Why You Should Celebrate Easter

This coming Sunday, millions of Christians around the world will celebrate their risen Savior. But did Jesus really rise from the dead? If you are a believer, the answer is obvious. However, it is important to ask, because there is no more important historical event than the resurrection of Christ. As Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthian church in A.D. 55, “if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain and our faith is vain, and ye are yet in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17). The Resurrection is the central question in Christianity. In light of its importance, consider three facts that can help you, dear Christian, to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus this Easter.

The first Resurrection fact to rejoice over is the empty tomb. Consider some evidence for it, beginning at His death. Both secular and believing historians agree that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. Multiple historical documents testify not just that He was buried, but also that location of His burial was the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. None of those facts are up for debate among legitimate historians. A prominent biblical scholar, Edward Robinson, states that “the burial of Jesus in the tomb is one of the earliest and best attested facts about Jesus."

It is historically clear that Jesus was crucified. It is also historically verified that He was buried.  Now consider the evidence for the empty tomb. Notice the Jewish leaders’ instruction to the soldiers after the tomb was found empty. “Say ye, ‘His disciples came out by night and stole him away while we slept’” (Matthew 28:13). At the same time the chief priests denied the Resurrection, they were actually validating the claim that the tomb was empty. But now let us consider their cover-up story. Matthew 28 provides us with the first of many attempts to explain away the empty tomb. Similarly, the hallucination theory, swoon theory, conspiracy theory, and substitute body theory all fail to explain away the empty tomb. None of these attempted explanations have gained a significant following from either modern or ancient historians, neither do they have substantial supporting evidence. Further, is important to remember that the tomb of Jesus was not hidden. According to the gospels, several people knew where Jesus was buried—Joseph of Arimathea who owned the tomb, the women who planned to anoint the body, and the disciples Peter and John. So, we have it: an empty tomb.

A second Resurrection fact for you to rejoice in this Easter is the multitude of eyewitnesses who saw the risen Jesus. Each of the four historical gospel accounts records personal post-resurrection testimony. Matthew states that Jesus appeared to the women at the tomb, and to the disciples in Galilee. Mark's gospel independently verifies that historical testimony.  Dr. Luke gives additional detailed information about posthumous interactions with Jesus in Nazareth and to two followers on the road between Jerusalem and Emmaus. John, the fourth gospel, adds rich details of Jesus's dinner with his disciples, including His encounter with doubting Thomas. Besides the gospels, Paul goes on record in 1 Corinthians 15, asserting that Jesus was seen of as many as 500 people at one time, many of whom were still alive when he wrote the letter. These first century eyewitness reports help us understand why Christianity spread so quickly in the first century, and why it is still trustworthy today.

Theologian N.T. Wright came to this conclusion: “As a historian I cannot explain the rise of early Christianity unless Jesus rose again leaving an empty tomb behind him.” The early, independent New Testament attestations of the post-mortem Messiah demonstrate that truly, God raised Jesus from the dead.

A third Resurrection fact is the deaths of Jesus’ disciples. You have probably heard it said that people will not die for something they do not believe. Consider the lives of the followers of Jesus from the first century, especially of the first disciples. Many early ecclesiastical historians record that remaining 11 disciples after Judas died because they were unwilling to deny the faith. According to German skeptic Gerd Lüdemann, "it may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus' death in which Jesus appeared to them as the Messiah." The martyrdom of these men is a powerful proof that they knew what they had seen.

At this point, someone may push back by reminding us that Muslims often die for their faith too. Do their martyrs add validity to Islam? Not necessarily. All we can conclude is that Muslim zealots believe in their faith enough to give up their lives to defend it. However, there is a difference between modern-day Muslims and the early Christian disciples. Muslims die for what they believe in, but the 1^st century Christian disciples died for what he saw. The unanimous voice of these disciples, even in their death, gives tremendous credence to the case that they believed what they had saw unto their death, that God had raised Jesus from the dead.

Paul was correct when he wrote to the Corinthians, “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain." He goes on to say that if these things are found to be untrue, we sare of all men most miserable. But we are not miserable; we are joyful. Rest assured, Christian, Christ is risen. Celebrate Easter with a renewed sense of confidence and spiritual swagger because God did in fact raise Jesus from the dead.