The Authenticity of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ

There have been people who question that Jesus ever lived, died and even resurrected. Some have challenged the event as even occurred as it is proclaimed to have happened. Some people have made some statements that at first glance appear to be true. Impressing many to disbelieve it possibly to be true, reducing the testimony of the Death and Resurrection of Christ as a manipulative plot to control large amounts of people and mobilize them against that which is considered evil. If we believe this then this life that so many have chosen to live is a waste of time. So today we answer concerning the authenticity of the death and Resurrection of Christ.

The accusation that I have heard is that the Bible is a book written by man and therefore it is not divine. Our answer to this is that it is true that the Bible has many human authors but it being a book is a wrong perception of what it is. The Holy Bible is a compilation of several books that share a common theme, God's love for mankind and Mankind's relationship with God. What makes the Bible unique is not only its theme but also that it human authors were born at different times and wrote as inspired by God the things and the acts of God in, through and upon men. This separates this compilation from any other library in the world. Men have died preserving its writings over the ages because it tells us, who it is left to how the world began and how human life came to this earth. Eliminate the Bible and we are all left guessing about our origin. Some would have us to believe the theory of mankind's origin was something other what God has disclosed in the Bible. The bible does not speak in probabilities concerning the origin of human life, but the theories that men conjure up speak that way, because they are guessing. The Bible has stories of cultures and countries that do not exist any more in our day, but have been discovered through archaeological finds. Proving in each way that the stories of the Bible are factual and true. So the Bible is a library, set apart because it speaks to mankind's origin, and creation it explains historical events verified by Archeology through men inspired by a Divine creator.

It is in this library we find the testimony of four men, who is bearing witness to the death and Resurrection of a man call Jesus of Nazareth. This is very important because if the death and Resurrection was a fairy tale then these four witnesses could not agree on the death and resurrection ever occurring. What is astounding about these four witnesses that they were written at four different locations at four different times in four different perspectives for four different purposes. Which four men I speak of? Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The first Gospel composed was that of Mark. John Mark was an Evangelist and was under the observation of the Apostle Peter. Before Mark took the Gospel that now bears his name and preached to all those in Northern Africa, he composed it according to the dictation of the Apostle Peter. It is a brief Gospel so that someone could read it in a short period of time, it is full of the demonstration of the healing power of Jesus.

The next Gospel that was composed was done by Mathew, other wise known as Matthias in the Book of Acts, The Gospel that bears his name was written to answer the questions of Jesus' Jewish and kingly roots. It was written for the church at Jerusalem. The Kingdom of God theme and principles run throughout the record.

The Gospel of Luke came next, his gospel account was an research assignment for a Greek senator named Theophilus. His is the most accurate of all the Gospel records. Why? Well he had to be accurate, because that is what he was assigned to bring back to Rome. He interviewed Mary, the mother of Jesus, he compared the gospel records of Matthew and Mark and added additional testimonies of the disciples of James and John of the words and teachings of Christ. If he failed to bring an accurate report he was to be killed by the Romans, He also was in danger of his life because the unbelievers wanted to kill him for making the attempt to compile and write the gospel. Luke traveled with the Apostle Paul and wrote two reports the Gospel record that bears his name and the Book of the Acts of the Disciples, which is a historical record of the orgins of the universal church of Christ. Which all who believe in Christ are a part of.

The last Gospel was composed by John the Apostle of Christ, because there was a question of the divinity of Jesus that the other three Gospels did not address completely. All the other Gospels testified that Jesus was the Son of God, John Gospel explained why Jesus was the Son of God and why he came to us from God and why he had to die for us. He specifically wrote to promote faith in Jesus as the Son of God.

Now John, like Matthew were of the original Apostles of Christ, the other two were written by Believers who were told by the Disciples of Jesus. Now all four of the them recount the death and resurrection of Christ. All the Gospel records were written between AD 25 and AD 70 and were in full circulation in the church community. This makes the Gospel records the closest to being there when the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, happened. Two of the Gospel authors seen it with their own eyes, two seen it through the testimony of those who were there when it happened. Here is the important part, they all died without regretting what they wrote and testified about. Not one of them wrote anything after they composed their Gospel accounts that they were making the whole thing up. They died for what they knew was fact.

This brings us to the actual event, which still lingers with us until this day. Why? Jesus did not want it to be forgotten. How do I know this? The communion that Jesus instituted at the Passover supper was an memorial to remember his death until he returns. To say that Jesus never died, would mean that we would not have to perform communion, because it would have been proven a fairy tale. Seeing that we have witnesses that died testifying of Jesus' death and his soon return throughout the ages that also performed the memorial act of the communion until this day, how can we say Jesus did not die on the cross and not then rise from the dead? Two direct witnesses of the four Gospel authors, who wrote about it, seen these two events with their own eyes. They seen Jesus Christ die,  they seen Christ risen from the dead and then they spent 40 days with Jesus, the Christ after his death just before he ascended into heaven. They died preaching what they knew to be fact.

Neither did Jesus not want us to forget that he died and rose again, for when at the communion table, instituting the memorial blessed the bread said to the disciples that were with him "take, eat, this is my body which is given up for you. Do this, in memory of me " after which he blessed the cup and said " take, drink, this is my blood which was shed for you. Do this in memory of me" After they had eaten the bread and drank of the cup Jesus said," I will not eat again and drink this fruit of the vine without until I come again and eat and drink anew with you in my kingdom..." He did this so that we would not forget that he indeed died and he indeed rise again from the dead, for if he did not do so, how would he return from that place which 500 saw him ascend to? No Jesus' death and resurrection is as authentic as the Bible and as real as the communion that is practiced by believers all over the world. So as many times we eat the bread and drink the fruit of the vine of communion. We proclaim the Lord's death and resurrection until he returns again.