Where is the evidence? We are fortunate to live in a country where one must be proven guilty. The presumption of innocence is central to our legal system. The lawyers involved in a court case present evidence to support their claims of guilt or innocence for the accused. A baseless claim will be met with the question, “Where is the evidence?”
All truth claims should be proven valid by supporting evidence. Christianity is held to the same standard. What are some of the truth claims of Christianity?
The first is that everyone is sinful. The evidence for this is overwhelming. Just think. Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever taken something that didn’t belong to you? Have you ever had sexual desires for someone who is not 
your spouse? Have you ever hated someone? The evidence proves that you are sinful.
The Bible claims that God sent His Son, Jesus the Christ, to live a perfect life, to suffer and die innocently, and to rise triumphant from the grave so that the sins of all people are forgiven. It says, “He was delivered over to death for our offenses, and raised to life for our justification (forgiveness).” (Romans 4:25) The resurrection is the crux of the matter. If Jesus rose from the grave, then everything else claimed holds true.
What evidence is there for the resurrection of Jesus? Here are some things to consider:
- The disciples never changed their story. There are no inconsistencies in the different accounts of the resurrection.
- The disciples were willing to die for their faith in the resurrected Jesus. All of the Apostles but John were martyred – killed for their faith. Why would they die for a lie?
- Over 500 men saw the resurrected Jesus at the same time. Jesus appeared to people for 40 days after He was raised to give many convincing proofs that He was alive.
- Where is the body? No event has had such a great impact on the world. To prove Christianity a hoax, all one must do is produce the body of Jesus. His enemies certainly would have if it was possible. But they haven’t because Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!
The resurrection of Jesus is a valid event in human history. It really happened. Therefore, everything that the Bible claims about Jesus is true. He did live a perfect life. He did die an innocent death for the sins of all people. He rose from the grave to prove that God has accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. Here is the greatest claim: Your sins are forgiven. Jesus’ resurrection proves that it is true.
Gather with us for our Easter service on April 16th at 9:00 AM and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Celebrate because it proves that you are forgiven.