And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. (I Corinthians 15:17 KJV)

There is no fundamental basis for Christianity as a unique claimant for Absolute Truth apart from the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ sets Christianity apart from every major world religion. Remove the resurrection from Christianity and it becomes the mere shell of yet another spiritual philosophy based on yet another historical teacher, little different from all of the others that came before or after. The moral and ethical teachings of Jesus, as sublime as they are, are only idealistic platitudes apart from the power of the resurrection made available to believers through the Holy Spirit to actually live out those teachings in a practical and demonstrable way. The Cross apart from the Resurrection is merely yet another martyr’s death among so many in human history; one more good man who perished for the sake of one more good cause.

To so many, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is merely a “theological issue,” to be embraced “by faith” simply because it is what Christians believe. The Bible asserts it. The Church fathers proclaimed it. And Christians in every century since have died for the sake of it. Yet the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not merely a “theological issue.” It is an historical issue. The resurrection either happened on the stage of human history or it did not. And the answer one embraces to that question will determine the trajectory of one’s life from that point forward. How sad that the resurrection is casually dismissed as “impossible” by those who have never spent at least four hours of their lives seriously examining the available evidence. Caught in the web of circular logic, they assume that the resurrection could not have happened because, after all, resurrections are impossible. And everyone knows that the “impossible” cannot happen. Doesn’t it seem logical that, if indeed the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single most important question one will ever face in life, one should at least spend a few hours looking over the mountain of extant evidence, both Biblically and historically, that exists? Shouldn’t we allow the preponderance of evidence to inform our decision, and not merely give comfortably in to a preconceived bias against anything that smacks of the supernatural?

Jesus Himself staked His Integrity, His Authority and His exclusive Truth claims, as well as His entire ministry and purpose on the fact of the resurrection.

18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 

19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 

John 2:18-19 (KJV)

When challenged by religious leaders demanding to know the source of His authority, and what supernatural “sign” Jesus might offer to validate His authority, Jesus offered only the resurrection. First century Palestine was not nearly so monolithic as some have previously believed. Not only were there various “sects” within Second Temple Judaism itself, there were messianic claimants that seemed to pop up everywhere. One modern teacher summarized that in the first century one could not walk through Palestine and spit without hitting some messiah. Most of them even offered some supernatural “sign” that would vindicate them. Yet when asked for a confirming supernatural “sign” to prove that He was what He claimed to be, Jesus offered only the resurrection. Of course there had been many supernatural signs and wonders surrounding Jesus and His ministry, and at one point He pointed to them when He exhorted Phillip and His other disciples to “believe” regarding His unique and intimate relationship with the Father.

Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. (John 14:11 KJV)

Yet to the religious crowd that challenged His authority, He offered only the resurrection as the one validating supernatural “sign” that would establish His Integrity and His Authority! Can you see now why the resurrection of Jesus is so vitally essential to Christianity? If indeed Jesus arose from the dead, then ergo, all amazing and outstanding claims He made about Himself and His Redemptive Mission are true. If not, then we are left with Jesus as being either a well-intentioned lunatic, or an outright deceiver and fraud. The Resurrection makes ALL the difference! And Jesus knew it!

Again, when the religious leaders demanded an authenticating “sign” that would prove demonstrably that Jesus was indeed Who He claimed to be, Jesus offered only the resurrection.

38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 

39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 

40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 12:38-40 (KJV)

The Apostle Paul also staked all of Christianity on the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 

4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead…

Romans 1:3-4 (KJV)

Do you see that? Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God “by the resurrection from the dead.” It was the Resurrection that “declared” Jesus to be all that He claimed to be! It was the resurrection that validated Jesus’s exclusive Truth claims. It was the Resurrection that vindicated all that the Cross accomplished. And it was the Resurrection that guaranteed both the availability of the New Birth (I Peter 1:3) and the certainty of our future resurrection (I Corinthians 15:23).

All discussions of Christianity as a viable Truth claimant must begin with the Resurrection. Either Jesus told the Truth or He did not. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not merely a “theological” issue. It is an historical issue. Now how you respond to the historical fact of the Resurrection opens up a whole plethora of “theological” issues. But the Resurrection itself is not merely “theological” but historical. Examine ALL of the available evidence for yourself. I am convinced that you will find, as I have, and as have so many others, that the only answer to ALL of the available evidence taken as a whole, is that Jesus Christ did indeed rise from the dead three days after He was crucified and buried. The literal bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is indeed the “starting point for faith!” Be Blessed!