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)

The Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus Christ was declared to be exactly whom He claimed to be “by the resurrection from the dead.” It is the Resurrection that validates as absolute every single Truth claim made by Jesus of Nazareth. Had any of Jesus’s opponents been able to disprove the Resurrection merely by presenting His dead body, Christianity would have died before it was ever born. But they could not. Nobody, not even His most vehement enemies could deny that the tomb in which Jesus’s body was placed after He was crucified was indeed empty on that glorious Resurrection morning!

We do not have the option to dismiss Jesus of Nazareth as simply another of a long line of spiritual gurus, or merely a “good and wise teacher.” Jesus Himself does not give us that option. He made outstanding, and to many in the first century outlandish, claims about Himself that must be confronted. The religious leaders of Jesus’s day knew that the claims He made, if not true, were blasphemous.

The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. (John 10:33 KJV)

Should anyone today make such claims they would be most likely dismissed as pathologically delusional, and might well be confined in a “rubber room” next door to the guy who is convinced he is Napoleon. Contemporary apologist Josh McDowell concludes, after exhaustive examination of the amazing claims made by Jesus, that He must have been either “a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord.” If the claims of Jesus are not true, He must either be considered a well-meaning (albeit deluded) lunatic, or an outright deceiver and a fraud. The Resurrection makes all the difference!

Jesus Christ made thoroughly exclusive and absolute Truth claims, both about Himself and His Redemptive Mission. To ignore those astounding claims and dismiss Jesus as merely another religious teacher is to be intellectually dishonest. It is claimed by both Jesus and the Apostle Paul that the Resurrection would and did vindicate both Jesus’s Identity and His exclusive Truth Claims, let us examine a few of Jesus’s amazing assertions.

Some non-Christian cults have erroneously promoted that Jesus never claimed Deity for Himself. They ignore or gloss over the many “I am” [ἐγώ εἰμι] statements made by Jesus which first century Jews would have immediately understood as appropriating Deity to oneself.

I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am [ἐγώ εἰμι] he, ye shall die in your sins. (John 8:24 KJV)

Notice that the word “he” in the KJV is in italics indicating that it does not appear in the Greek text. Jesus actually said, “If you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins!” In addition to claiming Deity, Jesus makes the exclusive claim that it is only through believing in Him that one’s sins are forgiven!

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6 KJV)

Here is yet another exclusive Truth claim made by Jesus. He declared Himself to be THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life, and stated that NO MAN comes to the Father EXCEPT through Him! Either that claim is True, or it is not. If it is True, then there are NOT “many ways to God,” as is claimed by contemporary post-modern culture. If it is True, then it is ONLY through embracing faith in Jesus Christ and what He provided through the Cross and Resurrection, that human beings can be restored to right relationship with God the Father. If Jesus’s statement here is not true, then Jesus and all He claimed, taught, and stood for can be dismissed as possibly “nice” but ultimately optional. The Resurrection makes all the difference!

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am [ἐγὼ εἰμί]. (John 8:58 KJV)

Jesus not only declared His Deity, but also His Eternality! He existed before Abraham existed, which Jews of the day would have understood to mean that Jesus claimed both Deity and eternal existence.

Jesus claimed that He was an Eyewitness to satan’s fall from Heaven.

And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (Luke 10:18 KJV)

In addition to seating all Authority in Himself, Jesus showed absolutely no sense of personal sin or moral inadequacy.

Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. (John 14:30 KJV)

Jesus presents the eternal realm as One Who had intimate, personal knowledge of it. Of course, you and I would be able to readily describe our own homes in detail to someone who had never visited them.

2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

John 14:2-3 (KJV)

Jesus presents Eternity as One who WAS there, who left there temporarily to come here, is leaving here to go back there, and who will one day return here to take us there.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not merely a “theological” issue. It is an HISTORICAL issue. It either happened or it did not. All of Christianity stands or falls upon whether Jesus Christ came bodily out of the tomb three days after He was crucified and buried. The claims of Jesus demand that we examine all of the available evidence for His resurrection for ourselves. Either Jesus Christ is all that He claimed to be or He is not. The Resurrection makes all the difference! Be Blessed!