Gospels Part 022
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a foundation of the Christian faith. Without it, we have no Savior living in us to help us come out of sin, and no hope for our own future resurrection. As the apostle Paul wrote, “If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Corinthians 15:17).
It was not enough that Jesus died for us. He also had to be raised to life again. As Paul also wrote: “For if when we were enemies [living against God] we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10).
A living Savior is vital to Christianity. Yet there is a very strong movement in our society today to destroy our Christian heritage—especially belief in the resurrection. Many argue that Jesus was just a man, merely a human teacher, and that He never was resurrected after His crucifixion.
So how can we know that it really happened? There’s a lot of evidence that verifies the accuracy of the New Testament and the validity of Jesus’ resurrection—enough to convince anyone willing to believe.
The New Testament itself is powerful evidence—and we can trust that it has been accurately preserved (for proof, download or request our free study aid, Is the Bible True?). And there are many reasons to see it as an accurate record of what actually took place. We’ll look at two in today’s lesson, then at others.
Eyewitness testimony
Some of the New Testament books were written by eyewitnesses only a couple decades after the purported events. If the whole story was made up, how credible would that have been? Other witnesses from that time would still have been around—hundreds of them. The writers couldn’t have gotten away with it! Both the Jews and the Romans could have easily discredited the resurrection story—but they didn’t.
The apostle Paul mentions a number of witnesses to Christ’s resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, including other apostles, himself and “over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep”—that is, died.
In their book I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist” (2004), Norman Geisler and Frank Turek quote from an essay titled “The Empty Tomb and the Resurrection” by William Lillie (1965, p. 125), which says of the above passage:
“What gives special historical evidence to the list as historical evidence is the reference to most of the five hundred brethren being still alive. St. Paul says in effect: ‘If you do not believe me, you can ask them.’ Such a statement in an admittedly genuine letter written within thirty years of the event is almost as strong evidence as one could hope to get for something that happened nearly two thousand years ago.”
Besides 1 Corinthians, there are a number of other New Testament books written within 20 to 30 years of Christ’s resurrection. These include Galatians, 1 Thessalonians and Romans. In fact, since Paul was executed soon after this, we know that all of his letters were written during the lifetime of those who were witnesses to what happened.
Women witnesses
All four Gospel writers tell us that women were the first visitors to the empty tomb and the first to learn of the resurrection. But in ancient times women were not considered reliable witnesses in court.
What writer at the time making up a story he wanted people to believe would claim that women discovered the risen Christ? Rather than, “Yes, we manly men found the empty tomb and announced the glorious resurrection of our Savior to the whole world!” it was the ladies who saw Christ first.
Not only that, but the foremost witness among the women was Mary Magdalene, who had once been demon possessed (Luke 8:2). Again, who would make up this kind of story? It simply makes no sense unless this is what really happened!
Stay tuned—we’ll cover more proofs in the next two lessons.
© Scott Ashley, 2025. All rights reserved.
Course Content
Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
