Another Easter has come and gone. Lent is over, the ashes long since washed away, and fasting is forgotten for another year. We can wear light colors now.

It’s a great story. God comes to earth. Man is redeemed. Jesus is resurrected from the dead. There’s a purpose and hope for all, and life eternal.

But is it really true?

We know, from historical records, that Jesus’ first disciples died for their faith. The Bible records a number of martyrdoms, beginning with Stephen in Acts 7. It was this act that triggered the aggressive persecution of the early church in Jerusalem. This persecution, in turn, dispersed the believers throughout the Roman Empire, resulting in rapidly growing numbers of believers. And many more martyrs.

But even discounting the Biblical record, other early historians documented the persecution and martyrdom of Christians. Many contemporary writers recorded the torture and death of numerous Christians – followers of Jesus – as did Eusebius in his The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus. The essential truthfulness of these records is the only explanation of the Christian persecutions, such as those in Roman coliseums, which are both generally accepted and well documented as factual in the years leading up to Constantine in the fourth century AD.

Granting that there were untold numbers of Christian martyrs in the years following Christ, what does that show?

It is sad but true that people often believe things that are untrue. So it is certainly possible that early Christians gave their lives needlessly – if, in fact, Jesus did not really bodily rise from the dead. But, people do not suffer persecution and die for what they know to be a lie.

Some people attempt to dismiss the bodily resurrection of Christ as a fabrication of the apostles, often suggesting that the disciples took the body of Jesus from the tomb in order to support their story. But this would mean that at least those first disciples died to perpetuate a known falsehood. They fled for their lives when Jesus was arrested, remained unobtrusive at Jesus’ crucifixion, huddled in fear in a locked chamber after reports from the women of his resurrection, and returned to their professions within days. They were disheartened, confused, and afraid. They weren’t seized by the Romans or arrested by the guard of the High Priest. Their thoughts of a kingdom were over and they were relieved to be alive. But we are expected to believe they stole the body of Jesus, somehow avoiding the centurions guarding the tomb, then convinced others to believe Jesus’ body was resurrected, then eagerly died to perpetuate this fantasy?

But there’s actually a lot more to the story.

Jesus was not just a prophet who went around doing good but unfortunately angered the religious elite. Jesus actually came on the scene proclaiming himself to be the promised Messiah. And he proclaimed that as Messiah, he was from God and equal with God. The disciples were not following Jesus as an itinerant preacher, but as the promised Messiah. This is why they argued about who would be greatest in the kingdom, and who should sit at Jesus’ right hand. In Jewish understanding, the Messiah wasn’t primarily a spiritual figure, but a deliverer who would overthrow foreign – Roman – rule and make Israel the international leader. This is why Pilate agreed to the crucifixion; Rome was threatened if Jesus was Messiah. This claim to be equal with God – because he was Messiah – is why the Priests made accusations of blasphemy. And this is why the disciples were so disappointed when Jesus died. His death made him appear to be just another (one of many) false Messiah. And a failed Messiah was certainly not worth dying over.

So what could possibly happen to so energize the disciples, to spread the message of Jesus across the earth, to make the disciples and multitudes of others willing to die for proclaiming the message of Jesus? The only reasonable explanation is that they witnessed what they proclaimed; that it really happened! Jesus was physically (bodily) alive after they saw him die! (The Bible records that over five hundred people actually saw Jesus alive after his death. 1 Corinthians 15.)

Not only was Jesus alive. His resurrection validated his claim as the Messiah – the promised deliverer of his people. This is why he told Pilate “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36) He did deliver his people, but not as they expected. He did establish his kingdom, but not as anticipated. This is why the gospel proclaimed throughout the New Testament is not simply a message of individual salvation and a heaven in the future, but a message of the kingdom of God both now and forever. (See, for example, Acts 28:30,31.)

(For an excellent study of Jesus, his message, and his kingdom, I recommend Simply Jesus by N.T. Wright, to which I owe much of my understanding as presented above.)

So is it true? Can you believe the Bible account, and actually come to know a living Jesus today? It is! You can stake your life on it.