RESURRECTION, CHRIST’S
Dateline Jerusalem—On the eve of the annual celebration of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the 1 million inhabitants of this city were shocked by the announcement that a body, identified as that of Jesus, was found in a long-neglected tomb just outside the boundary of the city. Rumors had been circulating the last week that a very important discovery was about to be announced. The news, however, far outstrips all of our wildest guesses. The initial reaction of Christians here and around the world has been one of astonishment, bewilderment, and defensive disbelief. We will have to wait and see just what effect this discovery will have on the 2,000-year-old religion. To the mind of this unbelieving writer, it appears that Christianity will have to take its place on the same level with the other religions of the world. No longer can its followers claim that, unlike other religions, the tomb of its founder is empty. Evidently a 2,000-year-old lie has come to an end.
Paul states that IF the above were true, your faith in Christ is worthless and you are still under the curse of your sins. Has your mind and heart grasped the eternal significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ?1134
John Singleton Copley, one of the great legal minds in British history and three times High Chancellor of England, wrote, “I know pretty well what evidence is, and I tell you, such evidence as that for the resurrection has never broken down yet.”1135
General Wellington commanded the victorious forces at the great battle of Waterloo that effectively ended the Napoleonic Wars. The story has been told that when the battle was over, Wellington sent the great news of his victory to England. A series of stations, one within sight of the next, had been established to send code messages between England and the continent. The message to be sent was “Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.” Meanwhile a fog set in and interrupted the message sending. As a result, people only saw news of “Wellington defeated—” Later, the fog cleared and the full message continued, which was quite different from the outcome that the people originally thought had happened!
The same is true today. When many look at what happened on Good Friday, the death of Christ, they see only “defeat.” Yet, on Easter, at the Resurrection, God’s message was completed. The resurrection spelled “victory.”1136
Hugh Schonfield’s Passover Plot is one of the literary attempts to explain away the events of the crucifixion and the resurrection. But it, like all the others, relies on that ancient lie circulated in the very first century by the soldiers who were paid to say that the friends of Jesus had come and stolen his body away. But no one has ever been able to explain how that could happen.1137
The originator of a new religion came to the great French diplomat statesman Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord and complained that he could not make any converts. “What would you suggest I do?” he asked.
“I should recommend,” said Talleyrand, “that you get yourself crucified, and then die, but be sure to rise again the third day.”1138