THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST,

HISTORY`S WORST KEPT SECRET

Matthew27:54-28:20.

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Why Is The Resurrection So Important / Significant?

••••It distinguishes Jesus Christ & Christianity from all other religions.

Judaism • Abraham 2000 B.C. is still dead.

Hinduism • Gurus died & still die & remain in their tombs, or as ash from funeral pyres.

Buddhism • Buddha 483 B.C. is also dead & still in his tomb.

Confucius • Confucius died 479 B.C. & is still in his grave.

Islam • Mohammed June 8th, 632 A.D. & still occupies his grave.

Socrates & all other religious philosophers are all still dead & buried! None of the
founders of the world’s religions rose from their graves. They just died like any other
man & stayed dead.

If it didn’t happen, then as it is written to Christians in 1Corinthians 15:14-

19:

“And if Christ be not risen, then [is] our preaching vain, and your faith [is]
also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have
testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that
the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins.
Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life
only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”

••••It validates Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth foretold both His death on the cross & His resurrection from the
dead. His coming resurrection was given as a sign / proof of His Messiah ship & claims
(John 2:18-22; 10:17-18; Matthew 17:22-23; 20:18-19. “The resurrection of Jesus
Christ is the doctrine that turned the world upside down in the first century.”

These claims were not hid in a little corner, & neither were the events. If Jesus Christ
did not rise from the dead then he would not only be “just a man” but also a false
prophet. Friends, Historians both Jewish & Roman, those who were neutral spectators, &
even His enemies at the time will verify the claims that Jesus` made as the Saviour, the
Son of God, the I AM, & Lord, e.t.c.
If Jesus Christ was who He claimed to be (God our Saviour, in the flesh e.t.c.) then
we would expect him to have an unusual exit from this world!

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••••It validates the doctrines taught by Christ & His apostles, embraced by
the early churches.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is central to the Gospel & in the Book of Acts, the
Epistles & also in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 1:17-18).
The apostles viewed the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead as the key
stone to the Christian faith. It was the doctrine 2nd in importance to the study of Christ.
The early leaders of many churches & many early Christian writers affirmed the
Resurrection.
From the Book “Golgotha & The Garden Tomb.” By Robert Watsford

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An Old Zoomed Out Panoramic View of Golgotha & the Garden Tomb.

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 VAIN ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN AWAY THE RESURRECTION.

1) The Theft Theories

(Either Jesus` disciples, the Jews, or the Roman Government stole Christ’s body). These
are the oldest attempts to explain away the Resurrection of Christ.

*Jesus` disciples had forsaken him & fled at his arrest, Peter denied the Lord three
times. Later the eleven apostles were hiding in an upper room of a house cowering
in fear behind closed doors AFRAID that they would be crucified next. Their hopes
were dashed. The skeptic who uses the Disciple’s theft theory cannot adequately explain
how eleven cowards whose hopes were dashed could have stolen the body of Jesus out
from under the watch of twelve highly trained soldiers guarding the tomb.
They would have had to muster up their diminished courage, then gone out in public &
down to overpower the soldiers as well as break the seal of the Roman government. After
that they also were supposed to have died for what they knew was a lie!?

Would you die for something that you KNEW was a lie?
I WOULDN`T!

*Why wasn’t the body found? Why would eleven cowards take on
twelve Brave (Green Beret Equivalent) killing machines?
The reaction of the Pharisees in Matthew 28:11-15 to the resurrection of
Christ was to get the soldiers to say that the disciples of Jesus stole Jesus` body from the
tomb while they slept. This false rumor however is so obviously false that
the Gospel of Matthew does not even bother to refute it!

*The Jews saw Jesus of Nazareth as a madman, a trouble maker, & a blasphemer. Since
JESUS had started up a movement claiming Himself to be their Messiah
& the disciples were proclaiming Jesus resurrection .. Why didn’t the
Jews put the `dead body of Jesus on a horse drawn cart & parade it
through the streets of Jerusalem, if they had the body? -That would
have killed Christianity in the womb! They had the money BUT not the
body!

* The Romans preferred to have peace in their Jurisdictions. They would not have stolen
the body because it would have caused an outrage & possibly a riot from the Jews against
the Romans.
*If the Romans took the body why didn’t they produce the body to
refute the Jewish Christian sect in order to stop their own Roman
citizens from deserting Caesar (their god) for a Jew who claimed to be
God?

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2) The Swoon Theory.
This is a more modern theory that is very ridiculous & requires a lot more faith to believe
in, than the Resurrection of Christ. It is the idea that Jesus didn’t die on the cross … but
merely fainted (swooned) & then later after he was buried in the tomb, he was revived by
the coolness of the tomb.

*It ignores the facts of medicine & history.

How could Jesus, who had already suffered major blood loss from
scourging, be expected to unravel from the spiced grave clothes, roll
away the heavy stone from the door & then over come (with pierced
hands & feet) the soldiers which kept guard outside the tomb?

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He then would have had to walk miles on seriously wounded feet.

. In John 19:33 the soldiers verified that Jesus was dead & later after one of the soldiers
pierced his ribs, out poured water & blood (See John 19:34)

. In Medical terms, once the heart has stopped pumping blood around
the body the blood starts to congeal within it. The red platelets then
start sticking together & the water component (the plasma) separates
from the platelets. This meant that a person was dead.

Blood clots that are not Blood must be kept moving!

dissolved are deadly!.

Just ask any doctor.

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3) The, Someone Else was Crucified Instead Of Jesus Theory.

This view is held by the religion of Islam which originated in 632 A.D.
that is 599 years AFTER the fact of the death of Christ.
This view supposes that someone else other than Jesus Christ (but looked like him)
was crucified … then later when the apostles later saw Jesus alive they supposed
that Jesus arose from the grave.

*This theory ignores (a) The prophecies of the Old Testament which foretold the
Messiah’s death; (b) The Old Testament prophecies
concerning the resurrection; (c) Jesus` own words about His death
& resurrection -John 2:17-19; Matthew 20:28. (d) The documentation of
the death of Christ by non Christian historians e.g. / Cornelius Tactitus, & the
Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.

*How is it that the mighty Roman Empire, or the Jews couldn’t catch
Jesus but end up crucifying someone who wasn’t Jesus ?

*The Friends of Jesus, those Jewish & Roman Neutral observers of

Jesus, as well as those who were opposed to Him in eyewitness & written
accounts attest to the Fact of the claims & Crucifixion of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth.

*In a court of law, “The most powerful type of testimony is that of an

antagonist.”

Second century pagan graffito depicting a man worshipping a crucified donkey. It is

inscripted ΑΛΕΞΑΜΕΝΟΣ (ΑΛΕΞΑΜΕΝΟC) ΣΕΒΕΤΕ (CEBETE) ΘΕΟΝ, which
translates as "Alexamenos respects God". It is presumed to be making fun of a Christian
soldier. Visible at the museum on the Palatine Hill, Rome, Italy. Found in the English
Wikipedia, upload by Mpolo, 13 November 2004, 19:36.

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4) The Hallucination Theory.
This theory ignores some very plain facts of psychology, psychiatry, & pharmacology.
Hallucinations are extremely subjective & individual. No two people
have exactly the same experience. Ask anyone who has worked with
people on drugs, or with psychedelics.

Christ appeared to many people of different dispositions in different sized groups

numbering from 1-12+ people as well as to over 500 all at once, at different places,
in unanticipated times & in non spooky circumstances.

“Any theory of hallucination breaks down on the fact that on three

separate occasions this ‘hallucination’ was not immediately recognized
as Jesus.” -C.S. Lewis.

Concerning Christ’s post-resurrection appearances Straton writes,

“Men who are subject to hallucinations never become moral heroes.”

5) The Wrong Tomb theory.

The idea that the women on the 3rd day went to the wrong tomb, which was also an empty
tomb, & so they supposed that he came alive again when they saw Jesus alive & so they
circulated that rumor.

*This vain attempt to explain away the bodily resurrection of Jesus

Christ was based originally upon the distortion of a verse of scripture
to fit an idea. The man who invented this theory (Professor Kirsopp
Lake) who misquotes Mark 16:6. It should say, “And he said unto them,
Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified:
He is risen; He is not here: behold the place where they laid Him.”

Lake’s misquote says, “He is not here, see the place where they laid
him.”
*Refutation: The women had carefully noted where the body of Jesus
was placed less than 72 hours previously (Matthew 27:61; Mark 15:47;
Luke 23:55), so how can two different women or any other person for
that matter forget so quickly where a dearly loved one was laid to rest in
such a short time?

If the two women went to the wrong tomb … How could Peter & John
also have made the same mistake?

Why didn’t anyone go to the `right` tomb, if the women went to the wrong tomb?

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If the women went to the `wrong` tomb, then why didn’t the chief
priests & other enemies of the faith go to the right tomb, exhume the
body & put it on public show? That would have killed Christianity in
the cradle!

Even if the women, the disciples, the Romans and the Jews all went to
the wrong tomb, one thing is sure: “Certainly Joseph of Arimathea, the
owner of the tomb, would have solved the problem.” -Paul Little.

It must be remembered that the tomb was on a private burial ground,

not a public cemetery. It was also a new tomb, hewn out of a rock,
wherein never was a man yet laid (Matthew 27:57-61)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Is The Tapoit Tomb The Lost Tomb of Jesus??
IF it is, WHY did it take so long to find?
Tapoit Tomb entrance Examination of ossuaries found

A documentary The Lost Tomb of Jesus, a documentary Directed by Simcha Jacobovici.

with Mark Caven, Ouriel Maoz, Rivka Maoz. which was first broadcast on the Discovery
Channel and Vision TV in Canada on March 4, 2007 sought to prove that the bones of
Jesus had been found in a stone ossuary (box) inside a tomb called the Talpoit Tomb

Visit the link below for a good critique on this film

http://creation.com/the-lost-tomb-of-jesus-another-titanic-disaster

This silly but well financed & made, so-called documentary of anecdotal
`evidence` is just a modern rehash of the same old `Wrong Tomb`
Theory. That is all!
Often people that come up theories like these will believe & use parts of the Bible &
history, yet they won’t believe what the Bible & history says about that which
concerns the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Quite ironic!

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Jesus Christ of Nazareth, unlike all other historical religious leaders has
been the most documented, the most debated, the most attacked, the
most mocked, the most blasphemed, the most persecuted & the most
counterfeited in all of history!

Why is there all this controversy, prejudice & attack on the person &
work of Jesus` anyway?

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the
flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on
in the world, received up into glory.
-1Timothy 3:16.

IN CONCLUSION –THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST OF

NAZARETH IS HISTORY`S WORST KEPT SECRET.

The Empty Tomb, Christ’s Post-Resurrection Appearances, The

Transformed lives of the disciples from cowards to martyrs, their
changed lives, the New Testament, the Christian Church for over
2000 years, & the phenomenon of Jews (the first Christians) meeting
on Sunday instead of the Sabbath must be explained some how!

“Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the
dead?” –Acts 26:8.

The only satisfactory answer in the light of the Evidence is that the
resurrection of Jesus Christ is HISTORY`S WORST KEPT SECRET.

The prophecies of the Old Testament (the Tanakh) couldn’t keep it a

secret. The Tomb, the grave clothes, the large stone, & the women
couldn’t keep it a secret. The post resurrection appearances of Jesus
Christ couldn’t keep it a secret.
Joseph of Aremathea (the owner of the tomb), the soldiers & the
angels couldn’t keep it a secret.
The chief priests with their lies & money could not keep it a secret.
The apostles (who became martyrs) & the hundreds of other
eyewitnesses couldn’t keep it a secret.

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CHALLENGE TO CHRISTIANS

-It is because of the resurrection of Christ, you have a purpose

& meaning in life, forgiveness of sin, power to live life a full life,
& hope in the face of death.
Are you going to try to keep it a secret?
Let’s get the whole Gospel out to the lost.
Let’s not just preach the cross of Christ, but the resurrection also.

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I
speak [this] to your shame.” 1Corinthians 15:34.

-If you are struggling with doubts, don’t be afraid of them. Share them with a
stronger Christian who may be able to help answer your inquiries. Doubt can be a
good thing, a friend & a tool that will cause you to research & obtain reasons that
can strengthen your faith.

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” -1 Thessalonnians 5:21.

-Do you need to recommit your life to Jesus?

If you’re backslidden as a Christian, remember what our Lord Jesus
Christ said to a backslidden church -"As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten: be zealous therefore and repent. Behold I stand at the door,
and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come
in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."(Revelation 3:19-20).

CHALLENGE TO NON-CHRISTIANS.
The death of Jesus Christ of Nazareth on the cross
for our sins & yours is a historical fact & so is His resurrection from
the dead. It means Jesus Christ is exactly who He claimed to be.
It means there is a judgment. "It is appointed unto man once to die,
& after this, the judgment..."
One day in eternity Jesus will expose & judge you for all your poorly
hidden secrets (your sins) to... unless you trust Him alone to save you
from the judgment.

"For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was
any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad." -Mark 4:22.

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books
were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life:
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the
books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which

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were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in
them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death.
And whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the
lake of fire." Rev 20:12-15

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose
his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
-Matt 16:26

There is salvation. There is hope.

“…NOW is the day of salvation". -2 Corinthians 6:2

“That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and
shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead,
you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes to righteousness;
and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.
For the scripture said, Whosoever believes on him shall not be
ashamed." -Rom 10:9 -11

Don’t wait till it’s too late: "Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou
knowest not what a day may bring forth." –Proverbs 27:1.

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 Also visit http://answers.libertybaptistchurch.org.au/
EXTRA NOTES (2 PAGES ONLY).

The last prophecy in this list DANIEL 9:26-27 refers to the final destruction of the Jewish
Temple AFTER Messiah the Prince is “cut off” (killed). The last time the Temple in Jerusalem
was destroyed was in 70A.D. The Messiah according to this prophecy of Daniel (supported by a
copy of the Book of Daniel in the Dead Sea Scrolls dated 100-200B.C) reveals that the real
Jewish Messiah MUST have come before 70A.D. Jesus` also predicted the destruction of the
Jewish Temple after His death & as the result of the Jewish nation rejecting Him (Matthew
24:1-2; Luke 19:37-44).

Is the Shroud of Turin genuine Proof of Jesus` Death & Resurrection? – NO!

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 The Roman Catholic “Shoud of Turin” is a fake according to the Bible.
It CANNOT & SHOULD NOT be used as proof for the Crucifixion or the resurrection of
Christ.

(Read it in the Bible (JOHN 20:1-7)! JESUS WAS WRAPPED ABOUT THE HEAD WITH A
SEPARATE BURIAL CLOTH TO THE ONE WRAPPED AROUND HIS BODY.

Picture from the Jesus Film Project (The Real Tomb was not featured on the film’s set).

“The first [day] of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto
the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus
loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we
know not where they have laid him.
Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.
So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the
sepulchre. And he stooping down, [and looking in,] saw the linen clothes lying; yet went
he not in.
Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the
linen clothes lie, And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen
clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.” –John 20:1-7.

Published by Watchman<7 ministries, Sydney Australia

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