Was Jesus really resurrected from the dead?

Skeptics have come up with many reasons to doubt the resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, when you look at the actual evidence, the greatest miracle in the Bible stands up to the closest scrutiny.

Take the theory that Jewish or Roman authorities removed the body themselves from the empty tomb. If they had done so, why did they not simply reveal what they had done, using witnesses? And why did they not present Jesus’ body to prove they had it? After all, it was Christ’s resurrection that was the foundation for a new sect (Christianity) that both the Jewish and Roman authorities were trying to stamp out. If they had proof that the resurrection was a hoax, surely they would have come forward!

There are some people who try to suggest that Jesus never actually died on the cross. Anyone who has studied crucifixion knows that this is most unlikely, and Signal is not the place to go into the gory details of why this is so (The Passion of the Christ film gives just hints of the reality). Suffice it to say that modern-day medical authorities who have examined the account of Jesus’ death claim he would have to have died on the cross.

For example, The Journal of the American Medical Society (March 21, 1986) said this: "Clearly, the weight of historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead before the wound to his side was inflicted… {by the centurion}... and the spear, thrust between his right rib, probably perforated not only the right lung but also the heart and therefore ensured his death. Accordingly, interpretations based on the assumption that Jesus did not die appear to be at odds with modern medical knowledge.”

Perhaps the most human evidence that the resurrection was not a hoax is the actions of the disciples. Let's be frank, before this time they had been a pretty unimpressive bunch. They ran away when Jesus was taken captive. Peter denied his Lord three times in the face of personal danger.

And yet something happened to these men that they "turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6). They lived in poverty, suffered many trials and all but John eventually died cruel deaths, ranging from crucifixion upside down to skinning alive. Consider this: If they hadn't seen Jesus alive again after his death, why would these previously cowardly men go through what they did? All for the sake of a lie?