The Resurrection of Jesus Christ: The Evidence [Sermon]

June 2026, Krabi, Thailand

https://youtu.be/N9GMTK5JF_s

Minimal Facts Approach (Gary Habermas)

Historical claims that meet two criteria:

(1) each fact must be confirmed by multiple independent lines of evidence

(2) each fact must be accepted as historical by a strong consensus of critical scholars, including those who are skeptical of Christianity and who do not accept the Bible as inspired Scripture.

The Naturalistic Options

Swoon - survived crucifixion

Wrong tomb - disciples erred

Legend/myth stories

Hallucination - grief visions

Stolen body - disciples' fraud

Twin/imposter - someone else seen

Fact 1: Jesus Died by Roman Crucifixion

Historical Evidence:

The four canonical Gospels

Matt 27:50; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46; John 19:30

Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus (110 AD)

Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus.” Annals 15.44

Jewish historian Flavius Josephus

"When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing amongst us, had condemned him to be crucified…” Antiquities of the Jews 18.63–64

Lucian of Samosata (a Greek satirist, c. AD 115–200)

Mara Bar-Serapion (a Syrian Stoic philosopher)

the Jewish Talmud

Critical Scholars

"The fact of the death of Jesus as a consequence of crucifixion is indisputable, despite hypotheses of a pseudo-death or a deception which are sometimes put forward. It need not be discussed further here.”

Gerd Lüdemann, The Resurrection of Jesus: History, Experience, Theology

"That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be, since both Josephus and Tacitus… agree with the Christian accounts on at least that basic fact.”

John Dominic Crossan, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography.

"One of the most certain facts of history is that Jesus was crucified on orders of the Roman prefect of Judea, Pontius Pilate.”

Bart D. Ehrman, Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium 

Fact 2: The Experience of the Disciples

Historical Evidence

a. Paul (2 Cor 11:23–27; 1 Cor 15:5-8, 30–32)

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.  1 Corinthians 15:3–8 (ESV)

b. Book of Acts (Acts 5:17–42)

c. Early church fathers.

Clement of Rome (c. AD 95–96) wrote that:

Paul "bore chains seven times, was banished, stoned" and Peter "endured not one or two but many trials." 1 Clement 5.2–7.

Clement knew the apostles personally.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.3; Tertullian, Prescription Against Heretics

Polycarp of Smyrna was instructed by apostles and talked directly with many who had seen Jesus alive. He mentioned the resurrection five times in his letter to the Philippians and reported the general sufferings of the disciples

Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.4; Polycarp, Epistle to the Philippians 9.2.

Tertullian wrote that Peter was crucified and Paul was beheaded by Nero.

Tertullian, Scorpiace, AD 200

Critical Scholars

"That within a few weeks after the crucifixion Jesus' disciples came to believe this is one of the indisputable facts of history….That the experiences did occur, even if they are explained in purely natural terms, is a fact upon which both believer and unbeliever may agree."

Reginald H. Fuller, The Formation of the Resurrection Narratives 

"It is almost impossible to dispute that at the historical roots of Christianity lie some visionary experiences of the first Christians, who understood them as appearances of Jesus, raised by God from the dead.”

James D. G. Dunn, The Evidence for Jesus 

"It is a historical fact that some of Jesus' followers came to believe that he had been raised from the dead soon after his execution.”

Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings,

"That Jesus' followers (and later Paul) had resurrection experiences is, in my judgment, a fact.”

E. P. Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus 

"All that historical criticism can establish is that the first disciples came to believe the resurrection.”

Rudolf Bultmann, New Testament Theology, vol. 1,

"the resurrection appearances are some of the hardest, best evidence we have.”

James Crossley, radio program "Unbelievable?"

3.0 The Conversion of Hostile Paul

Historical Evidence

a. Paul's own undisputed epistles (Gal 1:11–16; 1 Cor 9:1; 15:8),

“I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it” - Gal 1:13

“as to zeal, a persecutor of the church" (Phil 3:6).

claims that the risen Jesus appeared personally to him (1 Cor 15:8; Gal 1:12, 15–16), leading immediately to his conversion.

b. The Book of Acts (three independent accounts: Acts 9:1–19; 22:6–16; 26:12–23)

c. The external testimony of Clement of Rome and others.

Habermas and Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 64–67.

Critical Scholars

"We know some of these believers by name; one of them, the apostle Paul, claims quite plainly to have seen Jesus alive after his death.“

Bart D. Ehrman, How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee.

Dale Allison acknowledges that Paul converted from a persecutor of the church to one of its greatest promoters because of an experience he interpreted as the risen Jesus appearing to him.

Dale C. Allison Jr., Resurrecting Jesus: The Earliest Christian Tradition and Its Interpreters.

Gerd Lüdemann accepted that Paul had a genuine experience he believed was an appearance of the risen Jesus, though he interpreted it psychologically as a vision induced by unconscious guilt.

Lüdemann, The Resurrection of Jesus.

4.0 The Conversion of Skeptical James

Historical Evidence

Did not believe Jesus: (criterion of embarrassment)

Jesus's own family thought he was "out of his mind" (Mark 3:21)

"For not even his brothers believed in him" (John 7:5).

Pillar of the Jerusalem church. Gal 2:9

Mentioned in the context of early Christianity: Gal 1:19

Received a specific appearance by Jesus: 1 Cor 15:7.

Presided at the Jerusalem Council: Acts 15:13

Died as a martyr

"he assembled the Sanhedrin of judges and brought before them the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ, whose name was James, and some others… he delivered them over to be stoned.”

Jewish historian Josephus, Antiquities.

Critical Scholars

"James had no religious link with his brother during Jesus' lifetime, making his conversion all the more striking”

Gerd Lüdemann, The Resurrection of Jesus.

5.0 The Empty Tomb

Historical Evidence

Criterion Name	Evidence & Source	Additional Context
Early Attestation	• 1 Corinthians 15:3–5 (Paul's creedal formula) - written most likely 3–5 years after the crucifixion	Multiple sources from the earliest Christian period presuppose the empty tomb as a known fact. No time for legends to form
	• Empty tomb tradition preserved in Mark (earliest canonical Gospel), dated mid-1st century
	• All four Gospels (Matt, Mark, Luke, John) independently attest the empty tomb
Multiple Independent Sources	• Pauline tradition (1 Cor 15:3–5) independent of Gospel accounts	At least 4 independent sources attest the empty tomb across different literary traditions
	• Mark's Gospel tradition independent of Matthew and Luke
	• John's Gospel provides separate, independent attestation
	• Jewish story (Matt 28:11–15) assumes empty tomb as agreed fact between opponents.
Criterion of Embarrassment	• Women as primary tomb witnesses - legally unreliable testimony in 1st-century Jewish courts	Embarrassing details are harder to fabricate and suggest historical memory over theological invention
	• Implausible that early Christians would invent female witnesses unless historically accurate
Enemy Attestation	• Matthew 28:11–15 - Jewish authorities' response was not denial but counter-explanation (disciples stole body)	The strongest attestation comes from opponents who granted the empty tomb but disputed its meaning
	• Implicit concession that tomb was empty; debate centered on causation, not fact
	• Justin Martyr reports this apologetic circulating in the 2nd century, confirming its antiquity
Contextual Fit with Jewish Burial Practice	• Joseph of Arimathea (named Sanhedrin member) makes tomb location publicly known and verifiable	Archaeological and literary evidence from Jewish sources confirms authenticity of burial narrative details
	• Gospel burial accounts align with documented 1st-century Jewish burial practices (per N.T. Wright)
	• Prompt burial (day of death) matches Jewish law and Mishnah (Sanhedrin 6:6)
	• Washing, wrapping in cloth strips (John 11:44, Mishnah Semahot) demonstrates authentic cultural detail
	• Loculus dimensions in Mishnah match archaeological tomb findings
	• Archaeological evidence confirms tombs typically located outside towns (Mishnah Bava Batra 2:9)
	• Ornate Jewish catacombs with hinged doors and gabled columns dated to centuries surrounding Jesus' time
Criterion of Dissimilarity	• Empty tomb narrative differs from pagan god-myth patterns (no divine birth myths, no miraculous rescues from Hades)	The account doesn't fit borrowed mythology or contemporary narrative conventions
	• Bodily resurrection reflects Jewish eschatological expectation, not Greco-Roman thought
	• Location in Jerusalem (hostile territory) unlike later apocryphal gospels set in neutral regions
Public, Verifiable Location	• Preaching in Jerusalem, site of crucifixion and burial	The location was publicly known and open to verification by hostile witnesses
	• Tomb location known to both disciples and authorities
	• Any skeptic could walk to the tomb and investigate
	• Enemies of the movement had motive and means to refute claim by producing body
	• Failure to produce body implies tomb was indeed empty
Explanatory Power and Coherence	• Empty tomb presupposed by Paul's bodily resurrection language (1 Cor 15:3–5 progression: died, buried, raised, appeared)	The empty tomb coherently explains the disciples' public proclamation and Jewish context
	• Explains why disciples proclaimed resurrection in Jerusalem (not hiding in fear, but publicly testifying)
	• Consistent with Jewish expectation of bodily resurrection, not spiritual/visionary alternatives
	• Mark's no-appearance account suggests empty tomb tradition independently motivated by history

Critical Scholars

"By far, most exegetes hold firmly to the reliability of the biblical statements concerning the empty tomb.”

Jacob Kremer, a Roman Catholic New Testament scholar, Die Osterevangelien—Geschichten um Geschichte 

"the historian… cannot justifiably deny the empty tomb… If we apply the same sort of criteria that we apply to any other ancient literary sources, the evidence is firm and plausible enough to necessitate the conclusion that the tomb was indeed found empty.”

Michael Grant, Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels

When every argument has been considered and weighed, the only conclusion acceptable to the historian must be… that the women who set out to pay their last respects to Jesus found to their consternation, not a body, but an empty tomb.”

Geza Vermes, Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels

The Cumulative Case

We have an empty tomb; people who saw him, including his disciples, the skeptic James, and the antagonistic Paul, were converted. They saw him alive, and their lives were transformed. We have an early account of everything.

The most likely explanation is that Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected and showed himself to the beaten disciples. Their lives were transformed, and they preached the resurrection and were killed for it.