Case For The Resurrection Of Christనమూనా

Resurrection of Christ - Going by the Rule Book 

I recall a story, once told by the famous evangelist, the late Prakash Yesudian, about a conversation that he once had with a friend who, after hearing him speak on the ‘Uniqueness of Christ’, raised the question, “What if I were to say to you, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’, will you start believing in me?” In response to his question, Yesudian responded by saying, “Yes, provided you have been crucified to death on a cross and three days later, you come back to life!” I believe what Yesudian was saying was that merely making a truth claim does not necessarily prove it to be true. In other words, for any truth claim to be true, it needs to be supported by concrete evidence. Similarly, Jesus claimed to be the only way to God and His resurrection from the dead is the “proof” for that claim. (Acts 17:31)

Today, many who are critical of the claims of Jesus Christ, bring forth the objection that since the resurrection cannot be proven ‘scientifically’ (as in the context of laboratory test), hence it must be false. However, by the same token, they seem to have forgotten that there are other branches of science, such as ‘forensic science’ which is used in investigating truths about events which had taken place in the past (e.g., murder or theft) or events that have historical significance. In these cases, the evidences (very often referred to as ‘proofs’) collected play a very significant role in helping the investigators arrive at the truth of what really transpired in the past. From a legal perspective, the more the evidences the better  the chances for solving the case.

Interestingly enough, Jesus, while speaking about his mission of revealing God to man, categorically issued such an invitation to everyone that if they doubted His “words”, at least they should consider His “works”. In other words, He says, "‘Trust in me’ by at least examining the ‘evidence’.” (John 14: 11b) The Bible is filled with many such evidences that if we were to look at them through the lens of forensic science, we would discover that the truth of the resurrection of Christ stands on very solid foundation. Therefore, Jesus, while making the claim of being the Messiah, points to the truth of the resurrection as the proof that demands our verdict; and it is on this foundation that the Christian faith finally stands or falls (I Cor. 15:14).