Known historical facts about the death and resurrection of Christ

                                      CONSIDERING THE FACTS

1. Known historical facts.
We have already shown that many of the events concerning Jesus' life and death are established as historical fact. The Bible
has never been proven historically wrong. The reason why people reject it is because it records miracles as events in history.
The event in this case is the resurrection of Jesus. There is circumstantial evidence for the resurrection as well as
eyewitnesses. Also there has never been given an explanation using naturalistic means which accounts for all of the known
historical facts.

2. Jesus was indeed a person in history who died on a cross. The fact that Jesus was a man in history that was crucified
was already covered. This is a matter of historical record. There are some who believe that Jesus lived through this causing the
disciples to believe in the resurrection. A similar belief is found in the Koran, which is sacred writings to the Muslim.
In the Koran we read the following, Surah 4:157, "And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah Jesus son of
Mary, Allah's messenger - They slew him not nor crucified, but it appeared unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it
are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of conjecture; they slew him not for certain,"

We have already established that Jesus was crucified this is a matter of historical fact. The next question is did Jesus die due
to crucifixion?

There is an article found in "The Journal of American Medical Association," Vol.255, No.11, March 21,1986, pages
1455-1463. This article makes some interesting points and comments. The quotes following are from this article.

"Jesus, apparently knowing that the time of his death was near, suffered great mental anguish, and as described by the
physician Luke, his sweat became like blood. (LK.22:44) Although this is a very rare phenomenon, bloody sweat (hematidrosis
or hemohidrosis) may occur in highly emotional states." The article then relates how the trials of Jesus went throughout the
night. Jesus was forced to walk about 2 and 1/2 miles in-between the various trials. During this time, as we are told in Mark
14:65 they beat him with their fist, spit upon him and slapped him in the face. These events led up to the scourging.
The article at this point states "These physical and emotional factors may have rendered Jesus particularly vulnerable to the
adverse hemodynamic effects of the scourging"...."the usual instrument was a short whip (flagrum or flagellum) with several
single or braided leather thongs of variable lengths, in which small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones were tied at
intervals." This was "intended to weaken the victim just short of collapse or death." ....."the leather thongs and sheep bones
would cut into the skin and subcutaneous tissues. Then as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying
skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. Pain and blood loss generally set the stage for circulatory
shock. The extent of the blood loss may well have determined how long the victim would survive on the cross." Later we are told
that they put a crown of thorns upon his head. Then with a staff made of some sort of reed and began to beat Jesus on the
head Mt.27:30. Jesus apparently was weakened enough due to this physical punishment that he could not carry the platibulum
(the horizontal piece of the cross) 1/3 of a mile so they made a man named Simon carry it.Lk.23:26. And when they had come
to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they drove spikes through his wrists and his feet. Matt 27:33,
Jn 20:25.

(The article states "the ancients customarily considered the wrists to be part of the hand")

Going by archaeological findings it is determined the spikes would have been according to the article " 5-7 in. long with a
square shaft 3/8 in. across." ....    "The major pathophysiologic effect by crucifixion, beyond the excruciating pain, was a
marked interference with normal respiration, particularly exhalation."...." Adequate exhalation required lifting of the body by
pushing on the feet and by flexing the elbows and adducting the shoulders. However this maneuver would place the entire
weight of the body on the tarsals and would produce searing pain. Furthermore, flexion of the elbows would cause rotation of
the wrist about the iron nails and cause fiery pain along the damaged median nerves. Lifting of the body would also painfully
scrape the scourged back against the rough wooden stripes. Muscle cramps and paresthesias of the outstretched and uplifted
arms would add to the discomfort. As a result, each respiratory effort would become agonizing and tiring and lead eventually to
asphyxia."

We are also told that one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.(John
19:34) The article says

" By custom, one of the Roman guards would pierce the body with a sword or lance. Traditionally, this had been considered a
spear wound to the heart through the right side of the chest- a fatal wound probably taught to most Roman soldiers. The Shroud
of Turin documents this form of injury."........ "Therefore the water probably represented serious pleural and pericardial fluid, and
would have proceeded the flow of blood and been smaller in volume than the blood. Perhaps in the setting of hypovolemia and
impending acute heart failure, pleural and pericardial effusions may have developed and would have added to the apparent
water. The blood, in contrast, may have originated from the right ventricle or perhaps from a hemopericardium."....."Thus it
remains unsettled whether Jesus died of cardiac rupture or of cardiorespiratory failure. However, the important feature may be
not how he died but rather whether he died. Clearly, the weight of historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus was
dead before the wound to his side was inflicted and supports the traditional view that the spear, thrust between his right ribs,
probably perforated not only the right lung but also the pericardium and the heart and thereby insured his death. Accordingly,
interpretations based on the assumption that Jesus did not die on the cross appear to be at odds with modern
medical knowledge."

The article in," The Journal of American Medical Association", stops at this point, but the gospels have a little more to add.
Jesus was also wrapped in grave clothes with 100 pounds of spices (Jn.19:39) and placed in a tomb with a very large stone
placed in front of it (Mt.27:60). Even without being beaten, scourged and crucified this would kill a man. Being wrapped up with
the 100 pounds of spices would probably suffocate a person. Even if the person got out of that, how would they move the large
stone uphill out of a ravine from the inside of the tomb? The average stone for this type of tomb has been estimated to weigh
about 1 1/2 - 2 Tons (The Resurrection Factor pg.54). To move a stone that large would be a pretty remarkable feat for a
person in good shape let alone for someone that at the very least should be in critical condition.

3. Precautions taken concerning the grave.
Matt 27:63-66 (The Jews speaking to Pilate about Jesus said) "Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver
said, 'After three days I am to rise again.' "Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, lest the
disciples come and steal Him away and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last deception will be worse
than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how." And they went and made the
grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.

They really did not do themselves any favor by taking these precautions. This only makes the disciples testimony more
credible. The penalty for a Roman guard for leaving their post or falling asleep was death. This also applied to the rest of the
men in the unit, even if only one of the guards deserted their post. The Roman seal itself was no small matter either. To break
that seal would be a violation against the Roman government. (As we see in the gospels, crucifixion was the sentence for the
thieves next to Jesus Mk.15:27.) This type of severity as a punishment indicates to us that a violation against the Roman
government would not be something taken lightly. What caused the Roman guard to leave their post even though the penalty for
doing so was death? We are told an angel came and rolled the stone away. Mt.28:2-4. This would account for them leaving, as
well as reporting first to the religious leaders. Mt.28:11-15. The religious leaders would be the only ones that might possibly
have the influence in their culture to be able to save their neck for leaving their post in this particular case. After all it was
because of their influence that a guard was given to secure the tomb.

4. No motive for the disciples, as well as unbelievers to lie.
Remember that the disciples endured persecution and died for this belief never recanting their story. Their testimony carries
improbabilities of a made up story. For instance, the fact that Jesus appeared first to a woman Mk.16:9. According to Jewish
principles of legal evidence a woman's testimony would not be admissible in court. In such a male dominated culture it makes
no sense to make up a story having Jesus appear first to women when it would hinder the belief of many.
The disciples at Jesus arrest ran away. Peter even denied knowing him at all. (Mt.26:69-75) After the crucifixion of Jesus,
which was their point of sorrow and despair they soon became bold witnesses of the resurrection. If the resurrection of Jesus
were not true then why would they do this?

There also would be a conflict of morals. Jesus and his disciples taught that one should live a life of good moral values. If they
made up this story they would also have to knowingly go against what their beloved leader Jesus taught. Their whole life would
have to become patterned after this lie and they would have to be willing to die for what they knew to be a lie. Even if they did
make it up, how would they influence Paul, James and Jude to go along with this lie? Paul was very zealous in persecuting the
church before he claimed to see the resurrected Jesus. It would take a powerful motive for him to change sides and then be
persecuted and die for this belief as he did. If his testimony is also untrue, what motive could there possibly be for him to do
this?

Simon Greenleaf was a famous Royall Professor of Law at Harvard University. He produced a well known work entitled "A
Treatise on the Law of Evidence", which is considered by some the greatest single authority on evidence of legal procedure.
While Greenleaf was still a professor at Harvard, he took the challenge of applying the gospels and the claims of the
eyewitnesses to see if they would stand reliable when the rules of evidence were applied as in a court of law. He showed that
they would indeed stand reliable. He wrote a book concerning this which is entitled " The Testimony of the Evangelists, The
Gospels Examined by the Rules of Evidence Administered in Courts of Justice ".On pg.32 of his book speaking of the
disciples testimony he concludes "If then their testimony was not true, there was no possible motive for this fabrication"

5. These people claimed to be eyewitnesses. There were more than 500 eyewitnesses. Can you imagine all of these
people testifying in a court room? If the cross examination and testimony only lasted 6 minutes per person you would have 50
hours of eyewitness testimony. The disciples said, they talked with Jesus ate with him and touched him as well. Not all of these
eyewitnesses were followers of Jesus before the resurrection.

6. The Pharisees had political and personal motive to expose the disciples for being a fraud by producing the body
of Jesus. Why didn't they do this if they could do it?
"Reasons for Pharisaic Hatred of Christ: The opposition of the Pharisees to Jesus was intensified by another reason. They
were the democratic party; their whole power lay in the reputation they had with the people for piety. Our Lord denounced them
as hypocrites; moreover He had secured a deeper popularity than theirs. At length when cajolery failed to win Him and astute
questioning failed to destroy His popularity, they combined with their opponents, the Sadducees, against Him as against a
common enemy"
(from International Standard Bible Encylopaedia, Electronic Database,1996 by Biblesoft)

7. The empty tomb. In Acts chapter 3-4 we see Peter delivered a sermon on the resurrection of Jesus in the very town where
Jesus was crucified and buried shortly before. Thousands believed and Peter and John were arrested and told not to speak of
Jesus anymore. It would be rather hard to explain why so many believed and why the religious leaders did not simply produce
the body of Jesus if the tomb had not been empty. We also need to remember the empty tomb itself is not what caused the
disciples to believe. In Luke 24:11, we find that when the women told the disciples Jesus had risen from the dead they would
not believe them, because these words appeared to them as nonsense. They believed after Jesus appeared to them also.
There is also an interesting note we find in John 20:7 the face-cloth, which had been on His head, not lying with the linen
wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. This is rather puzzling if we are to believe that the disciples stole the body. Even if
they did manage to get past the Roman guard break the Roman seal and move the stone, why would they take the time to
undress the body and roll up the face cloth and leave the grave clothes there? It does makes sense why the risen Jesus would
do this, but why would they do it?

8. Change in the day of worship. The Jews highly regarded the Sabbath, which is Saturday as the day of worship. To
change from Saturday to Sunday was an appalling thing to do for the Jewish mind. When and Why did this change take place?
We see hints of this change within the New Testament writings in Acts 20:7 & 1 Cor.16:2. This gives us a clue as to when.

Acts 20:7 And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them,
intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.

1 Cor 16:2 On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be
made when I come.

The first day of the week is Sunday. In these text we see hints that a meeting was taking place on Sunday. Since Paul
instructed them to make their collection on this day, it appears that this was done on a regular basis. So in these passages we
see collections, preaching and the breaking of bread taking place on Sunday. Since we find this in the New Testament, it
appears this change from Saturday to Sunday took place at the very beginnings of the church. But why did this change take
place? Justin Martyr a Christian writer who lived 100-165 A.D. tells us that they met on Sunday because this was the day Jesus
rose from the dead. So Sunday worship is actually celebrating and bringing into remembrance the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Following is the words of Justin Martyr.

The First Apology of Justin .Chapter LXVII.--Weekly Worship of the Christians.
"on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles
or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally
instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said when our
prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgiving's,
according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over
which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and
willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows
and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning
among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need.

But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a
change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He
was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having
appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your
consideration.

Roberts, Alexander and Donaldson, James, Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume I, (Oak Harbor,WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.)
1997.