It is a fundamental part of Christianity to believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

Therefore, Christians should always be prepared to explain why they believe in the resurrection.

The Apostle Paul even stressed the importance of this question when he said that if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then our faith is useless, and we are utterly deceived.

1 Corinthians 15:14-19 (NKJV)

And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.  And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

To tackle this question, we will look at an acronym (CDPJE) summarized by the first alphabet of the following sentence: ‘Christ Disciples Preached Jesus Everywhere.

Crucifixion

Disciples

Paul conversion

James conversion

Empty tomb

The Crucifixion

Jesus died at the crucifixion. To prove that Jesus had resurrected, we first need to determine that He actually died (as people still claim He did not). Let’s look at some facts about the crucifixion event.

• • • All four gospel accounts (Mathew / Mark / Luke / John) record the crucifixion event. Signifying its historicity as the four accounts individually record this event.
    • No reputable scholar would dispute that Jesus was crucified. Even among skeptics who deny the deity of Christ, most of them would agree historically that a Man named Jesus was on the earth and that He died by crucifixion.
    • The guards who crucified Jesus were professional executioners. Some say that if an executioner took a man off before he was dead, he would also face the same death. That is why the Roman soldiers pierced Jesus on His side to see if the water and blood were separated, as is consistent with physical death.

Disciples and Paul’s Conversion: 

As soon as the disciples realized that Jesus had risen, they came out of hiding and continued to preach the gospel. They could have remained in hiding, but they chose to follow Him, preach the gospel and even died terrible deaths for it.

Additionally, the disciples, who had been part of Jesus’ three-year ministry and even witnessed His miracles, would have had a good reason to follow Him, but the Apostle Paul did not have the same motivation.

The Apostle Paul on the other hand did not know Jesus personally during His 3-year ministry. In fact, Paul was converted while on a mission persecuting Christians and was converted when he saw a vision of the resurrected Christ (Refer to Acts chapter 9). Paul’s drastic change from persecuting Christians to an avid follower of Jesus can only be explained by him supernaturally witnessing the resurrected Christ.

The Conversion of James:  

James, including all of Jesus’ brothers, were unbelievers during His earthly ministry (John 7:5). James was a notable leader of the Jerusalem Church and even earned the name ‘camel knees’ due to his devout and frequent prayers.

But when Jesus appeared to him (after the resurrection), he became a believer and was radically transformed.

However, his conversion was a source of contention for many Jews in that era who became hostile against him. Very soon he was dragged by a group of angry mobs who threw him off the place where he used to pray and later stoned him to death. Yet, even in the face of such extreme persecuting, James remained steadfast in his beliefs and persisted in his commitment to Christ until his final breath.

The Tomb was Empty:  

There are two sub-facts about the empty tomb of Jesus:

1. The Enemy’s attestation of the fact that the body was missing.

Common wisdom suggests that testimony from a friend or relative might be biased and thus less credible. However, when an adversary acknowledges something, it carries greater weight. In the case of Jesus’ resurrection, even His enemies, who had much to lose by doing so, attested to the missing body. This enemy attestation significantly bolsters the claim of the resurrection, as it’s unlikely they would confirm a fact that supports the narrative of someone they opposed.

1. Testimony of women.

In ancient times, women were often marginalized in legal and societal contexts, with their testimonies considered less valid than those of men. Intriguingly, it’s women who are reported in the Gospels as the first to find Jesus’ tomb empty.

If the Gospel writers were fabricating this story, relying on women as primary witnesses would have seemed counterproductive in convincing a contemporary audience. Their choice in using the facts suggests a commitment to reporting events as they occurred rather than constructing a more culturally palatable narrative. The reliance on women’s testimony in such a critical moment underscores the Gospels’ aim for truthfulness over societal conventions.

These two elements together strengthen the argument that the empty tomb account wasn’t a fabrication but a sincere attempt to record actual events. The involvement of enemies and marginalized witnesses in verifying this key event points to a narrative grounded in historical occurrences rather than a constructed myth.

Conclusion  

Taking all these facts into account, we can conclude that Jesus did exist, was crucified, and people around him, including those who did not personally know Him, witnessed Him resurrected.

In addition to proving every claim about Christ made by the prophets and apostles, the resurrection of Jesus also erased doubts about His divinity.

The resurrection proved that He truly spoke of things that the Father taught Him, that the Father was one with Him, and that He always did things that pleased the Father, for He could do nothing else in His divine perfection (Heb. 7:26).

The resurrection is not merely a historical event; it is a foundational moment that eradicates doubts and cements the understanding of Jesus’ divine nature and mission.