No Resurrection, No Hope

May 21st, 2025
by Lance Waldie

1 Corinthians 15:17 “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”

The account of Jesus of Nazareth demands that we make a decision. Jesus did not come to the earth to give us a good story; rather, He came to reveal God and give salvation to sinners, specifically to those sinners who repent of their sins. Jesus spoke the truth about God, and He clearly predicted both His own death and His resurrection (Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:17-19; 26:12, 28-29, 31-32; Mark 9:30-32; 14:28; Luke 9:22; 18:31-34; John 2:19-22; 10:17-18). The NT lists at least 17 appearances of Jesus after He rose from the dead. Consider Jesus’ appearances:

to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-17; cf. Mark 16:9-11);
to the women (Matt. 28:9-10);
to Peter (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5);
to the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Mark 16:12-13; Luke 24:13-35);
to the 10 disciples (Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-24;
to the eleven disciples a week after His resurrection (John 20:2629);
to seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-23);
to five hundred (1 Cor. 15:6);
to James the Lord's brother (1 Cor. 15:7);
to His disciples on the Mount of Olives (Luke 24:44-53; Acts 1:3-9);
to Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6)
to Paul in the temple (Acts 22:17-21; d. 9:26-30; Gal. 1: 18);
to the Apostle John (Rev. 1:12-20).

There are actually 456 identifying traits of the coming Christ fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. In light of this, statisticians have noted that the odds of one man fulfilling just eight prophecies are 1 in 10¹⁷ (1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000), and the odds of one man fulfilling just 48 prophecies are 1 in 10¹⁵⁷. This latter one can be illustrated with electrons. It would take 2.5 x 10¹⁵ of electrons, laid side by side, to comprise just one inch of electrons. If someone attempted to count them, counting 250 per minute and counting all day and night, it would take 19 million years! (Stoner, op. cit, 109). Now mark one electron, and blindfold a man giving him just one chance to choose the marked electron. He has the same odds of picking that one marked electron that one man has in fulfilling just 48 prophecies. Yet Jesus fulfilled over 400 of them!

The truth from the eyewitness perspective is that Jesus’ tomb was empty three days after He was buried (Matt. 28:6; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:3,6,12; John 20: 2, 5-8). The witnesses were not gullible but were in fact slow to comprehend the evidence (John 20:9, 11-15, 25). But after they had been convinced, they went out and not only boldly proclaimed the truth, they also died painful deaths as a result of their faith. Their sorrow over Christ’s death was replaced by the joy of seeing Him alive, and according to the Book of Acts, their lives were completely transformed. They not only opposed the very priests who killed Jesus and rebuked them for their actions, they changed their day of corporate worship from Saturday (the Sabbath) to Sunday—the day Christ rose from the dead (cf. Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2). If Christ did not rise from the dead, then none of the early Church practices nor the early Church itself is explainable.