“But the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.’” Matt.28:5,6 NKJV

Yes he was crucified, nobody doubts that but before we consider whether he rose from the dead we have to consider whether he actually died in the first place.

We know that a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus came and took Jesus off the cross, bound him up in strips of lines along with spices, a mixture of myrrh and aloes, and place him in a tomb.

Perhaps he wasn’t dead, dead, but was still alive but barely and the coolness of the tomb (cave) along with the spices caused him to recover. I know that is what our Muslim brothers and sisters believe. Maybe they are right! But there is more to the story.

“Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one o the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.” Jn.19:32-35

Blood and water? That means that his heart was still pumping. Otherwise, how would blood gush out, right? No. That is not right. If his heart was still pumping what was the water? The “water” is either the serum after it has separated or it was fluid from around the heart. Either way, Jesus had to be dead in order for there to be blood and water.

So He did die. The case is clear. The soldiers didn’t just poke him in his side, the soldier’s sword would enter his side and angle up until it pierced the persons heart thus killing them instantly. But with water and blood flowing out it became obvious that He was already dead. You could say He was twice dead, once by crucifixion and once by the sword pierced into his heart.

Well okay He died, but did He rise from the dead? Firstly we have the 4 gospel accounts which are extremely accurate. We have new testaments that were recovered from the 4 century A.D. and it is these ancient manuscripts that are used to translate our modern new testament. So the gospels are reliable. And they all say the same thing, Jesus rose from the dead.

Secondly we have eye witness accounts, first there was Mary and Martha, then the other 11 disciples and in Acts it says that He was seen for many days by other witnesses.

Thirdly we have the martyrs who were willing to die rather then renounce Jesus as their Lord, Savior and God. Thousands died for Christ during the first century alone. And why would they be willing to die for an imposter?

Fourthly we have key skeptics who were converted like Paul. Paul turned out to be one of the greatest Christians of all time, but before his conversion he was persecuting Christians.

Fitthly we have the empty tomb. Even Christ’s enemies professed that the tomb was empty. So where did the body go? They say His disciples came and stole it, but is that believable? Well no, and why? It is because they had the tomb sealed and guarded. The disciples would have had to kill the guards first before taking the body but there is no record of any kind of fight at the tomb.

There are good books on this subject and I sugest you buy one and read it, the one I am reading right now is “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity, by Nabeel Qureshi, Lee Strobel”

Buy it on Amazon or wherever, download it on your phone and read it privately, no one needs to know what you are reading, but it is your duty before God to find out the truth.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, may he make his face shine on you and be gracious to you, may he lift up his face upon you and give you peace. Amen.