04/04/2026
How Do We Know the Resurrection Happened?
Tomorrow, on Resurrection Sunday, we celebrate the foundational truth of Christianity: that Jesus truly rose from the dead to new life that He, then, shares with us when we call upon Him as Lord and Savior.
To this offer of grace and forgiveness, many people say directly or indirectly, “I don’t believe the resurrection even happened.” If you had asked me years ago, I would have said, “I don’t even care.”
But does it matter and are there good reasons to believe it happened? Yes.
Here’s four reasonable questions and answers that point to one life-changing conclusion.
1. Was Jesus really dead on Friday? Yes. Roman executioners were experts. Jesus was scourged, crucified, pierced through the heart, and wrapped in 100 pounds of spices and linen by people who loved Him and knew His body. The grave clothes alone encased Him in a hardening, suffocating cast of resin‑soaked wrappings. Sadly, Jesus was really dead.
2. Was His tomb empty on Sunday? Yes. The women went to grieve besides a co**se, yet they found the stone moved, the seal broken, and the tomb empty. The guards were tasked to prevent grave robbery, they would have defended that site with their lives. If the body were still there, the Romans and Jewish leaders could have ended Christianity in minutes by producing it. They couldn’t.
3. Did the disciples claim to see the risen Jesus? Yes! Repeatedly, publicly, and reflecting great personal transformation. They were not expecting a resurrection. They were cowering in fear. When they first heard the news, they struggled to put the pieces together. Some even doubted it. But after seeing the risen, living Lord Jesus, they were transformed from fearful men into bold witnesses who proclaimed the resurrection for decades, even to their deaths. They went throughout the known world calling people to submit to Jesus, before His return. Even to their gruesome executions, they continued to call people to repent before Jesus returns.
4. Could they have been wrong? The alternatives don’t work:
- Jesus wasn’t merely injured, He was dead.
- They didn’t go to the wrong tomb. If they had, the Jews and Romans would have just shown Jesus’ body.
- They didn’t steal the body. Terrified fishermen don’t overpower trained Roman soldiers.
- They weren’t lying. Liars don’t joyfully die for what they know is false. Certainly not a whole group of them.
- They weren’t hallucinating. Groups don’t hallucinate the same thing for 40 days.
But here’s the thing: If Jesus rose from the dead, then everything He said is true:
- He is Lord.
- He is the only way to God.
- And He has conquered death—not just for Himself, but for all who trust in Him.
Once we settle in our hearts that there is a reasonable basis for believing in the resurrection, we then must contend with its reality for us: Jesus rose to a new life—one that is not subject to sin, death or marring from this world. This life will live forever. And when we call upon Him as Lord and Savior, He shares this new life with us. He takes up residency with us, through His Spirit. This new life in us is a life that will live forever, with Him, throughout eternity. And it is available to all of us when we come to Him as Lord.
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13
