The resurrection of Jesus Christ has been debated for over two thousand years. Jesus’s teachings and miracles created great controversy, but the resurrection is the icing on the cake because it represents power over life and death. Furthermore, the resurrection fulfills prophecy as proof of Jesus’s divinity.
You probably believe Jesus lived on earth and died on the cross. But do you believe He resurrected three days later? Perhaps you’re not sure. However, that’s what Easter is all about—the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the foundation of Christianity. So, what happened two thousand years ago?
While the details surrounding Jesus Christ’s life and death vary, the general account is well established and accepted by nearly all historians and archaeologists of antiquity.
Documents and artifacts from different sources tell the same story. Briefly, Jesus was born over 2000 years ago, slightly before the end of the BC era. At about age 30, He began His ministry. At about age 33, He was tortured and hung on a cross. He died on the cross and was placed in a tomb.
The Controversy
While all this is generally accepted as fact, the following is where the controversy hits warp speed.
The Gospel accounts that at the moment Jesus died, the sun was darkened. Upon His death, the Holy Veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. A strong earthquake split large rocks and opened graves. The soldiers and others guarding Jesus feared greatly, saying, “Truly, this was the Son of God.”
Then, 3 days after dying and being placed in a tomb, Jesus rose from the dead. The Easter holiday is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But there are those who deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ, instead insisting that His body was stolen from the tomb.
Is it possible to shine some light on the controversy surrounding the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Indeed. So, here we go:
His Body
One of the Pharisees, a secret disciple of Jesus, was named Joseph. Although he was wealthy and a respected member of the Sanhedrin, which functioned like the Supreme Court of ancient Israel, he didn’t participate in the council’s actions against Jesus. But his position in the Sanhedrin allowed him access to Pilate. Joseph asked Pilate if he could take Jesus’s body for proper burial. Pilate agreed.
With the assistance of Nicodemus, another Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, Joseph took Jesus’s body down from the cross and bound it in clean linen and spices, including myrrh, as was customary in those days. You may remember that myrrh was one of the three gifts brought to Jesus by the Magi shortly after His birth. That was symbolic of what was to come, the sacrifice Jesus would make for humanity.
A garden was near where Jesus was crucified, and Joseph had a personal tomb in that garden. Joseph and Nicodemus placed Jesus’s body in the tomb and rolled a large rock before it.
Securing the Tomb
The chief priests and Pharisees went before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how the deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise. Therefore, command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal the body away, and say to the people, He has risen from the dead. So, the last deception will be worse than the first.”
Pilate gave them a guard and told them, “Make it as secure as you know how.” So they set the guard and sealed the stone. The council also imprisoned Joseph in a guarded cell with a seal on the door. When the elders returned to the cell, they found the seal still in place, but Joseph was gone. Later, Joseph would tell them Jesus had risen from the grave and freed him.
The Day of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The Gospels have slightly different versions of what happened that morning, but they generally tell us that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb on the third day at dawn. There, an angel had rolled back the stone. The guards shook for fear of Him and became like dead men.
But the angel said to Mary, “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. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”
Mary looked but only saw the linens where Jesus’s body had been. As she went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met her, saying, “Rejoice!” She came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will find Me.”
The guards then went and reported what had happened to the chief priests. The soldiers were given a large sum of money and told to say that they had fallen asleep, and the disciples stole the body.
Jesus Appears to the Apostles
When the eleven disciples saw Jesus in Galilee, they worshiped Him, but some doubted. Jesus told them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of time.” This is when Jesus gently breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
So, what are we to make of this? Did the resurrection happen? This is critical to understanding Jesus, at least as Christianity portrays Him. But what is the truth?
Whether Jesus resurrected or not does not change what He taught; it does not change the past, but it does change the future. How? Because it changes how we understand Him. He was a master teacher and healer, but does He have power beyond the birth, life, and death process?
Some deny the resurrection of Jesus, claiming that instead, He wasn’t killed or that His body was stolen from the tomb.
Was Jesus Killed?
- Given the size of the crowds around Jesus and the attention on Him, if He had not been killed, it would have been well known. No way could that have been kept a secret.
- If Jesus hadn’t been killed, He would’ve continued teaching and healing in the flesh.
- Additionally, because of Jewish custom, a body should not remain on the cross on Sabbath Day, so they would break the legs of those on the cross to speed up death. However, when they came to Jesus, He was already dead, so they didn’t break His legs.
- But a soldier pierced His side with a spear.
- There was no doubt in those who were there that Jesus was dead.
Was the Body of Jesus Stolen?
As for the body being stolen, there are many problems with this accusation.
- How was the stone removed? This large, heavy stone would have made a noise, alerting the guards who were right there.
- How could the body have been stolen without the guards on duty not seeing them?
- How could the body disappear, leaving the linens as if the body vanished?
- Some say the guards fell asleep, while others say angels appeared and the guards froze. Either way, the penalty for failure would have probably been death. So, there would’ve been a severe fight.
- These professional soldiers were not likely to fail without dying.
- Additionally, there would have been many soldiers to protect against a significant attack. For example, there were 11 apostles but far more followers. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of Jews traveled to Jerusalem for Passover, some of whom were followers of Jesus as well. So, a large group of professional soldiers capable of protection in such a situation would not have fallen asleep or failed.
- As for the body, with hundreds of thousands of Jews densely camped all around, day or night, it would’ve been nearly impossible to move the body unnoticed. Furthermore, the Sanhedrin would have found it at all costs. They killed Jesus to shut Him up, and the last thing they would have allowed was for people to be able to claim He had risen as He prophesied.
So, What Happened?
No one had the motivation and opportunity to do anything other than what we know happened. Jesus was killed, placed in the tomb, and then disappeared. Bodies typically don’t vanish. But then, there is nothing typical about Jesus. His story persists despite repeated attempts to silence Him.
The story of Jesus is as well documented, if not more so, than any story of ancient history. His body vanishing in a burst of energy is as reasonable an explanation as any. Many strange things have happened and continue to occur worldwide.
Jesus did reappear, but that is evidence of a resurrection. So, what evidence is there?
The Evidence
According to the Gospels, Jesus first appeared to Mary, and as instructed, she told the Apostles. Jesus then appeared to the Apostles. Later, Jesus appeared to groups of others. Ever since, people worldwide have claimed that Jesus appeared to them.
However, perhaps the best evidence of the resurrection is the change of heart people had after Jesus’s death. Romans, Jews, and Christians, including the Apostles who denied Jesus during the trial and crucifixion, were willing to be put to death rather than deny His resurrection.
What could’ve caused this sudden change of heart? The Apostles, as well as many others, went from fearful to fearless. This makes no sense unless they genuinely believe Jesus was resurrected.
The followers of Jesus didn’t just go away as planned by the Sanhedrin. So, the Sanhedrin failed because, rather than stopping Jesus, the crucifixion only made Him more of an influence.
Millions worldwide claim to communicate regularly with the Spirit of Jesus. Are they all delusional? Furthermore, Christianity is the largest religion on the planet. Are they all delusional?
Is Resurrection a Physical Possibility?
What does science have to say about all this? Known science dictates that bodies deteriorate after death and do not regenerate.
Taking it further, flesh and bone are manifestations of conscious energy or Spirit that science can’t entirely explain. And yet, we all accept that we are here. Therefore, scientifically, all you can say is that Jesus’s resurrection in the flesh and bone may be possible, although not understood.
Quantum physics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed but can only change from one state to another. Yes, energy in the waveform crashing becomes energy in the particle form, which appears as solid matter.
But it is still energy, not solid matter. So, our physical universe is, in truth, an energy universe governed by intelligence as energy changes state.
Another Possibility
Still, there is another possibility. What if the resurrection was not physical at all?
Meaning that the resurrection of Jesus Christ refers to consciousness itself?
Jesus taught, “I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is righteous because I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me.”
Jesus wasn’t talking about His human father. He was referring to God, the Great Spirit, or in other words, Supreme Consciousness.
Jesus taught us not to work from ego or lower consciousness but through higher consciousness or Spirit. That’s how all righteous things are done.
Is it possible for you to resurrect from the grave? Yes! However, dead can mean different things. Spiritually dead or spiritually unconscious, for example.
Jesus taught us how to overcome the world. He showed us by example what the cross represents: ascension into Christ Consciousness.
Becoming the Christ doesn’t refer to a person but a level of consciousness.
The spiritual journey is a journey home. Back to God Consciousness or Spirit.
The human condition is a process of dying and resurrecting into higher consciousness, as represented by the cross. Each time, it brings us closer to the truth, closer to God.
Was the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Physical or Spiritual?
Did Jesus Resurrect in Spirit or Physically? It doesn’t even make much difference. Because whatever you believe, something miraculous happened. Besides written accounts, there was a sudden shift in consciousness of those who witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In fact, Jesus’s energy is stronger today than it was two thousand years ago.
Something happened. A miracle happened. And that shift in consciousness is now happening on a planetary scale.
Not everyone will immediately get it because not everyone is ready, but you can set an example, as Jesus did.
Resurrect yourself. Move the stone enclosing your tomb and rise. Die on your cross and resurrect into higher consciousness.
Ascend into higher consciousness and bring God’s light to the physical realm. Bring heaven to earth. Happy Easter, everyone.
Peace be with you!
