Just a Body Please

by Terry Wane Benton

The prophecies of the Jewish book had spoken of someone who would not see corruption (Psalm 16), someone who would be executed for others' transgressions, yet whose days would then be prolonged (Isaiah 53). Then, later, Jesus was executed, but the Jewish leaders were determined to prevent a story of resurrection from getting started, so a guard was set in place. Despite precautions, the story got out anyway that Jesus had been raised from the dead.

Many people were claiming to have seen Him alive again (I Corinthians 15:3-12). The cowardly disciples were no longer afraid to confess Jesus, believing that He was indeed divine and risen from the dead. 3,000 Jews were convinced by the evidence presented by Peter and the apostles on the day of Pentecost, following Jesus' death and resurrection.

Christianity stood the test of scripture, the predictions of Jesus Himself, the empty tomb, as well as the strength of eyewitness testimony. If the Jews had protected the body along with the Roman guard, all that would have been necessary to stop Christianity in its tracks would have been merely to produce the body. If Jesus were merely a man like Muhammad, Moses, or Confucius, then his body should have been in the tomb after three days. It wasn't.

Just a body, please! If you want to think that Jesus' church is just like the other religions, there should have been a body. The Jews would have loved to have produced such a body, but they couldn't. The Romans also had a vested interest in this matter. If Jesus could overcome death, he could do something none of the Roman Caesars could do. Thus, His claim to deity would be greater than theirs, and only He could rightly be "king of kings" (greater than all kings among men).

Christians flourished because they had all the evidence on their side. They knew the scriptures backed up their claim, the witnesses were powerfully equipped to testify of what they saw and heard, and they all suffered to tell what they could never deny as the truth. To unbelievers, they could say, "Just a body, please. We know what we saw."

The evidence remains standing the test of time and criticism. Do you believe the evidence?