In Christianity the resurrection is a fundamental truth on which Christianity stands.
In Matthew 22:37 Christians are told to believe with all their heart soul and mind.

They are not told to committ intellectual suicide but to always be ready to give an answer 1st Peter 3:15.

When Police Officers are investigating any incident they take statements of evidence from all witness to find out the full circumstances of all that occurred and to give a full picture of the event.

We shall now examine 4 witness accounts in the same way of the resurrection itself.

W shall look at 4 witness perspectives which will give us a full picture of the event.

1/ The Angels witness- Truth Foretold

2/ The Womens witness- Truth Believed

3/ The Soldiers Witness- Truth Feared

4/ The Disciples Witness- Truth Revealed

1/ The Angels Witness- Truth Foretold
The angels role was to remove the stone from the tomb.The Lord of glory who healed the sick who quietened the storm could have easily removed the stone himself but it was tasked to the angel to do so as a sign to the world of God the father's acceptance of His sons gift of life upon the cross for our sin.

(a) God the Father had sent an angel down to earth to tell forth the Lords birth.

Luke 1:21 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth. Verse 30- Fear not Mary thou hast found favour with God . Verse 37- for with God nothing shall be impossible

(b) Angels told of His birth now they were to tell of His resurrection

Mark 16:4 The stone was rolled away it was very great.

The Bezae manuscript in Cambridge library states that the stone that sealed the tomb was one that 20 men could not roll away.2 engineering professors calculated that the stone used at the time of Jesus fitted against a 4-5ft doorway was one and a half to two tons in weight. The stone would have been moved into position on a slope with wedges and then once removed gravity would have set it in place. The tomb itself was hewn into a rock face,it could not be dug under.

The most 3 important words on which Christianity stands

HE IS RISEN!

Mark 16:6 He is risen- the angels voice truth foretold.

Mark 16:7 As He said unto you remember

Matthew 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that He must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day.

If the enemy had taken the body they would have shown it openly but they did not have it.

The disciples also did not have it as scripture tells us that they were dispirited and frightened.

Only one explanation fits the evidence

HE IS RISEN!

2/ The Womans Witness- truth believed
Here we shall look at the witness of 2 women Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.

Luke 24:1-12 Tells us the witness of both

In Luke 24:1 they are bringing spices to put on the Lords body

In biblical times 75 pounds of aromatic spices were used. In Herods death and burial 500 servants carried his spices.

White linen was sewed together - no knots were used

This was to represent the continuity of the soul through eternity

No fewer than 3 garments were used

The body was wrapped from head to feet to armpits then from feet to neck with arms down.

A separate piece of cloth was used to wrap the head.

Myrrh was used as an adherent which made sure grave clothes could not easily be removed.

Luke24:8 They remembered His words

He is not here!

Luke24:11 Their words seemed as idle tales the disciples believed them not

The disciples would have been quite jealous AS women were viewed as invalid witnesses.

In biblical times we are told that women did not have a right to give testimony in a court of law.

This proves to us that the resurrection accounts had not been manufactured or made up because women would never have been included in the story at least not as first witnesses .

In fact the unbelief of the apostles to the women is one of the strongest indirect evidences that Jesus rose from the dead.

HE IS RISEN!

3/ The Soldiers Witness- Truth Feared
Matthew 28:1-15

Matt 28:2 The angel rolled back the stone.

The sign to them was that the angel descended from heaven and there was an earthquake

Matt 28:4 Soldiers who were hardened professionals in battle shook with fear.

Modern day drawings show us 1 or 2 guards at the tomb with spears. In reality the guard consisted of 16 men in a 4 man shift rotation. 4 guards would have stood in front of the tomb facing outwards towards the world. The 12 other guards would be sleeping in a semi circle with heads pointing inwards towards the awake guards. Shift changed every 4 hours.

Matt 28:11 Soldiers showed the chief priests- Soldiers left their post ,deserted it which shows that it was indeed empty

Matt 28:12 The priests gave money to the soldiers. Why was this when the romans were hated as cruel oppressors. Why did the priests not just accuse the guard of being asleep on duty.

In verse 14 the priests come to the defense of the guard stating- we will secure you, why?

Jew was protecting roman why?

To answer these questions let us examine the scene

The distance that the stone had moved proved that it was beyond human intervention.

Evidence to the priests that it had not been moved by man

Another sign to the priests was that the seal upon the tomb was still intact a seal that was one of great authority to prove the body had been placed inside in the first instance.

This evidence was enough for the priests to bribe the guard to keep quiet.

Matt 28:15 they took the money- the body was gone

Scripture tells us that the body had indeed been placed into the tomb, a tomb that could not be dug under.

Matt 27:63 Gave orders for the grave to be made secure

Matt 27:66 they made the grave secure and set a seal on the stone. The seal was a cord sealed at both ends with clay and stamped with the Governors signet ring.

The seal was an authentication mark that the body of Jesus was there

We have evidence the seal- the body was there

We have evidence soldiers left the scene- the body was gone

Before the burial of Christ if graves were robbed then the penalty was a large fine.

It is of interest to note that after the resurrection the penalty was changed to one of death by crucifixion upside down for interfering with or removing the dead.

HE IS RISEN!

4/ The Disciples witness- Truth revealed John 20:1-10
John 20:2 Mary ran to Peter and John

John 20:3 Peter and John ran to the sepulcure

John20:4 John outran Peter and arrived first

John 20:5 He stooped down and looked in and saw the linen but went not in

John had stood outside amazed at what he could see .With his own eyes he saw

the grave clothes in the form of a body, slightly caved in but nevertheless empty like a cocoon

John 20:6 Peter went in

John 20:8 John came in and believed

HE IS RISEN!

John may well have remembered the following

In Marks gospel Chap 15:42-46 we read how a centurion was sent to verify the death

4 executioners had certified Jesus dead before Pilate released the body to joseph of Arimathea

The removal of the nails would have shown if any life was left, there was none.

When the Lords side was pierced blood and water came forth, this was a sign that the heart had broken.

He had died now He had risen.

In John 11:25 Jesus said to Martha I am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die believest thou this?

Martha believed Jesus was the Christ and now at the entrance to the empty tomb John believed also.

Soon all the disciples were to believe

No longer were they afraid trembling and remained hidden

No longer did they mourn

No longer were they disturbed

No longer were they frightened

They all may well have remembered the Lords final words upon that cross

It is finished

HE IS RISEN!

Because He is risen they were now bold in the faith they preached the resurrection with hope with great conviction.They preached not in far away places but in the very heart of Jerusalem itself were untruth could be easily disproved or challenged.
The Disciples died agonising deaths for their resurrection beliefs they died for the truth they personally had witnessed.

HE IS RISEN!

Christian Jew and Roman all agreed - the tomb was indeed empty.

It is a historical fact

Paul reminds us that 500 witnesses saw him at once and God showed Him openly.

Paul tells all that If they do not believe him then they can ask them 1st Cor 15:3-6

An impersonator could not fool family and friends.The disciples believed and Jesus also appeared after His resurrection unto James his brother - 1st Cor 15:7

HE IS RISEN!

1st Peter 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotton us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

My friends if you believe the empty tomb then Christ is risen

If you believe that Christ is risen then you believe he is who he proclaimed to be the Son of God.

If you believe that Christ is risen then you must believe his word, it says that on the third day he would rise it says that their is a heaven and that their is a hell.

It says that the choice is ours of a resurrection unto eternal life or a resurrection unto eternal damnation.

If Christ is risen he says blessed are those who believe who have not seen.

Yes my friends we must have faith but our faith is not a blind faith for their is also evidence to back up what we believe.

HE IS RISEN!

God bless you
joseph