Jesus Himself foretold His resurrection

• Jesus Himself foretold His resurrection. The prophecy of resurrection is found in John 2:19-22, New Testament. “Destroy this temple and in 3 days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews replied: “It has taken 46 years to build this temple and you are going to raise in 3 days?” But the temple He had spoken of was His body. After He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled what He had said. Then they believed the Scriptures and the words that Jesus had spoken.

• Unlike other religious figures in history, Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. An empty tomb documents the glorious event of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. In contrast, the tombs of other religious figures like Confucius, Buddha, and Mohammed are occupied.

• Is there life after death? Is there something beyond the grave? Many people have been bothered by this. The Bible has a simple answer when Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)

• For ages, people have held different views on who killed Jesus Christ. The Jewish leaders and the Romans have been principally blamed for the death of Jesus Christ. Their charges and plots led to the actual execution of Jesus Christ.

• The Bible, however, says that God destined and planned the event. (Acts 2:22-23) In another verse, Jesus said, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again.” (John 10:17) Nobody then took Jesus’ life. He yielded it.

• The Roman law required that a 2-day waiting period was to be observed before execution. In the case of Jesus, this law was not observed since He was tried in the morning of Friday and was crucified on the Cross that same Friday afternoon – the way the Scriptures said it would happen.

• Despite the events documenting the resurrection of Jesus Christ, like the empty tomb, the neatly folded grave clothes, the recorded appearance of Jesus Christ to the disciples and to the more than 500 brethren at the same time (1 Cor. 15:6, Mark 16:4, Jn. 20:6-7), many people still reject the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

• As an alternative, several theories have come and gone attempting to disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ. One theory claims that the body of Christ was stolen. By whom? Some say the disciples stole the body, others say the Romans did; while many say the Jews stole the body.

• At least 10 of the disciples died as martyrs, and it seems unlikely that the disciples would have tried to overcome the barriers of the stone, the guards, and the Roman seal. Also, the disciples did not even realize that resurrection was going to take place (John 20:9). On the other hand, the Jews themselves requested for the Roman guards.

• Easter is the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ. Ironically, the word Easter comes from the name of the early Anglo-Saxon goddess of light, Eostre – thus confirming the observation of many that Easter celebration predated Christianity.

• In many countries, the celebration of Easter is not complete without Easter eggs. What many do not know is that in ancient times, the egg was a symbol of both fertility and the sun.

• Jesus was executed by crucifixion – not by stoning which was the usual Jewish method of execution at that time. Crucifixion was the Roman way of punishing criminals and slaves who were not Roman citizens. It was an agonizing way to die since death usually came in from four to six days. But in Jesus’ case, death came in six hours.

• Jesus was crucified at a place outside the city called “The Skull” which means Golgotha in Hebrew and Calvary in Latin.

• When Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, learned that Jesus was a Galilean, he sent Jesus to Herod who had jurisdiction over Galilee. This is the same Herod who killed John the Baptist. He was the son of Herod who had killed the children of Bethlehem.

• At one instance, the Sadduccees, an influential religious group during Jesus’ time that did not believe in the resurrection of Christ were testing Jesus and posed the question: Will there be marriage in heaven? Jesus replied: “At the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” (Matt. 22:30)

• The resurrection is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Paul, in 1 Cor. 15:17 said “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”

• A Harvard law professor who made a study on legal evidence applicable to the event of the resurrection of Jesus Christ ended up becoming a Christian. His name is Simmon Greeleaf. He said: “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the best established facts of history according to the rules of evidence administered in the courts of justice.”

This column continues to give out copies of the Holy Bible for free to those who cannot afford to buy their own copies. If interested, please send your letter-request to Ms. Nelly Favis Villafuerte, 5233 Fahrenheit St., Palanan, Makati City. Kindly mention if it is the Tagalog, English, Cebuano, or Ilocano Bible that is preferred.

Be joyful and forgiving! (Comments may be sent to Ms. Villafuerte’s email: villafuerte_nelly@yahoo.com.)