Power To Raise The Dead

The difference between Jesus and other prophets is that he overcame death. The tombs of the other prophets, Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, etc. are all occupied. The power of resurrection would more than likely be controlled by someone who had experienced resurrection. One that was known to be dead, was not resuscitated, and came back. How could someone who died and is still in the tomb (Budha, Mohammed, Confucius) possibly offer any assurance of what the future holds.

Jesus’ death was overseen by the Roman Empire. You can be assured that the Roman guards understood death and verified the passing of those under their watch. In addition, Jesus had already been flogged with a whip that contained bits of metal and bone. Written accounts of these floggings describe exposed muscle and bone, and many died during this torture. The guards broke the legs of the thieves to finish the task of crucifixion but saw no need with Jesus. Instead, they thrust a spear in his side. Since written accounts describe blood and water gushing out, it is believed that the spear also entered the heart. When he was put on the cross, nails of 5 to 7 inches were hammered through the wrists and ankles.

After Jesus’ resurrection, he appeared to groups of people on twelve separate occasions - at one time he appeared to 500 people. He appeared at all times of the day, and people even touched and handled his body. He transformed a group of people from timidity to power. What caused this transformation? It was the fact that they knew that Christ had power over death, and that they no longer feared the death which, a few days earlier, had gripped them so strongly.

Most of these same disciples held to the resurection of Christ even until the time of their death. In all the history of psychology, it has never been known for anyone to die for a lie. If the resurection had been false, at least one of these early disciples would have disclosed it as false.

Identify The Saviour