The Resurrection Part 3

Hey everyone, I pray that all is well for you. I hope that everyone has taken a look at the last few articles about the resurrection because I think that this topic is important for anyone who may be seeking for answers in the Christian faith. I hope that if you are seeking for answers, you are looking else where too because there are many good websites and articles that have been written. I will post a few websites at the end of this article.
The last article was about the “conspiracy theory” of the resurrection of Jesus. We saw that it is a very unlikely possibility and that there just is not very good evidence for that theory. The next one on our list is one that is called the “apparent death theory“, or also known as the “swoon theory“. This theory basically says that Jesus never really died on the cross and when he was put into the tomb that he somehow revived himself in the coolness of the tomb and then escaped making his disciples and followers believe that he was the risen Messiah. Now lets examine the evidence about this specific theory.
The first thing that comes to my mind when considering this theory is that, if this theory is true then that would make Jesus the greatest liar and deceiver in the history of the world. This is a very big negative for the Christian faith, so lets review the evidence in whole. The first piece of evidence that we will look at is the medical evidence that supports that Jesus actually died on the cross when crucified by the Roman authorities.
From scripture we know that Jesus was arrested at night, taken to appear in front of the Jewish San Hedrin (the counsel that accused Jesus of blasphemy). He was probably beaten the whole way there (as shown in the Passion of the Christ film), tried illegally and unfairly by the Jewish leaders, mocked, ridiculed, slapped, and asked multiple times if he was who he said he was. Jesus was silent before the people, which is a prophesy that was fulfilled in Isaiah 53. Then Jesus was taken to Pilate who did not find any guilt in him, but did what the people wanted and whipped him severely. When people were whipped in those days, the whips had glass, bone, and sharp edges that were meant to pull flesh from bones. Jesus was whipped and flesh was pulled from his bones. If bleeding enough he could have went into a shock like state that is called hypovelmic shock, which is a shock resulting from to much lost blood from the body. He was then passed on the Herod who then mocked him some more. Then back to Pilate who gave the people a choice of who they wanted to be set free, Jesus who was innocent or a murderer named Barabas. The crowed chose the murderer and yelled crucify him. Then Jesus was taken and beaten some more and had the crown of thorns placed on his forehead. That would have cause bleeding for sure. Then Jesus was forced to carry his own part of the cross, the very one he would be crucified on. They made Jesus carry that part of the cross all the way to where it would happen. At this point he was no doubt exhausted and had a very large amount of blood lost. He then got to the hill and they laid him down and drove spikes through both of his wrists and feet. This would have pierced many arteries and blood vessels. This would have also pierced many nerves. Then once he was placed on the cross and the cross was raised up, it would have made him fall into an exhaled position on the cross. This would have made him push off his feet in order to inhale. His torn apart back would have rubbed up against the splinter rich cross causing even more pain. He would have eventually died of suffocation. Before he died of that, one of the gospels say that when Jesus was pierced with the spear that there was a flow of blood and water from the wound. Medically speaking, this suggests that the spear pierced the fluid like sac surrounding the heart. This means that the spear probably pierced his heart with-out-a-doubt causing death. This was extreme. I am sure that it was painful.
Next we have the accounts of the guard at the cross. Note that the Roman guards of the time were trained to kill and knew when their victim was dead. He even says in the gospels that there was no chance that Jesus could possible be alive. If the person on the cross came down alive, the guard at the cross would have been killed for letting that happen.
Then Jesus was wrapped in cloths that were tightly bound with spices and fluids. Then his body was put into a dark and damp tomb with a huge stone rolled in front of it. If Jesus had revived himself he would have to unwrap himself, find his way to the stone, roll that away, beat the guards, and then seek extreme medical attention. If you review these facts, you can clearly see that there is no way that this could be possible. Its crazy to think that.
Now for the part about the appearances of Jesus. If he would have appeared to his followers like this, there is no way that they would have believed that he beat death. He would have looked horrible. But the truth is that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead.
As you can see, the evidence for this theory does not add up. People sometimes do not want to admit that Jesus died for them and that we owe him our lives because Jesus did what we deserve and what we can not do. He lived a perfect life, he died for OUR sins, he rose again on the third day, and then ascended into heaven. What an awesome God we serve!!! Think about that.
Thanks again all of you who are reading. Please keep reading and if you are seeking for answers, please keep doing so. I will be in prayer for all of you, and may the Lord’s grace and peace be with you all always and until the end. Thanks!!!


In Christ our Lord,
Dylan