Easter: The Facts About the Resurrection
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Every spring, the conversation about Easter seems to circle around the same things. People talk about dying eggs in pretty pastel colors, baskets filled with candy, egg hunts for children, and the idea of new beginnings as the season changes. None of these traditions are inherently wrong. However, with the commercialization of Christian holidays and the lack of apologetics being taught in many churches, we are often distracted from the reason Easter exists in the first place.
At its core, Easter is the claim that Jesus of Nazareth physically rose from the dead.
Easter Is a Historical Claim
Christianity isnโt just about inspiring teachings; it is based on historical facts and truth. One key claim is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead after being crucified. If this resurrection really happened, then Christianity is true. If it didnโt, Christianity wouldn’t hold up. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15 that if Christ has not been raised, then the Christian faith is empty and believers are still in their sins.
Christianity doesn’t ask people to believe comforting ideas. Instead, it makes a claim about reality and invites people to examine the evidence.
Discovering the Evidence
Around Christmas, I started reading a book called Excavating the Evidence for Jesus (linked from Amazon). I decided to go through it during Advent because the entire book focuses on discovering the historical evidence for Jesus. As I worked through it, I found myself more and more fascinated by the amount of evidence that exists surrounding the life of Christ and the early Christian movement. I began to see Jesus that way historians do, and saw what the evidence actually shows.
Since then, I have been genuinely excited to learn more about the historical evidence for Christianity. The more I study it, the more I realize that the claims of Christianity were never meant to exist only in the realm of personal belief or emotional inspiration. This is something that William Lane Craig often emphasizes in his work: Christianity is not meant to be understood as “blind faith.” It is rooted in real historical events that can be examined and discussed.
That is why Easter matters so much!
Easter is not simply a seasonal celebration or just a symbolic reminder of hope. It is the claim that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead. Therefore, the question isn’t whether the story is beautiful or inspiring, but whether it is true. And if it is true, then Christianity stands on solid ground. The resurrection would mean that Jesus is who He said He was and that His words about God, sin, forgiveness, and eternal life deserve to be taken seriously.
This is why the resurrection matters: it gives Christiansย confidence in their faith, provides a reasoned answer we can share with those who are curious, skeptical, or searching, and gives us a reason we can thoughtfully pass it on to our children. What good news!
What Historians Agree On
One of the most widely accepted facts in ancient history is that Jesus of Nazareth was executed by Roman crucifixion under Pontius Pilate. Scholars across religious perspectives agree on this point, including historians who are not Christians.
One early example is from the Roman historian Tacitus, writing around AD 116:
Tacitus was not a Christian and had no interest in defending Christianity. Yet he confirms the execution of Jesus under Pontius Pilate, which aligns with the Gospel accounts.
Another quote from the Jewish historian Josephus in Antiquities of the Jewsย states:
โWhen Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucifiedโฆโ
Sources and Further Reading
Tacitus โ Annals 15.44
Josephus โ Antiquities of the Jews
Bart Ehrman โ Did Jesus Exist?
N.T. Wright โ The Resurrection of the Son of God
William Lane Craig โ reasonablefaith.org
Titus Kennedy โ drtituskennedy.com
Crucifixion was a brutal Roman method of execution that was intentionally designed to kill; it was not a punishment that people survived. It was a Roman execution method designed to ensure death, much like the electric chair or lethal injection in modern capital punishment.
The Tomb Was Empty
The earliest Christian message was preached in Jerusalem, the same city where Jesus had been publicly executed and buried. According to the Gospel accounts, the tomb where Jesus was placed was later found empty. If the body of Jesus had still been there, the authorities could have easily produced it and ended the movement immediately. Instead, the earliest explanation offered by opponents of Christianity was that the disciples had stolen the body. Ironically, that accusation admits something important; it assumes the tomb was empty.
The empty tomb is significant because it creates a historical problem that requires an explanation. A missing body alone does not prove resurrection, but it forces us to ask what actually happened.
Women Were the First Witnesses
All four Gospels report that women were the first people to discover the empty tomb. In modern culture, that detail may not seem unusual, but in first-century Jewish society, women’s testimony was not considered legally reliable in court. If someone were inventing a story to convince others, they would not choose witnesses whose testimony carried little weight in their culture; they would have named prominent male followers instead.
The fact that the Gospel writers consistently recorded women as the first witnesses suggests they were reporting what actually happened rather than shaping the narrative to make it more believable.
Multiple People Claimed to See the Risen Jesus
The earliest Christians were not claiming that Jesus lived on as an abstract idea or that His teachings simply continued to inspire them. They were claiming that they saw Him alive after His death. These reports came from individuals and groups of people who said they spoke with Him, spent time with Him, and even touched Him.
One of the earliest summaries of these appearances is found in 1 Corinthians 15. In that passage, the Apostle Paul records a list of several witnesses, including Peter, the twelve disciples, and a group of more than five hundred people who saw Jesus at the same time. This is important because it shows that resurrection claims were circulating very early, rather than developing centuries later as legends.
The Conversion of a Skeptic
Another intriguing piece of the historical puzzle is the dramatic transformation of Saul of Tarsus, who later became known as the Apostle Paul. Before becoming a Christian, Saul actively persecuted followers of Jesus and approved of their imprisonment and execution. Yet he later claimed that he encountered the risen Christ and became one of Christianityโs most influential missionaries.
This kind of transformation is not something we only see in the early church. It is something people still describe in their own lives today. Many Christians will say they simply believe by faith, and while Christianity certainly does require faith, that does not mean there is no evidence.
The changes that occur in a personโs life often become part of the evidence itself.
One of the consistent claims of Christianity is that people are spiritually transformed, or “born again.” The goal is not simply to become a nicer or more moral person. Scripture describes something much deeper. It speaks of a change that begins in the heart and gradually reshapes the way someone thinks, acts, and lives.
Their lives begin to reflect the teachings of Jesus, not because they are trying to earn anything from God, but because something deeper has taken place within them. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, people begin to change in ways that do not come naturally, learning to forgive enemies, love those who persecute them, and pursue the will of God.
For many believers, this transformation shows that Christianity is real, as it is seen in the lives of people who start to embody the teachings found in Scripture.
Paulโs conversion is difficult to explain if the resurrection was simply a made-up story created by the disciples. Something significant must account for the sudden change in his life and his willingness to suffer imprisonment, beatings, and ultimately death for the message he once tried to destroy.
Alternative Theories
Over the centuries, many alternative explanations have been proposed to account for the resurrection story. Some suggest that the disciples stole the body and invented the resurrection. Others propose that the disciples experienced grief-induced hallucinations or that the women simply went to the wrong tomb.
Each of these theories attempts to explain part of the evidence, but none of them explains all of it. The stolen body theory struggles to explain why the disciples would willingly suffer persecution and death for something they knew was false. Hallucination theories do not account for group appearances or the empty tomb. The wrong tomb idea collapses when we remember that both the authorities and the followers of Jesus knew where the body had been buried.
When all the evidence is considered together, the resurrection is the best explanation given the historical evidence. This is also where faith comes in! At some point, a person must decide whether they believe the evidence is trustworthy and whether the event it points to is real.
Why the Resurrection Matters
For many Americans, Easter is a cultural tradition associated with springtime celebrations. Yet the original claim behind Easter is far more significant than decorated eggs or seasonal symbolism. Easter is the claim that Jesus rose bodily from the grave.
If that claim is true, it means Jesus was not merely a teacher or moral example; it would mean His words carry authority.
Did Jesus actually rise from the dead?
If He did, Christianity is not just meaningful or helpful; it is true.
