4/7/2026 Weekly Bible study message

weekly Bible study historical facts of the resurrection of Jesus

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Welcome, friends, to the weekly Lifeline Church Peterstown podcast. I'm your host, Mark Williams, and the theme for this podcast is called Echoes of Eternity, Jesus Christ's Resurrection, where we explore the biggest event in history, faith and human existence. Today we're diving deep into one of the most transformative events in human history, the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Did a man really rise from the dead three days after a Roman execution? Was it a myth invented by desperate followers? Or is there solid evidence both from earliest Christian writings and from ancient documents written by people who did not believe in Jesus? We are here to examine the historical record with intellectual honesty, and we'll spend the first half looking at the New Testament scriptures as primary source eyewitness testimony. Then we'll turn to the non Christian historians, Roman officials, Jewish rabbis, and even hostile critics of the first and second centuries. By the end, you'll have the key pieces scholars use to evaluate this claim. Grab your coffee, settle in. This is going to be a time of careful evidence based exploration. Let's begin. The biblical evidence, the eyewitness accounts. First the scriptures. The New Testament isn't one book, it's a library of twenty seven documents written by multiple authors over a few decades. The resurrection claim appears in every layer. The four gospels, Acts, the letters of Paul, and the rest of the New Testament. But the strongest piece of evidence is in an early Christian creed embedded in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Scholars across the spectrum believe believers and skeptics alike date this creed to within two to five years of the crucifixion, around AD thirty three to thirty-eight. Paul wrote in first Corinthians around uh first wrote to wrote first Corinthians around AD fifty-five. But he received this tr he received this tradition and passed it on as first importance. Here's the text in first Corinthians fifteen, three through eight. For what I have received I have passed on to you as first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter and the eleven after that he appeared to more than five hundred of brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then two of the other of the apostles, and last he appeared to me also, as to the one abnormally born. Why does this matter? Paul is quoting a pre existing creed, likely an oral summary used in early church teaching. He lists every he list named eyewitnesses, Peter the Eleven, James, Jesus' skeptical brother, and even himself, a former persecutor of Christians. He notes over five hundred people saw the risen Jesus at once, and most of whom are still living in the early fifteen fifties AD. That's an invitation saying, Go ask for them for yourself. This isn't legend that grew over centuries. This is a public, verifiable testimony circulating while the eyewitnesses were still alive. Now let's turn to the gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each describes the tomb and post-resurrection appearances. They differed in details as real eyewitnesses eyewitness accounts often do, but they agree on the core facts. Jesus was crucified, buried in a known tomb, owned by Joseph of Arimathenia, and the tomb was found empty by women on Sunday morning, and Jesus appeared in bodily eating and speaking, showing wounds to his followers. Mark, the earliest gospel around AD sixty five to seventy, ends with the women discovering the tomb and an angel announcing he has risen in Mark sixteen six. Matthew adds guards at the tomb who later report the event in Matthew twenty eight. Luke emphasizes the physical proof Jesus eats fish and invites the disciples to touch him. Luke twenty four, thirty six through forty-three. John gives the most intimate details Mary Magdalene's encounter, touching Thomas touching the wounds, breakfast by the sea, in John 20 and 21. Critics sometimes say the gospels are biased because they're Christian fair point. But they're also the earliest, most detailed sources we have written within the lifetime eyewitnesses in the same region. Ancient historians routinely use such accounts. These men went from hiding in fear after the crucifixion to boldly proclaiming the resurrection in Jerusalem where the events happened. Facing persecution and death, something extraordinary changed them. Paul, again in 1 Corinthians 15, ties it all together. The resurrection isn't just a spiritual metaphor, it is a historical foundation of the entire Christian message. Without it, he says, our preaching is useless, and so is our your faith. That's the scriptural case, eyewitnesses, early public uh public and transformative information. Now let's step outside the Bible entirely. We'll look at the non Christian historical documents. The resurrection claim doesn't rest on Christian writings alone. Ancient non Christian sources, Roman historians, Jewish rabbis, and even critics who despised Christianity confirm pieces of the puzzle. Jesus existed, was executed under Pontius Pilate, and his followers immediately claimed he rose from the dead and appeared alive. These writers were nonbelievers. Many were hostile, yet never suggested suggest that body was still in the tomb, or the story was fabricated later. Let's start with Josephus, and the Jewish historian who wrote Antiquities of the Jews around AD ninety three. In Book 18, chapter 3, we find the infamo the famous testimonium flabetirium. Scholars debate how much of the original verses later Christians editing, but the consensus is that core the core is authentic. Here is the passage it appears in ancient manuscripts. Now there was a man now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it is lawful to call him a man. For he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as received the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of Jews and Gentiles. He was the Christ, meaning anointed one. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us had condemned him to the cross, those who loved him at first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again on the third day, as this divine prophets had foretold. These and these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct to this day. Josephus said he was the Christ. That is a very powerful coming from him. Josephus current confirms Jesus was a wise teacher who performed surprising deeds, was a was crucified by Pilate, and urging Jewish leaders and his followers, continued a movement called Christians. This separate passage in Antiquities 201 calls James, the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, undisputed by scholars. Next, the Roman senator and historian Cornelius Tactius, writing around AD 116 in book 15 and chapter 44, he describes Nero's persecution of Christians after the great fire of Rome in A.D. sixty-four. Christus, from whom the name Origin suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius in the hands of one of our persecutors, Pontius Pilate. From Christus, from whom the name had its origin suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius, and at the hands of our persecute prosecutors, Pontius Pilate, a man at most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment. Again broke out not only in Judea, but the first source of evil, but in Rome. Tactus was no friend of Christians. He calls their belief pernicious superstition. But he independently confirms execution under Pilate during Tiberius' reign in AD fourteen through thirty seven, exactly matching the gospels. Some scholars note that his reference to the superstition breaking out again may allude to the resurrection claim that refused to die. Among the same time Pliny the Younger, Roman governor of Bethra, wrote to the Emperor Trajan about handling Christians. The letter ten ninety six AD one through one hundred twelve, he interrogated them and reported they met before dawn to sing hymns to Christ as to a god, bound themselves by oath against crimes, and treated their faith as non negotiable. Pliny executed those who refused to recant. Again, no belief from Pliny, but clear evidence that within eighty years of the crucifixion Christians were worshiping the executed Jesus as divine. The resurrection belief is the only explanation for the rapid escalation. Now the Jewish side, the Babylonian Talmud, the Sanhedrin forty three A, compiled later but preserving early traditions, contains a hostile reference. On the eve of the Passover, Yushua, Jesus, was hanged, a term used for crucifixion forty days before the execution took place. A herald cried, He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. This confirms the timing of the Passover, the execution, and even the acknowledges of miracles sorcery. It doesn't affirm the resurrection, but it shows Jewish opponents were responding to the same events in the gospels described, without denying the empty tomb or claiming the body was still there. Finally, the second century pagan critic Celsus, whose work was the true doctrine is preserved in origins contra Celsium, AD two forty eight. Celsus marks uh mocks the resurrection but acknowledges the claim. He says Jesus appeared only to a half frantic woman, Mary Magdalene, and his boon companions, suggesting hallucination or a stolen body. He never says the tomb wasn't empty. He offers alternative explanations because it was because it was. The others other scattered references, Talus on the darkness at the crucifixion, Mara Bar Scurpian on the wise king, those teachings lived on after execution. To add layers, none of these nonbelievers debunked the resurrection. Instead, they collaborate corroborate the historical skeleton of a crucified man. Those who follow those followers who proclaimed his body bodily resurrection immediately afterward, think about it. If the tomb weren't empty, or if the appearances weren't obvious lies, why did the opponents simply produce a body or expose the fraud in Jerusalem where it all happened? The silence is telling. Even the guards at the tomb confirmed the resurrection, but later denied it after being bribed by the religious leaders. So if it didn't happen, why even try to cover it up? Putting it together, the biblical facts and the scholarly consensus. Modern historians use what they call minimal facts approach, data accepted by the vast majority of scholars, including skeptics. Number one, Jesus died by crucifixion. Number two, his disciples believed they saw him risen and were willing to die for that belief. Number three, the resurrection claim began very early within months. And four, James, Jesus' skeptical brother, and Paul, the persecutor, became believers and claimed the appearances. And number five, the tomb was empty, excepted accepted by over seventy-five percent of scholars. Scripture gives the details, non-Christian sources give the independent collaboration. Together they form a cumulative case stronger than any single document. Hallucinations don't explain a group appearances or the empty tomb. Theft or swoon theories fell against the Roman execution standards and a disciples' transformation. Even skeptical scholars admit the disciples believed that saw the risen Jesus. The best explanation for that belief, according to many, is that something extraordinary happened. We've covered, we've covered a lot of ground today, from Paul's early creed and the gospel accounts to Josephus, Tactus, Pliny, and the Talmud, and Celsus. The evidence doesn't force belief, but it demands honest consideration. The resurrection claim launched a movement that changed the world, not through military power, but through conviction of ordinary people who said they had met their risen Lord. Whether you're a believer, skeptic, or seeker, the historical documents invite you to investigate further, read the sources for yourself, ask the tough questions. History's most important claim deserves nothing less. As for me and my family, we believe in the resurrection and proclaim Jesus as King of King and Lord of Lords. Thank you for joining me in this journey. And if this episode stirred something in you, share it, discuss it, and keep seeking the truth. Until next time, may your search for the answers lead you to the greatest one of all, Jesus Christ. Please join us on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. in person at Lifeline Church Peterstown. Or live stream on YouTube or Carla Bragg's Facebook page. We have Lifeline Kids every Sunday morning. You can also join us on Wednesday evenings at 6 for men's and women's small groups and kids and youth also on Wednesdays. On Friday evenings, we have celebrate recovery at 5 30.