Dear Parishioners,

The Resurrection of Jesus is the most important belief of Christians because it is the miracle that proves that everything Christ said was true. As St. Paul tells us, “And if Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching; empty, too, your faith.” (1 Cor 15:14) So, why should we believe in the Resurrection?

First, the Resurrection is attested to by numerous eye witnesses. Each of the Gospels record different and unlikely people seeing the Risen Christ at different times and places. These people knew Him personally and could identify Him. None of them were expecting Him to resurrect and in fact many were afraid of being His disciple when He was crucified. St. Paul states that someone could have gone to Jerusalem and met 500 people who stated they saw the risen Christ. (1 Cor 15:6) None of this is contradicted by early critics of Christianity.

Second, there is no plausible explanation for why the tomb would have been empty. The Gospels state that there was even a guard at watch at the time and that the Jewish leaders spread rumors that the disciples stole the body. Even if the disciples did manage to steal the body and bypass the guards, this introduces a number of practical concerns about how they went about doing this, where they would hide the body and what motives they would have for doing this.

Third, there is no plausible reason for them to lie about the resurrection. Numerous messianic figures existed in first century Israel and whenever they died, their whole following would disappear. Being loyal to an usurper of Roman power after he’s dead is suicidal. All the followers of Jesus lived incredibly hard lives being persecuted for their faith and nearly all of them died for it. Suffering like this is characteristic of someone who is delusional, not someone who lied.

Fourth, it is also unlikely that they were delusional. During His life, Christ was met with resistance and skepticism. The disciples would have been met with even more resistance trying to proclaim something that is even harder to believe. Delusional people are not convincing and certainly would not have won as many followers as the disciples of Jesus did. Could they have founded a small cult? Sure. But they instead founded a religion that converted the whole known world.

I hope these arguments help to show you the reasonableness of our faith. So, have faith in everything He says and follow Him.

Happy Easter!

Fr. Carter