10 Reasons To Believe In The Resurrection, and 10 reasons Why it Matters

10 Top Reasons To Believe In The Resurrection:

#10- Broken Roman seal
The Roman seal stood for the power and authority of Rome. The consequences of breaking the seal were extremely severe. If they were apprehended, it meant automatic execution. People feared the breaking of the seal and Jesus' own disciples were showing themselves as cowards by hiding. Peter even denied Christ three times.

#9- The guarded tomb. The punishment for a Roman guard falling asleep was punishable by death. For one to fall asleep, maybe, but they were too well trained to all fall asleep.

#8- The Graveclothes- The tomb was not totally empty. John, the disciple, looked over to the place where the body of Jesus had lain, and there were the grave clothes, in the form of the body, slightly caved in and empty--like the empty chrysalis of a caterpillar's cocoon. The head cloth was rolled up separate just as it shoule be. That's enough to make a believer out of anybody. John never did get over the empty grave clothes--undisturbed in form and position.

#7- If there was a dead body, Rome and the chief priests would have produced it to squelch the mounting evidence of the resurrection. The people knew what he looked like, All they had to do was produce it.

#6- Women given place of honor, Jesus showed his resurrected body to women first. Only Jesus would have given women, especially in that day, this honor: Jesus told them to, "Go and tell my brothers, the disciples, the good news." If this was a fairy tale, men would have been the culturally accepted ones to first discover the empty tomb.

#5- Eye witnesses: over 500 people saw Jesus' resurrected body at the same time!
(1 Corinthians 15:6) When that was written most of these people were still alive and could testify to this.

#4- The disciples changed from being cowards, to being willing to die for what they saw. If Jesus Christ wasn't raised from the dead, if it weren't true, Peter, the other disciples, and the rest of the early Christians, would have remained silent to protect themselves from persecution, torture and death!

#3- The Apostle Paul, a well-known, devout Jew, who hated Christians and wanted to kill them; until he met the risen LORD. Think of someone in today's world who hates Christians. What would it take for them to become evangelists? A miracle?

#2- His own brothers become followers- If Jesus did not rise from the dead why did His own brothers become followers when they weren’t before?

And, the #1 reason to believe in the resurrection of Jesus: Because he said so! (John 2:19-20) Jesus predicted his death and resurrection. Jesus cannot be 'just a good man', or 'a prophet'. He was either a liar and has deceived millions of people for centuries. Or, he was crazy to call himself God. Or he is the Risen Christ, and he told the truth! You decide.

So, OK, I make a good point that Jesus rose from the dead but why does that matter to me?

Mat 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders, chief priests and scribes, be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Jesus said He MUST rise again. Why?

#10 Jesus set an example of self-denial, and New Life comes after you give it up- Mat 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever desires to lose his life for My sake shall find it.

#9 Death could not hold Him in the grave- Act 2:23 this One given to you by the before-determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by lawless hands, crucifying Him, you put Him to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it...

#8 So that Jesus could enable people to repent from sin- Act 3:26 Having raised up His son Jesus, God sent Him to you first, to bless you in turning every one of you away from his iniquities.

#7 So that Jesus could take away our sins and sin’s punishment- Act 5: 31 This One God has exalted to be a Ruler and Savior to His right hand in order to give repentance and remission of sins to Israel.

#6 For God’s prophecy of His Son not seeing decay- Act 13: 34 And that He raised Him up from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He spoke in this way: "I will give you the holy promises of David." 35 Therefore he also says in another psalm, "You shall not allow Your Holy One to see corruption."

#5 To demonstrate that Jesus was in fact the Son of God- Rom 1:3 about His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 who was marked out the Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead;

#4 So that we might be fully justified before God- Rom 4:24 but for us also to whom it is to be imputed, to the ones believing on Him who has raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 who was delivered because of our offenses and was raised for our justification.

#3 To guarantee to all beleivers new and eternal life with God- Rom 6:4 …we were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father; even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been joined together in the likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection… 8 But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that when Christ was raised from the dead, He dies no more; death no longer has dominion over Him.

#2 So that Jesus would be our intercessor- Rom 8:34 Who is he condemning? It is Christ who has died, but rather also who is raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

#1 The Number one reason The Resurrection of Jesus Christ matters to us: Jesus IS the Resurrection and the Life. Joh 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"