The Resurrection Part 2

Hey everyone, I hope all is well for everyone this week. I haven’t had the chance to write a blog in a little while due to school and just other things that has occupied my time. When I last wrote an article, I had started writing articles on the resurrection of Jesus and the historical evidence behind it. Note that the resurrection of Jesus is what the Christian faith stands upon when talking about the truth behind the faith. Well, I plan on continuing my articles on the resurrection for the next few days.
I also mentioned the documentary that claimed that archeologists have indeed found the remains of Jesus and his family in a tomb. It was broadcasted on live television on march 9th and really challenged the truth of Christianity. I ended up watching it, and although it seemed that they provided a great deal of evidence for the actual tomb being found, in all reality it was not at all factually sound as they had portrayed. I will be writing on the problems with their theory on the so-called “lost tomb” towards the end of my articles on the resurrection.
In my last article, I had mentioned five theories against the resurrection, and gave a brief explanation for each. The first that I mentioned was one called the “conspiracy theory”, so I intend on clearing this misconception and providing a way for truth to come in.
The conspiracy theory is an idea that the disciples of Jesus actually stole the body after Jesus had died on the cross. By the disciples stealing the body of Jesus, it would make it seem that Jesus himself had risen just has he said he would. Although right away this seems plausible, it does not stand up to cross examination of the evidence. Just to give a little history on this theory, we know that this is the main theory that was used during the time of Jesus. No one could explain why the body of Jesus was not there, so in order for the Jewish authorities to give an acceptable reason for the body missing, they said that the disciples stole the body.
If you look into the gospel of Matthew, you see that even the Bible states that the Jewish authorities gave this excuse in order to account for the missing body.

The Holy Bible, New International Version.

Mt 28:11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards b went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.
Mt 28:12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money,
Mt 28:13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away c while we were asleep.’
Mt 28:14 If this report gets to the governor, d we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”
Mt 28:15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day

So as you can see, Matthew, a disciple of Jesus even states this in the scriptures. If you notice, and you can look for yourself, he doesn’t even give a response to this. I would believe that his thinking was that this statement was so untrue, that he did not need to defend against it. This is the first key point in understanding this argument.
Next, lets take a look at the whole picture itself, and see if we can’t put two and two together. Well, we know that from scripture Jesus called himself God and God’s chosen one (messiah). We also know that the disciples trusted him and that they understood if Jesus was the messiah, that he has come to free them of their sins and bring the gift of salvation with him, just as God had promised. Every disciple was a good man, with the exception of Judas, all were very religious, and from what we know, they were not crazy or psychotic. So this begs to ask the question, if the disciples were the reason the body is missing, what would be there motive?
The answer is simple, they had no motive. Lets examine the evidence. We know that Jesus was arrested in front of them, taken to court that night, tried unfairly, beaten, crucified, and died a criminals death, buried in a tomb, and mocked horribly. After Jesus died, the disciples scattered and feared for their lives. Peter, a very close friend to Jesus denied Jesus three time the night of Jesus’ arrest. After Jesus was put in the tomb, there were guards positioned at the tomb.

The Holy Bible, New International Version.

Mt 27:62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.
Mt 27:63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ k
Mt 27:64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body l and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
Mt 27:65 “Take a guard,” m Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
Mt 27:66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal n on the stone o and posting the guard. p

as you can see from Matthew again, the Jewish authorities went to Pilate, the governing body for the Romans, and asked for a Roman guard. In that time, a Roman guard would consist of anywhere form 4 to 16 individuals in one group. I would wager that since the story of Jesus was such a big issue, I would think that their would be more guards present at the site of the tomb. Note, if any of the Roman guard would have let the body get stolen, then that would mean death for the guards. Not to mention that these were the military warriors of that time period.
In the passage from above, you will also notice that there is a seal that is place around the tomb itself. In those days, if the seal was broken, it would mean death for whoever broke it.
Now, lets review the evidence. If their were guards and a seal placed at the tomb, the disciples would first have to get past the guards, break the seal, roll the stone away from the tomb, unwrap Jesus’ body, then take him somewhere for safe keeping. It would be an extremely hard task to accomplish. If they in fact did this, then each and everyone would face death at the hands of the Roman government.
One more piece of evidence must be considered. If the disciples and apostles were all good men, then why would every single one of them go to their deaths defending what they believed as truth. You see, after the death of Christ on the cross, there was no motivation, I mean what good is a dead messiah? Obviously not any good. The fact that you have every single one doing a 180 and dying for their faith is astounding. Then you have the question of Paul’s conversion to Christianity. He was a guy who hated Christianity right from the get go. He to was converted after witnessing the resurrected Christ. What can account for this kind of behavior form these people? Only the fact that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead. I don’t know about you, but I would say that the conspiracy theory does not hold a lot of credibility when the evidence is reviewed. What do you think?
Thank you all so much for reading, as always keep those questions coming, and keep on studying. I think that if you look at the evidence for the resurrection, you will find it most satisfying. Thanks again, and God bless.









In Christ our Lord,
Dylan