Other than the creation of mankind, the single most important event in the history of this universe is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul gave extensive consideration to it in 1 Cor. 15, where he stated that "If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable."
Indeed, if Jesus did not rise from the dead as indicated in the New Testament, then we (Christians) would do well to find ourselves another God. All of our hope rests in the fact that the grave could not hold Jesus Christ our savior.
Every Christian and everyone who is sincere about searching after God (Heb. 11:6) would do well to evaluate whether or not Jesus actually rose from the dead, and to this end we dedicate this issue. Our lead article will address the Chief Priests' and Elders' approach to denying the resurrection. Our Q&A section is a tutorial of 1 Cor. 15 which walks through the various proofs that Paul presented to support the resurrection. Finally, the Ye Have Heard it Said section, addresses the harmony of the four gospels in presenting their stories of the resurrection.
We hope that you will enter into this study with us, and that it will be enriching and faith-building. For, if you are convinced that Jesus rose, it will give you strength and courage to fight the devil for your soul on a daily basis, and you, like Paul will be able to answer the question (1 Cor. 15:30): "why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?"
These bible study questions provide assistance to you in studying and teaching God's word. The answers are quite clear, and they prove that we can have the same understanding as the apostles had by reading what they wrote (Ephesians 3:4).
ON FIRST CORINTHIANS FIFTEEN
Preparation: Read all of 1 Cor. 15 first, and then go back and answer the questions on each grouping of verses.
1-8 Does the fact that a large variety of witnesses saw Jesus after his death provide the first proof of his resurrection?
13-14 If Christ was not raised, is
our faith in vain?
15-19 Do the resurrection of Christ and our hope for eternal life stand and fall together?
20-23 Did God choose to use the same instrumentality to instill life as that which brought death into the world?
30-32 Would the apostles have given their lives for Jesus Christ if, in fact, they had not been witnesses of all that the bible proclaims about Christ?
35 Did Paul anticipate those who would argue that the resurrection is scientifically impossible?
36-49 Does Paul show that a resurrection is possible by explaining the difference between the physical and the spiritual?
50-58 Does Paul show, not only that a resurrection is possible, but that it is essential to our inheriting the eternal kingdom of God?
"Wherefore ... be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord ... your labor is not vain in the Lord."
To get the full benefit of this article, please read Matthew 28:1-15. It gives the events which happened on the first day of the week when the women went to anoint the body of Jesus and found the tomb empty. "...there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it."
In verse 11 it states that some of the guard told the chief priests what had happened. Vs. 12: "And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave much money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept."
Being the most important event in the history of mankind, the resurrection has also been the most scrutinized. However, notice that there are some things which friends and foes did not dispute: (1) Jesus foretold his death, burial and resurrection in great detail, (2) Jesus was dead and buried in the tomb, (3) every precaution was made to prevent stealth on the part of the disciples (see Mt. 27:62-66), and (4) on the third day, Jesus' body was missing.
The missing body -- Jesus' resurrection as He had prophesied -- was the chief priests' greatest fear. So, as they took counsel as to how to explain this event, we should expect these, the greatest minds of the Jewish nation, to come forth with their best possible explanation of it.
Their explanation, however, was both ridiculous and absurd. Supposedly, a watch of soldiers was 60 men; but even if it had been six, how could they all have fallen asleep simultaneously? The penalty for sleeping on watch was death. The disciples were scattered, discouraged, totally demoralized and very confused. Had they tried such a thing, surely they would have awakened at least one of the soldiers. And would these disciples in their haste carefully place the burial clothing in the tomb (see Jn. 20:6-7)? Finally, and most convincing: if the soldiers were asleep, how would they know that the disciples did it? If awakened, why would they have not run them down and caught them?
And yet, to validate Matthew's account, he states that this saying "[continueth] until this day." It was and is the best explanation then and now. It was and is patently false. Jesus rose!
The bible contradicts itself . . .
but Jesus said (Matthew 4:4):
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
This passage teaches that God's word cannot be contradictory, and that it is only by the different passages on the same subject that we can construct the total view which the Holy Spirit wants us to have. Each writer had and presented a part (see 1 Cor. 13:9). The following is quoted from Albert Barnes:
"That a thing is omitted by one [gospel writer] does not prove that another is false because he has recorded it, for the very object of the different Gospels was to give the testimony of independent witnesses to the great facts of the life and death of Jesus. Nor does it prove that there is a contradiction because one relates facts in a different order from another, for neither of them professes to relate facts in the precise order in which they occurred. The object was to relate the facts themselves. With these principles in view, which are conceded to profane historians always, let us look at the accounts which are presented in the sacred narrative respecting the resurrection ... and ascension of Christ."
There is a plausible explanation for every difference. The accounts are different, but their harmony only validates the resurrection.