Reason 3 of 13
He died, and His followers said so from the start
Jesus' death by crucifixion is among the best-attested facts of ancient history. Within a few years His followers were already reciting a short creed: He died for our sins, was buried and was raised on the third day.
The death
All four Gospels, Paul's letters, Tacitus and Josephus agree that Jesus was crucified. Roman crucifixion was designed to kill, and the soldiers at the cross were professionals. Even scholars who doubt the resurrection, such as John Dominic Crossan, count the crucifixion among the surest facts we have about Jesus.
37Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and gave up the spirit.
Mark 15:37 (WEB) · context
33but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. 34However, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe.
John 19:33-35 (WEB) · context
A creed older than the Gospels
In 1 Corinthians, written in the mid-50s AD, Paul quotes a formula he had received and passed on: Christ died for our sins, was buried, was raised on the third day and appeared to Peter, the Twelve, more than five hundred at once, James and all the apostles.
Its compact, memorised form and its Aramaic name for Peter (Cephas) mark it as early tradition. Scholars across the spectrum, including the sceptical New Testament scholar Gerd Lüdemann, date it to within a few years of the crucifixion. That is far too early for a legend to have grown up and replaced the facts.
3For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (WEB) · context
18Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Peter, and stayed with him fifteen days. 19But of the other apostles I saw no one except James, the Lord’s brother.
Galatians 1:18-19 (WEB) · context
The strongest objection, stated fairly
Perhaps Jesus did not really die on the cross but fainted and later revived in the cool of the tomb.
How it answers
This swoon theory has almost no defenders among historians. It requires a scourged, crucified man with a spear wound to escape a sealed tomb and convince terrified followers that he had conquered death. A half-dead survivor would have inspired pity, not worship.
34However, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
John 19:34 (WEB) · context
Sources
- 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (written about AD 54-55)
- Gerd Lüdemann, The Resurrection of Jesus: History, Experience, Theology (Fortress, 1994)
- John Dominic Crossan, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (HarperSanFrancisco, 1994)
- Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Kregel, 2004)
Why the evidence matters
If Jesus rose, His offer is real
God loves you and gave His Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish.