The Case for Christ

Karen and I went to hear Lee Strobel tonight at church.  We remembered hearing Lee speak in 89 --91 at Willow Creek in Barrington when we lived in Chicago.  He gave a great talk tonight about his journey from being an outspoken Atheist to an outspoken Christian.  He started his talk tonight by saying that Christianity really boils down to one question:

Did Jesus die for our sins and rise from the dead?

This can be summarized by the word Execution.  Did an execution of Jesus take place?  Atheists and Christians agree that there was a man named Jesus and that he was indeed killed on a cross.  There is also clear evidence and agreement from both sides of the argument that he was dead.  He wasn’t put in the tomb alive and somehow recovered.  He died which brings us to the fundamental tenet of Christianity that Jesus died for our sins and on the 3^rd day rose again.

Early accounts of his rise from the dead.  It has been shown over time that legends take at least two generations to be formed.  In other words, if it is going to become known that I am 6’5” tall and I once was the strongest man on earth, it would take at least two generations for this legend to be created and be accepted as fact.  If someone in my generation or my kids generation or my grandkids generation made this up, there would be people alive that would be able to say that I was never 6’5” tall and would stop the legend from continuing.  Jesus’ death and resurrection was talked about immediately after his death by people who were alive when Jesus was alive and still alive after he rose.  In fact, early churches adopted a creed from the Apostle Paul.

Remember that the Apostle Paul was a devout Jew and a heavy persecutor of the Church.  The creed that he wrote in 1 Cor. 15:3-4 is
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”

The reason that this creed is important is that the early Christian churches recited this and believed this to be true.  It is said that this creed was passed to the Christian churches as early as 2-5 years after Jesus’ death.  Again, think in terms of giant Tim.  Is it possible that a legend about how big and strong I was could start as early as 2-5years after my death and NOT be true. 

Empty Tomb  The undisputed reality is that the tomb was empty.  One thing that proves it was empty is that the guards immediately tried to blame someone for taking the body of Jesus.  If the tomb was NOT empty, they would have nothing to defend.

Eye Witnesses.  There are many eye witness accounts of Jesus’ resurrection that are recorded and talked about almost immediately after his death, resurrection, and eventual ascension to heaven.  In fact, it is documented that over 515 individuals witnessed Jesus alive after his crucifixion. 

It is amazing that there is so much evidence supporting the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.