The Bible writers told us plainly that Jesus died.
(John 19:30 NIV) When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
(Luke 23:46) Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
In Acts 2:23, Peter said, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” Peter gave a similar testimony in Acts 4:10, “By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.”
His death was verified by a Roman soldier.
(John 19:32-33) The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. {33} But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
His death was also verified by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who prepared his body according to Jewish burial customs.
(John 19:38-40) Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. {39} He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. {40} Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.
Jesus himself prophesied that he would die
The teaching that Jesus died and rose from the dead is not the teachings of Jesus’ misguided followers. Many times, Jesus Himself taught that He would die and rise from the dead.
(Mark 8:31) He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.
MK 8:31 Kemudian mulailah Yesus mengajarkan kepada mereka, bahwa Anak Manusia harus menanggung banyak penderitaan dan ditolak oleh tua-tua, imam-imam kepala dan ahli-ahli Taurat, lalu dibunuh dan bangkit sesudah tiga hari.
(Mat 17:22-23) When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. {23} They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.”
MT 17:22 Pada waktu Yesus dan murid-murid-Nya bersama-sama di Galilea, Ia berkata kepada mereka: “Anak Manusia akan diserahkan ke dalam tangan manusia
MT 17:23 dan mereka akan membunuh Dia dan pada hari ketiga Ia akan dibangkitkan.”
Jesus not only taught that He would die, He also taught that His life would become a ransom for us.
(Mark 10:45 NIV) For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
(Mat 20:28 NIV) just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
After Jesus’ death, he proclaimed that he had died.
Rev 1:17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Even though this was the revelation of angel so is the Quran.
luke 24:46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
24:47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
24:48 You are witnesses of these things.
It was prophesied in the Old Testament that Jesus would die.
(Isa 53) Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? (See John 12:38-47) {2} He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. {3} He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. {4} Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. (See Matt 8:17) {5} But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. {6} We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. {7} He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. (See John 1:29) {8} By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. {9} He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. (See Matt 27: 57-60) {10} Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. {11} After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. {12} Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (See Luke 22:37)
Evidence from the Bible that Jesus resurrected
Historical records show us that Jesus did not die and remain dead; He was resurrected.
The first person Jesus appeared to after He resurrected was to Mary Magdalene (John 20:10-18). In a male-dominated first century Jewish culture, a person inventing a story would never have suggested that Jesus first appeared to a woman. A woman’s testimony was not even accepted in the courts at that time.
Jesus appeared to many people from that day onwards. He appeared to Cephas, James, the disciples, the two men on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-15), even to more than 500 people at one time (1 Cor 15:3-7).
Quality of the Biblical evidence
The accounts of Jesus’ resurrection in the Bible were based eyewitness testimonies.
(Luke 1:1-2) Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, {2} just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.
The records in the Bible about Jesus’ resurrection were not based on hearsay but eyewitness testimonies. The testimonies or eyewitnesses are highly valued in any court of law.
Dr Simon Greenleaf, a Harvard Professional of Law, concluded that the resurrection of Christ was one of the best-supported events in history, according to the laws of legal evidence administered in courts of justice.
The New Testament accounts about the resurrection were written so soon after the death of Jesus that it could not have contained falsehood or myths.
One principle historians use to determine whether a record is authentic is to determine the time span between the time of the event and the recording. Generally, the shorter the interval between the event and the time of writing, the more likely an account is true. For example, an account’s accuracy is doubtful if it was written 1,000 years after the event. How can we be sure that the writer has written accurately since he was not even present at the incident? Furthermore, what he wrote couldn’t be refuted by people who read it because the readers were also not at the scene of the incident.
We can trust in the reliability of New Testament because they were circulated only shortly after the death of Jesus. There is strong evidence that the gospels were written within only 30 years after His death.
This means that the New Testament accounts had been tested by being circulated during the lifetimes of those alive at the resurrection. The writers cannot afford to report falsehoods because the readers could contradict their testimony if they were not accurate. For instance, if we all witness a murder and a week later the police report turns out to be full of lies, we as witnesses can refute it. Furthermore, the accounts were circulated during the lifetime of those who were extremely hostile to Jesus, who even crucified him. Would these people have allowed false statements to pass as facts concerning events that they themselves were witnesses to?
In 1 Corinthians 15:38, when Paul talks about the resurrection of Jesus, he appeals to the audience’s knowledge of the fact that Christ had been seen by more than 500 people at one time after his death. Paul reminds them that the majority of these people was still alive (vs.6) and could be questioned. Paul was in effect saying, “If you don’t believe me, you can ask them.”
In Acts 2:22, Peter said, “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God perform through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know.”
The life of Jesus’ disciples is testimony that they have witnessed their risen Master.
After Jesus’ death His disciples were scared, scattered, and sceptical. Only one, John, was at the crucifixion (John 19:26-27). The rest fled (Matt 27:58). The disciples doubted the reports of the women (Luke 24:11). A few weeks later these very same men and women who had huddled in secret (John 20:19) were fearlessly and openly proclaiming the resurrection of Christ before the religious council, Sanhedrin, that was responsible for Christ’s death (Acts 4 – 5).
The skeptic Strauss, in the following vigorous language:
“It is impossible that a being who had stolen half-dead out of the sepulcher, who crept about weak and ill, wanting medical treatment, who required bandaging, strengthening and indulgence, and who at last yielded to His sufferings, could have given to the disciples the impression that He was a conqueror over death and the grave, the Prince of Life-an impression which lay at the bottom of their future ministry. Such resuscitation could only have weakened the impression that He had made upon them in life and death…. It could by no possibility have changed their sorrow into enthusiasm, or have elevated their reverence into worship.”
Not only were the lives of Jesus’ disciples totally transformed after they saw their resurrected Master, these disciples were even willing to die for their belief in the resurrection. History tells us that out of twelve disciples, eleven died as martyrs testifying to the resurrection of Jesus. The question we have to ask ourselves is this: “Who is willing to die for a lie?” It is true many people died for something that is not true, but they died thinking it was true. It would be hard to find eleven people in history that died for a lie, knowing it was a lie.