On The Resurrection Story And The Cover Up Conspiracy

It is unfortunate that some people in the modern world have chosen to dismiss the Biblical account of the resurrection story as a work of fiction or a product of deluded minds. But you see, anyone who denies that Jesus rose from the death does so at his or her own risk, one that has an eternal consequence.

Doubters may continue to doubt, but it does not change the fact that Jesus died and rose from the dead.  So He is no longer in the grave. 

The firm foundation of the Christian faith

In Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is considered the greatest event ever. In fact, it is the foundation of the Christian faith.

Without it, we would not have a solid foundation for our faith. Without it, what we would have is another dead religion.

Apostle Paul underscored this point when he wrote to the Church in Corinth saying, “And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless” (1 Corinthians 15:14).

Gratefully, the gospel is not useless and our faith is not a useless one either.

Ther reason is that it is a historical fact (despite what some skeptics may say) that Jesus physically resurrected from the dead.

The resurrection of Jesus was prophesied

One thing about that is sure, the resurrection of Jesus was not a bolt from the blues. It was something that was talked about long before it actually happened.

There were several prophecies about it. For instance, here is a quote from the book of Psalms:

“…you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay” (16:10, NIV).

When God raised Jesus was the dead, that Scripture was fulfilled.

Jesus Himself talked about His resurrection well in advance. In Mathew’s Gospel, we read of the following account:

“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day” (20:18-19, ESV).

In essence, Jesus stated that the Gentiles (in this case, the Romans) would condemn and crucify him, but He would rise up on the third day.

What could be clearer than that?

Anyway, that was exactly what happened: Jesus was crucified and put in a grave. But on the third day, He came out alive by divine power.

By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also (1 Corinthians 6:14).

An Angel announced to the first women who visited the grave, “…Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay” (Matt. 28:5-6, ESV).

The conspiracy of the authorities could not cover up the truth

Following this awesome resurrection story, the soldiers who were stationed to guard the grave went to town to narrate their experience. But they did it in away to make them look good.

That gave rise to the cover-up conspiracy as reported below:

And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble” (Matt. 28:12-14, ESV).

Despite this conspiracy, we know that Jesus rose from the dead; His disciples didn’t steal Him away as alleged. “… God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:24, NIV).

Jesus resurrected and He is alive forever.

Centuries later, we are still celebrating the risen Lord. That proves that the conspiracy that His disciples stole His body could not successfully cover up the resurrection story. And it never will!

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©Copyright 2019 | Victor Uyanwanne

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