.
They were highly motivated to shut him down. When they couldn’t shut Jesus down, they orchestrated a take down. Why? They were jealous of his popularity. They disagreed with his theology and biblical interpretation. They believed he was leading people astray from the truth faith. But there is another reason that I suspect motivated them most powerfully of all.
The Jewish religious leaders were afraid that the occupying Romans were going to view Jesus as starting an uprising. If so, the Romans could not only squash the uprising, but the Romans could decimate Jewish society, including the Jew’s precious temple. The Jewish religious leaders were not wrong. The Romans had a reputation for overreacting. To thwart a possible Roman overreaction, the Jewish religious leaders took matters into their own hands, and pretty much made sure Jesus was dealt with, through his crucifixion. (See John 11:45–53.)
Problem solved, right? Jesus is dead. No more uprising. The Jewish way of life and especially the temple is safe. Wrong.
Soon after Jesus dies, his followers start claiming that he rose again, that he was the true messiah. More and more people claim that they saw Jesus alive again. Then the movement that Jesus started really takes off. Thousands and thousands of people all over the city of Jerusalem start following the way of Jesus, precisely because of the belief that he rose from the dead. The situation, in the minds of the religious leaders, is now exponentially worse, and getting worse by the day. All their concerns that motivated them to kill Jesus are amplified.
There was one action they could take to put a stop to all of it. If the central claim of the Jesus followers is that Jesus ought to be followed because he rose from the dead, then the leaders could shut it down by producing the body. Imagine what that would have done to the early Christian movement. Exhume the body, parade it around the streets of Jerusalem, and the Christian movement falls apart, revealed to be a lie.
Those leaders were quite powerful, influential, had resources, and were highly motivated. I think it is rational to suspect they tried to locate the body. I suspect they launched an investigation.
But the religious leaders never produced a body.
And that, while not proof, is evidence that Jesus really did rise from the dead.
Think about the four pieces of evidences we’ve covered this week: the leaders never produced a body, the apostles (including the very unlikely Paul) gave their lives for the message of the resurrection, many people claimed they actually saw the risen Jesus, and all four Gospel accounts describe women as the people who first discover and proclaim that Jesus rose again.
That’s why it is reasonable to believe that Jesus rose again, and is who he said he was. That’s why it is reasonable to give our lives to follow him.
In the next post, I’ll talk about the final piece of evidence for believing in the resurrection.
Photo by Lexi Laginess on Unsplash
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