Did Jesus really die and rise?

THE historical evidence for Jesus’s existence and crucifixion is overwhelming. However, both Jesus and the Bible claim much more than this. They insist that Jesus’s life, death and Resurrection were predicted and recorded for over a thousand years beforehand by various Old Testament prophets. Further, they maintain He came to make God the Father known, His death was a necessary sacrifice for our sins, and His Resurrection vindicated His claim to be one with God the Father.

During the past 2000 years sceptics have sought to disprove the Resurrection. Many were stunned by the powerful case for it. Some, like Lee Strobel, converted to Christianity as a result.

Lee Strobel, an award-winning investigative journalist and law graduate, reported for the Chicago

Tribune. He wrote a series on the Resurrection because his wife had become a Christian and he thought he could easily discredit her new “superstition’’. Amazingly, he became so convinced by what he found that he ended up becoming a Christian. In the end he admitted it wasn’t a lack of evidence that was the real issue, but his proud, stubborn heart and preconceived biases.

The 2017 movie drama called The Case for Christ tells his story. It is readily available for purchase or streaming, and a book with the same title is easy to read and compelling. Hundreds of millions the world over claim to know this Jesus personally as the resurrected, living, powerful, loving and life-changing reality. As another convert and great defender of the Christian faith C.S Lewis said, given the claims Jesus made He can’t just be a great moral teacher. He is either a lunatic, totally evil, or else He is who He really claimed to be. Lewis concluded: “You must make your choice.”

— Pastor Mike Steicke

Eastside Lutheran Campus