The death of Jesus

A detailed account surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 27:45-53

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?'-- which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'

When some of those standing there heard this, they said, 'He's calling Elijah.' Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, 'Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him.'

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

A terrifying experience of the Roman guards

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, 'Surely he was the Son of God!' (Matthew 27:54).

Religious leaders placed guards at the tomb out of fear

Pilate ordered to secure the tomb at Chief Priest and Pharisees' request.

Matthew 27:62-66

The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priest and the Pharisees went to Pilate.

'Sir,' they said, 'we remember that while he (Jesus) was still alive that deceiver said, "After three days I will rise again." So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.

'Take a guard,' Pilate answered. 'Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.'

So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

The resurrection of Jesus

The account of the resurrection of Jesus is as follows:

Matthew 28:1-10

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. Now I have told you.'

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

Suddenly Jesus met them. 'Greetings,' he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.'

The guards' report

While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened (Matthew 28:11-12).

The deception of the religious leaders

Matthew 28:12-15

When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them,

"You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble."

So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day."

Today many people do not have time to search for the truth in the Holy Scriptures (the Bible) recorded by the eyewitnesses. Instead they choose to believe the false story just like the one circulated by corrupt Roman guards and the prejudiced religious leaders.

Common objections and the answers to Jesus' resurrection

Common speculations to Jesus' resurrection

1. Jesus did not die on the cross.
2. Disciples of Jesus stole his body.
3. Someone else died in his place.
4. Jesus did not rise up from the dead.

However we must be careful not to be misled but must look honestly at the eyewitness accounts as recorded for us in the Bible. You may even ask, is the Bible trustworthy?

Answers to the four common objections:

Was Jesus dead yet?

Before releasing the body of Jesus to Joseph of Arimatheia for burial, Pilate, the Roman Governor made sure that he was dead.

It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.

Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.

So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus saw where he was laid (Matthew 15:42-47).

Was Jesus' dead body stolen?

The religious leaders made sure that no one could steal the body by placing Roman guards at the tomb.

The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.

"Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."

"Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard" (Matthew 27:62-66).

Was that Jesus on the cross?

Above answers also prove that Jesus was the person whom they crucified and it was his body that was released for burial.

Did Jesus rise from the dead?

But Jesus did rise from the dead triumphantly. This was accompanied with further signs and wonders. He even appeared to many of his followers after his resurrection.

John 20:1-31

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.

Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."

Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).

Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"

But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

From the beginning many things happened to destroy God's plan of salvation.

• King Herod tried to kill Jesus.
  
  
  

  Matthew 2:13-18

  When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.

  "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."

  So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

  When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

  "A voice is heard in Ramah,
  weeping and great mourning,
  Rachel weeping for her children
  and refusing to be comforted,
  because they are no more."

• Immediately before Jesus started his ministry Satan tempted Him to sin against God three times. But Jesus remained obedient to God each time.
  
  
  

  Matthew 4:1-11

  Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

  Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

  Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:

  'He will command his angels concerning you,
  and they will lift you up in their hands,
  so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'

  Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."

  Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"

  Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him."

• Throughout Jesus' three years of ministry, the religious leaders of the day falsely accused Him of breaking God's laws. They challenged his claims of being equal with God. They rejected him because he challenged their religious views, tradition and authority. They rejected him as one sent by God even though he demonstrated his divine authority and power through his miraculous signs. They even planned to kill him. For more information read Gospel of John.

However, no one in heaven or on earth could destroy God's great plan of salvation.

So, from the eyewitness' accounts in the Bible, there is sufficient evidence to believe that Jesus conquered death by rising from the dead and proved to be the Son of God.

"...and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ the Lord" (Romans 1:4).

Well, you may ask, how does Jesus' death and resurrection affect me? Why do I need Jesus? I plead with you. Please do not believe the lie about Jesus that is circulating in the world. But trust in the resurrected Jesus. He is only way to God.