The front page article in the Easter Sunday edition of The Boston Globe began with a compelling lead: "The resurrection is not for sissies. It is either an unproveable murder mystery story or the most profound miracle of the Christian faith." ¹

Most legal and historical experts would dispute the claim that the case surrounding the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is anything similar to an 'unproveable' murder mystery. There is an overwhelming amount of reliable circumstantial evidence to support the claim that Jesus who had been publicly crucified had also risen from the dead.

Sir Lionel Luckhoo, the distinguished attorney and ambassador who has been honored with knighthood by Queen Elizabeth, has held the world record for the most successful defense lawyer. By January 1, 1985 he had won 245 consecutive murder trial cases before the jury or on appeal. Reportedly no one has come close to matching his record. Sir Luckhoo has a keen ability to recognize what constitutes reliable, admissible and persuasive evidence in a court of law.

Professor Thomas Arnold is the author of a classic 3 volume "History of Rome" and holder of the chair of modern history at Oxford. Wouldn't it be interesting to get an opinion on the reliability of the evidence for Christ's resurrection according to the criteria used by these legal and historical experts?

It is to the investigator's advantage that both of these men did studies on whether the reports of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth were substantiated enough to record the event as historic fact or legal evidence. They applied tests to the admissibility of the existing documentation (bibliographic, manuscript, internal and external report testings). They examined the reliability and possible motivations of the witnesses. They double-checked the accuracy, consistency and coherency of their accounts. They weighed the report of the resurrection against all other suggested alternative theories. What were their conclusions?

Sir Luckhoo reports: "I say unequivocally that the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it compels acceptance by proof which leaves no room for doubt." ²

What does Professor Arnold have to say? "I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God has given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead." ³

The accounts of Jesus Christ's resurrection began on the day of event, not generations later when embellishments could contribute to the making of a myth. The disciples would not have dared to publicly preach Christ risen from the dead in Jerusalem if the grave were not empty.  Jesus' claims made after the resurrection were fulfilled when 3,000 experienced the gift of the Holy Spirit 50 days after the resurrection. Within 24 to 36 months the report of the eyewitnesses was so well known that it became codified as one of the churches first creedal statements: "Jesus died for our sins, according to the Scriptures. He was buried. He rose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures, and he appeared to .." (and then a detailed list of eyewitnesses would be given so the report could be verified by contacting them). Those listed among the eyewitnesses were people who were not in any way predisposed at first to believing the reports that Jesus had risen from the dead. But what they saw changed them profoundly.

Even the enemies of Jesus who took unprecedented precautions to see that his grave was securely guarded, conceded that the tomb in which he was laid to rest (the one belonging to Joseph of Arimathea) was empty. Many of those who saw him alive from the dead, went to their deaths, not for what they believed, but what they saw.

Jesus told one of these eye-witnesses, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29).

FOOTNOTES:

1.         Allis, Sam "As mystery or miracle, Resurrection stirs Debate", Boston Globe 04/04/99

2.         Quoted in "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel

3.         Quoted in "Sermons on the Christian Life" Thomas, Arnold, p. 324

Blessed are those who believe the account of the eyewitnesses.