Do You See The Resurrection Like The Easter Bunny?
With Easter being tomorrow, is the way you see the resurrection of Jesus like the way you see the Easter Bunny? The Easter Bunny is a nice idea meant to give those who don’t know any better something to look forward to and to be happy about. As we grow older we come to see that this couldn’t be real. (Santa Claus at least seems more believable to me now, at least he’s a man not a bunny who does this!) We come to see that the Easter Bunny was made up, with good intentions to be sure, but made up nonetheless. So what about the resurrection? Is that really any different?
Historical Reality or a Made-Up Nice Idea?
At this point in your life how do you really view the resurrection of Jesus? Is it a historical reality or just a nice idea that was made up, with good intentions likely, to give those who don’t really know better something to look forward to and be happy about?
Like we did with the Easter Bunny when we didn’t know better, did some people in the past believe something when they didn’t know better, that we today, with all that we’ve learned scientifically, can no longer believe to be real? Could a man rising from the dead be real to an intelligent person today?
I think a lot of people might wonder that today and some have already decided that it isn’t really believable. Sure it might give some hope to those who don’t know better, but it isn’t real.
Challenging Some Assumptions
We might be tempted to think that the people in the ancient past who believed and passed on the idea of the resurrection were kind of like us as children believing in the Easter Bunny. They didn’t know any better. Without having learned the things we’ve since learned, they were more gullible. We might think that it was easy for them to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. They were just told it and believed it without even questioning it.
But were they really like that? Were they so gullible and easily swayed? I say that they were not. Yes, we’ve learned some things about how things really work but they were no less intelligent people than we are. It’s a bit arrogant for us to believe that they were so gullible. Even Jesus’ inner-most circle of disciples didn’t believe it easily at all.
Even 2000 years ago people didn’t believe that people could just rise from the dead. Before going to the cross Jesus repeatedly told them that he was going to die and rise again. But did they believe it? No, this went in one ear and out the other. When he was crucified they were disillusioned. This man they had followed and thought was the Messiah was dead and gone. They didn’t wait expectantly by the tomb, waiting for his resurrection like he had told them. No, they fearfully went into hiding, wondering what they were going to do with their lives now.
The women went to the tomb on Sunday morning, not expecting to see Jesus risen, but to prepare his body for it’s final resting there in the tomb. But they found the stone rolled aside and Jesus’ body was gone. They were told that he had risen just as he said. So the women ran back to tell the disciples the news.
And did the disciples just easily accept this, after all it’s what Jesus had said would happen? No. Luke 24:11 says, “But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.” Do you still think they were gullible? Some of us today might believe it easier than they did, having seen Jesus do miracles and having told them this is what would happen.
Many Convincing Proofs
Thankfully God knows that we can find things hard to believe, whether thousands of years ago or today. Jesus knew this. He knew that people don’t just easily believe that someone rose from the dead. And while he would have been pleased if they had just taken him at his word, he provided the evidence that they needed to be able to believe.
He appeared to them and let them examine the nail holes in his hands and feet and where the spear had been thrust into his side. He ate food with them. He walked with them. And it didn’t just take one appearance to convince them. You may not realize this but he spent forty days with them convincing them.
Acts 1:3 says, “After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.“
They didn’t believe easily. They wouldn’t find the Easter Bunny to be any more believable than you or I do, and they wouldn’t have found the resurrection to be any more believable than people today would, except, Jesus appeared to them and presented evidence that their intelligent minds could no longer deny.
And because they were so convinced in this way, their lives could never be the same again. God had entered the world in Jesus Christ. He had died n the cross for their sins and for ours, and he had risen from the dead! And so they went from hiding, cowering in fear, to going out and boldly telling everyone what had happened, because how could you keep news like this to yourself?!
The Evidence is There for Us Today
Jesus doesn’t appear to you and I today to convince us, but the historical evidence is there for us to explore. I encourage you to read a series of posts I presented on this evidence a couple of years go. There are five minimal facts of the resurrection that almost all scholars accept, even the skeptical ones. 1) Jesus Died By Crucifixion, 2) Jesus’ Disciples Believed that He Rose and Appeared to Them, 3) The Church Persecutor Paul was Suddenly Changed, 4) The Skeptic James, the Brother of Jesus, was Suddenly Changed, and 5) The Tomb was Empty.
Put together these facts of evidence present a case that I cannot deny. I believe that no other explanation can explain the facts other than that Jesus Christ did indeed rise from the dead. See what you think.
Happy Easter! He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!
There isn’t a Christian church that believes in the resurrection because of the Bible. There’s a Bible because eye witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection started the Christian church in the first half of the first century and later wrote the New Testament. The very early church didn’t believe in the resurrection because of the Bible, they wrote the Bible because of the resurrection. The disciples were convinced that they saw the risen Jesus with their own eyes. Their lives were transformed because of that fact and the world was changed because of the testimony they shared and gave their lives for.
