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15 Reasons

Below is a list of 15 reasons why I am fully persuaded that Jesus got up from the dead. These are fairly common reasons for believing in the resurrection. I’m not really plowing any new ground here. I’ll simply state many them. In other words, I don’t fully explain the logic behind some of these reasons, but there is a logic behind each one that I’d be happy to discuss with you. All of these, I believe, are worthy of your consideration.

15 Reasons Why I am Fully Persuaded that Jesus Got Up From the Dead
1. It was promised in the Old Testament.
2. It was promised by Jesus.
3. The tomb was empty. No one was going around saying that the tomb was not empty. On that fact those who were for Jesus’ resurrection and those who were against it agreed. The tomb was empty.
4. The grave clothes were left in the tomb.
5. The Jewish religious leaders took Jesus’ claims of his resurrection more seriously than his disciples did. That’s why they had the guard posted at the tomb – because Jesus said he would rise on the third day.
6. The eye witnesses have genuine reactions to the news and do not appear bent on deceiving others, but of needing to be persuaded (think of Doubting Thomas).
7. Women were the first witnesses.
8. The disciples were transformed from terrified men to tenacious ministers of the gospel.
9. There were multiple eye witnesses; more than 500 hundred (see 1 Corinthians 15).
10. Paul who zealously persecuted Christians for believing in the resurrection started preaching the resurrection after he personally encountered the resurrected Christ.
11. All of the disciples, except one, died for preaching that Christ had been raised. You don’t die for a lie. The one who didn’t die a martyr’s death died in exile for preaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
12. The Church started in the place where it would have been most difficult to start – Jerusalem, the city where Jesus died. By the thousands, people believed that he was resurrected.
13. The day of worship changed for thousands of Jews.
14. The Church continues to go and tell others about Jesus to this day.
15. Finally, the Spirit bears witness in our hearts that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. His resurrection speaks to our deepest longings. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the power of the heavenly age has broken into this present evil age. That is not to say that we are living in heaven on earth. We’re obviously not, and our frustrating experience of daily life testifies to this truth. Physical death still holds sway, sickness still abounds, and evil still flourishes, BUT in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the hope of glory, the hope of heaven has been announced. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the hope of bodies that will no longer die nor be infected by disease has been announced. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the hope of the total conquest of evil and the end of strife has been announced. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the hope of a world that does not break down and decay has been announced. The resurrection of Jesus Christ thus carries with it cosmic significance. A tectonic shift in the course of human history took place when the man Christ Jesus got up from the dead on a Sunday morning nearly 2000 years ago. And the Spirit testifies in our hearts that these things are true.