THE
RESURRECTION
OF
JESUS CHRISTMiracle, Myth, or Madness?
by Terry Watkins
"This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses."
Acts 2:32The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most
vicious, immoral, sinful lie that ever befell mankind,
or it is the greatest miracle in the history of man!
One or the other. It's either totally true or a complete
lie. EITHER JESUS CHRIST ACTUALLY AROSE
FROM THE DEAD OR HE'S STILL IN THAT
TOMB TODAY!
Dr. Simon Greenleaf was one of the greatest legal
minds the world have ever seen. He was the man that put
Harvard Law school on the map. He wrote the three
volumes on the laws of legal evidence used in the courts
today. Dr. Greenleaf was a skeptic and was always
mocking the Christians in his classes. The Christians
kept challenging Dr. GreenLeaf to take his three
volumes on the laws of legal evidence and apply them to
the resurrection, after much persuasion he did just that.
In the process he committed his life to Jesus Christ. He
said, "it was impossible that the apostles could have
persisted in affirming the truths they had narrated, had
not JESUS CHRIST ACTUALLY RISEN FROM THE
DEAD!" Greenleaf concluded that according to the laws
of legal evidence the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the
best supported event in all of history.What changed his mind? What legal evidence did Dr.
Greenleaf find that so drastically turned him
around?There was another man, Dr. Frank Morrison, a
lawyer and an engineer. He thought the resurrection of
Jesus Christ was nothing more than a myth. His plan--
simple--write a book to totally discount the resurrection.
He figured an intellectual, rational, historical account
would completely destroy the validity of the resurrection.
He went so far as to go over to Jerusalem, and actually
walk through the last few days of Christ. AFTER
EXAMINING THE FACTS HE CAME TO THE
EXACT OPPOSITE CONCLUSION, AND HE
COMMITTED HIS LIFE TOTALLY TO JESUS
CHRIST. He went on to write a book titled, "Who
Moved the Stone?". The first chapter is significantly
titled "The Book That Refused to be Written".What did these men find that so transformed their
lives? What facts did these men discover that they
could not rationally ignore?In order to do that let's go back for just a moment to that dreadful scene nearly 2,000 years ago. That eery night in the garden of Gethsemene, as the screaming mob came and arrested Jesus Christ, without so much as a struggle. There in plain view, Jesus Christ was spit upon, cursed, he was laughed at, whipped, beaten unmercifully. He was branded a blasphemer. He was humiliated such as no other man. He was sentenced to death by the most extreme, shameful form of capital punishment ever devised-crucifixion. Galatians 3:13 reads, "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree".
Jesus Christ literally died a curse. He died in open shame and disgrace. He was crucified between two common thieves. Here was the King of the Jews powerless and dying, open before the world, on a old wooden cross. IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD, JESUS CHRIST DIED A COMPLETE, TOTAL DISGRACE!
There were His apostles, they saw it all. There they were staring at this unbelievable sight. Here was their Messiah, here was their hope, here were 11 men that had forsaken all and followed this man, and believed in this man for 3 long years. Can you imagine what was going on in their minds? Didn't He heal the sick? Didn't we see Him walk on water? Didn't we see Him actually raise people from the dead? Didn't we see Him still the raging storm? And now, and now to end like this?
THAT LONELY NIGHT, THERE STOOD 11
DEFEATED AND HUMILIATED MEN! They had
given up everything for naught. Jesus had been a fake,
a fraud. The Pharisees were right, he was just a great big fake, nothing more, a great big faker!
The Bible says, "And they all forsook him, and fled." (Mark 14:50)
There was the apostle Peter, the one who proudly boasted, just days earlier, "Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." (Matthew 26:35) There he was that night, standing in the mob, defeated, confused, hurt, it was over, IT WAS THROUGH! JESUS IS DEAD! HE'S DEAD! One of the women there saw Peter and said, 'you were one of them, you was with Jesus of Nazareth'. The Bible says "he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak." (Mark 14:71) Three times Peter denied the Lord, cursing and swearing, "I know not this man".
"And they all forsook him, and fled[!]" Eleven confused, hurt and scared men. Fearing for there own life, they immediately went into hiding.
BUT THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED! Something happened to that little band of frightened and humiliated men that less than two months later they went right back in Jerusalem boldly preaching, before the Sanhedrin, at the threat of death, that JESUS CHRIST WAS ALIVE!
Listen to Peter in Acts 2, "(22)Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs...(23)ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (32)This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses." Does that sound like the same man who just a few short weeks had so fiercely denied the Lord? In Acts Chapter 5:41 these previously frightened men were beaten, and it says "they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name." WHAT IN THE WORLD TURNED THESE SCARED MEN INTO FIERCE, BOLD LIONS IN JUST A FEW SHORT WEEKS?
Acts Chapter 4 reads, "(18)And they called them, and commanded them not to
speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. (19)But Peter
and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be
right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than
unto God, judge ye." Verse 20, "For we cannot
but speak the things which we have
seen and heard." What had these men seen that
had such a profound impact on their life? What was it
that beatings, humiliation, and torture could not
pierce? What had these 12 men seen that all but one
of these men died a martyrs death for?Friend, there's only one event in the history of this
universe that could explain such a radical change. AN
EMPTY TOMB, AND THE APPEARANCE OF A
MAN CALLED JESUS OF NAZARETH!You say, well the apostles just fabricated the
resurrection to gain a following? It happens all the time!
Two major problems: one, if the body of Jesus Christ
was still in that tomb, the Roman authorities would
have paraded His body for all to see, to put an end to
the foolishness. Christianity was literally turning the
world upside down.
The second problem is even bigger. If the
resurrection of Jesus Christ was a lie, there were 12 men
that knew it. Remember, this friend, THESE MEN
WERE EYEWITNESSES! They were there!Luke 1:2 "Even as they delivered them unto us,
which from the beginning were
eyewitnesses...."1 John 1:1 "That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we have looked upon,
and our hands have handled...."2 Peter 1:16 "For we have not followed cunningly
devised fables, when we made known unto you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his
majesty."These 12 men went so far as to seal their testimony with
their blood, they died a martyrs death! Peter was
crucified upside down, he said 'he was unworthy to be
crucified like his Lord'. Listen to me Friend, there is
no way in this world that these 12 men could have
all been deceived. For this simple reason--these 12 men
not only died for a lie--and here is the catch--THEY
KNEW IT WAS A LIE!
You can not find a group of 12 men in the history of
the world who forsook all, were beaten, were jailed and
even went so far as to die a martyrs death for a lie,
knowing it was a lie. IT IS ABSOLUTELY
IMPOSSIBLE!
But without question, the greatest witness to the
resurrection of Jesus Christ was the conversion of Saul
of Tarsus to the Apostle Paul. Saul of Tarsus was a
Hebrew zealot, a Pharisee, who thought Jesus was a
false messiah. Saul was one of Christianity's most rabid
persecutors. To exterminate Christianity totally, became
his passion! So Saul began his mission to put to death
all Christians. He set out for Damascus with documents
authorizing him to seize followers of Jesus. But
something happened on that road to Damascus...
Acts Chapter 9:3-5:"(3)And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and
suddenly there shined round about him a light from
heaven: (4)And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice
saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
(5)And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said,
I am Jesus whom thou persecutest".On that road to Damascus Saul of Tarsus, one of
the greatest persecutors of the Christian faith that
ever lived became the Apostle Paul, THE
GREATEST CHRISTIAN THAT EVER LIVED!
What could make such a drastic change? What could
reverse this man's life so, that he eventually died a
martyrs death, as he was beheaded at Rome in 67 A.D.?
There's only one possible answer, only one. AN EMPTY
TOMB, AND THE APPEARANCE OF A MAN
CALLED JESUS OF NAZARETH!You say, Preacher, "Do you really believe all this stuff
about Jesus Christ"? YOU'D BETTER BELIEVE I DO!
On July 20th, 1975, as a confused, rebellious, atheistic,
dope-headed 20-year old young man, I MET HIM! And
believe me friend, if I wasn't absolutely 100 percent sure
that Jesus Christ was everything He claimed to be I
would not waste my time or yours making this tract! To
deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ you have to
commit intellectual suicide. You have to close your eyes
totally to the overwhelming, irrefutable facts of history.
And my friend, that's a very, very serious thing to
do. Rev. 20:15, "And whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Friend, has there ever come a time and a place in
your life, when you trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour?
Not church membership, not shaking a preacher's hand,
not baptism, not good works, not sacraments, but
trusted Jesus Christ and Him alone, as your Saviour. If
not, make right now the time and the place. You can be
saved in a matter of seconds! You can lay this tract
down with a home in Heaven. You can have peace, real
peace, real joy like never before!
The Bible says "For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved." If the Bible is true and
God is real why don't you try it out, you have so much
to lose! Your eternal soul!
It's so simple, just pray this simple prayer. Lord
Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and unless you save
me I am lost forever. I come to you now, in repentance
and faith, and ask you to save me. I now receive you
as my Saviour, and give you control of my life. In Jesus'
name, Amen.WHAT IS YOUR DECISION? ¨ I TRUST JESUS CHRIST AS MY SAVIOUR
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13¨ I DENY JESUS CHRIST AND GO MY WAY
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death." Proverbs 14:12WELL, FRIEND WHAT WILL IT BE?
HEAVEN OR HELL?THE CHOICE IS YOURS! DIAL-THE-TRUTH MINISTRIES
[Christian Helps Ministry (Valley City, ND)] [Christian Home Bible Course]