EASTER SUNDAY: Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Col 3:1-4; Jn 20:1-9 or Lk 24:1-12

 

Albert L. Roper was a prominent Virginia attorney, a graduate of the University of Virginia and its law school, who eventually became mayor of the city of Norfolk. He once began a thorough legal investigation into the evidence for the Resurrection of Christ, asking himself the question: “Can any intelligent person accept the Resurrection story?” After examining the evidences at length, he came away asking a different question: “Can any intelligent person deny the weight of this evidence?” —

We don’t base our Faith on legends, myths, or fairy tales. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is well-documented, and many critics have been silenced (and even converted) when they’ve carefully investigated the evidence [Albert L. Roper, Did Jesus Rise From the Dead (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1965), foreword.]

Recently I watched a YouTube debate on the historicity of Jesus’ existence. Some people contested that Jesus did not exist. They say there are no historical records of his living. They were not talking about the proof of his resurrection, but about his existence. Before we examine the proofs of his resurrection we examine proofs of his existence.

First of all several historians recorded that Jesus lived during the time of Pontius Pilate. With regard to founders of other religions, not a single one of the major religions can provide historical proofs of their living as in the case of Jesus. Records about Buddha were written only 3 centuries after him and about Muhammad 2 centuries after him. But we have the gospels written as early as 30 years after the death of Jesus available.

The first century Jewish historian Josephus said Jesus was a wise man who Pontius Pilate condemned to the cross. (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 18.3.3; see also 20.9.1). In the early second century the Roman historian Tacitus said Christians received their name from “Christus” who was put to death by Pontius Pilate, Procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius . (Tacitus, Annals, 15.44). Bart Ehrman, an agnostic scholar who is a leading expert on the Bible wrote, “The view that Jesus existed is held by virtually every expert on the planet. (Bart Ehrman, Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth (New York, Harper One, 2012, p.4).  We include in our Creed the name of Pontius Pilate because it was a verified fact that Jesus was crucified during his time.

The Gospel writers, especially Luke and Matthew generally report incidents with names of the rulers under whose rule the particular incident happened. The Birth of Christ in Bethlehem happened during the time of Herod the great. Later historians found out that when the Gregorian calendar was set they did a mistake of calculating the birth of Jesus 4 years later. Thus it was found out that Jesus was not born in the year 1 AD, as Anno Domino  but in 4 BC.  Most of the reports in the Bible are historical interventions of God among his people. And they are verifiable in time.

There are several theories mentioned in this book “Why we are Catholic” by Trent Horn. The swoon theory says that Jesus just passed out on the cross and woke up in the tomb. The trash theory says that Jesus was buried in a common graveyard and so they didn’t know where he was buried. But the scripture says he was buried in a new tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus was also with him and they brought a lot of spices for the burial. Therefore, Jesus was buried in a locatable tomb. Even to this day we know where he was buried and I have been in that tomb. After all it was only three days since the incident took place and they could easily trace the tomb even if not marked, when so much controversy arose.

 

Then there is the hallucination theory: Atheist ,New Testament scholar Gerd Ludemann said, “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 risen Christ. (42). Ludemann doesn’t think,  however, that Jesus actually rose from the dead, but that the Apostles experienced a hallucination instead.

 

First of all, it is individuals, not groups, who almost always experience hallucinations. Multiple biblical authors confirm that groups of Jesus’ disciples claimed to see him after his death. The theory that Jesus’ depressed disciples hallucinated his resurrection doesn’t explain why enemies like Paul saw Jesus and became Christian.

Then there is the empty tomb theory which says the tomb was not empty. But we know even the enemies of Jesus said his tomb was empty. It was not just the women whose testimony generally did not carry much weight at the time, but Peter and John and others had witnessed the empty tomb and the experience of the risen Christ.

 

Then there is the fraud theory, which says the disciples stole and said he is risen. Fraud is normally committed for personal gain: the only thing the disciples had to gain from their fraud was persecution and death. Since people don’t knowingly die for a lie, we can be confident Jesus’ disciples really believed in the resurrection. Anyone would die only for a true thing, not for hiding or defending a lie.

 

Some other reasons why we believe in the Resurrection of Jesus: (a) Jesus himself testified to his Resurrection from the dead (Mark 8:31; Matthew 17:22; Luke 9:22). (b) The initial disbelief of Jesus’ own disciples in his Resurrection, in spite of his repeated apparitions.  This serves as a strong proof of his Resurrection. It explains why the apostles started preaching the resurrected Christ only after receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. (c)  The transformation of Jesus’ disciples: The disciples of Jesus were almost immediately transformed from men who were hopeless and fearful after the crucifixion (Luke 24:21, John 20:19) into men who were confident and bold witnesses of the Resurrection (Acts 2:24, 3:15, 4:2). 

 (d) The sheer existence of a thriving, Empire-conquering early Christian Church, bravely facing three centuries of persecution, supports the truth of the Resurrection claim.

The Resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Christian Faith, for it proves that Jesus is God.  That is why St. Paul writes: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain; and your Faith is in vain…  And if Christ has not been raised, then your Faith is a delusion, and you are still lost in your sins… 

 

Though the Easter stories are full of people getting confused, like, Mary thinking Jesus' body has been stolen. Peter sees the linen wrappings and can't work out what it's all about. The disciples didn't understand the Scriptures. Mary thinking Jesus is the gardener.  But then, the only disciple who is reported to have believed is the one Jesus loved. He went into the tomb and saw and believed, looking at his face linen folded in a particular way indicating that he is going to come back soon. This disciple’s name is not mentioned, why? Because, that is you and me. Only those who experience Jesus’ love can really see Jesus as risen. Faith requires some understanding but for understanding we need some degree of faith and love. Love opens our eyes of faith. We love him for what he did for us and keep doing for us in our life.

An encounter with the Risen Christ in faith is always a salvific and transforming experience. We can no longer live the same way now that death has been defeated in Christ. The Resurrection banishes vanity from our lives and changes our perspective.

 

Today, the greatest Sunday of the year, let's honor the Lord not only with our voices, but also in our hearts. Let's promise him that between now and Pentecost we will use our creativity to make our Sundays different.

 

When members of the Eastern Church (including the Orthodox) wish someone a Happy Easter they do it with an affirmation of faith: “Christ is Risen.” The customary response is “He is Truly.” Let’s also use Let’s also use that affirmation of faith this year: Christ is Risen. He is truly.