Previous discussions have been covering the matter of miracles, especially as they pertain to Christianity. In contemporary culture these are dismissed or ridiculed as mere myths — even among some Christians churches, or perhaps at best as mere allegories. But to demonstrate the reality of miracles, it is not necessary to show evidence of any and all, but to demonstrate solid, irrefutable substantiation for one.

And thus we come to the central miracle upon which the Christian faith stands or falls: the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

There can be no dispute about the fact that Jesus lived, was sentenced to death under Pontius Pilate, crucified, and died. This evidence is extensive, not merely from the independent writings and teachings of his followers, but confirmed by pagan and Jewish sources as well. All testify independently that he was sentenced by Pilate to crucifixion, and his death was reported back to the Prefect. All eyewitness testimony also mentions by name Joseph of Arimithea, a member of the Jewish ruling council, who offers his family tomb for the burial of Jesus. Furthermore, Pilate is petitioned, by Jewish leaders, for a Roman guard for the tomb — highly unusual for a criminal shamefully executed by crucifixion as a troublemaker and a threat to Rome.

And then, two days later, the tomb is found empty.

By the way: was the tomb really empty? If not, then the whole basis for the apostolic preaching that Jesus had risen from the dead is immediately proven to be a hoax — one could simply check the tomb (of a well-known Jewish leader) to demonstrate the teaching of this new religious cult a lie.

So there must be a reason for this most unusual finding. And there have been several proposed:

• The disciples stole the body.
  Let’s think this one through: the disciples, who abandoned Jesus in terror, and were hiding in fear of the Jewish leaders, somehow found the courage to go to the tomb; overcome the Roman guards; roll away an extremely heavy stone; and drag the now-decomposing body away.
  
  What purpose would the stolen body serve the disciples? Where would they hide it? How do you then proclaim a resurrection for which there is no living body? Keep in mind Lazarus, who rejoined his sisters and dined with them and Jesus after he was raised (and the Jews had plans to kill Lazarus to deny the miracle). A true resurrection requires a living, breathing human being, in the flesh.


• The guards were asleep.
  The guards: unarmed fishermen, cowards all, could never overcome armed and trained Roman guards. But perhaps the guards were asleep (the story they were later bribed to repeat)? A Roman guard who slept on duty would receive at best, severe discipline, or more likely, a death sentence. And of course if sleeping, they would never awaken as men manhandled a massive stone away and tiptoed away with a lifeless body. And the disciples, faithful Jews all, knew to touch a corpse made them ceremoniously unclean, unthinkable for an observant Jew.


• Grave robbers
  Grave robbing was not uncommon at this time — hence those with the social standing or wealth used heavy gravestones to guard against this. So, in addition to insurmountable barriers of the heavy gravestone and the Roman guards, there was one more important piece of evidence against this: the grave clothes. Robbers would not carefully unwrap the grave clothes of the corpse (standard in Jewish burial rituals) in the tomb, but would take the wrapped corpse (if they took it all — they were primarily looking for objects of value) to unwrap elsewhere, to facilitate the quickest getaway.

Jesus was seen, independently, bodily, and in many contexts after his resurrection. He embraced Mary Magdeline near the tomb; spoke with the disciples on the road to Emmaus; dined with his disciples; allowed Thomas to examine his wounds to dispel his doubts. Hence we have the eyewitness testimony of many separate individuals, in many places and different times, that the grave was empty and their Savior risen, bodily, as He had promised.

Some have postulated that these visitations were hallucinations — but mass hallucinations by multiple individuals in different locations and contexts do not occur. The apostles were transformed from clueless cowards to courageous evangelists, who boldly spread Christianity — the message of the resurrected Christ and His salvation — through the whole ancient world, were tortured and persecuted, and all but one martyred. One does not endure such persecution and death for a lie, a hoax, or a hallucination. They did so because they had seen Jesus risen from the dead, in the flesh, Son of God and Son of Man.

Are miracles possible? The most important miracle of all time is verified beyond doubt, and casts the bright light of truth on all such works performed by Him & in His name.