"And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.”—Luke 24:2-3

While there will always be opposition to the resurrection, as it is the pinnacle of miracles in the Christian faith, there is due evidence for what Christ did on this day in history. Here are four pieces of evidence.

• Evidence one the execution. Regarding the death of Jesus Christ, we have mountains of evidence about his execution. We have evidence not only within the Bible about his death, but this is also testified by numerous outside ancient sources.
• Evidence two are the early accounts. Many early reports prove that the resurrection is not merely a legend or myth. And there are volumes of early accounts that decimate the claim that resurrection was a lie or that followers were lunatics. Perhaps the most formidable being Saul of Tarsus, who was not only a verbal opponent as a devout Jew and Roman, but that he imprisoned Jews for their profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Roman, Jews, and Christ followers knew him as one of the most vindictive opponents of the faith of course until he witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ for himself on the Damascus road. Why else would a man of this high standing, notoriety, wealth and education leave his life of ease to follow the faith of what some call “common and unintelligible” people? Saul of Tarsus became Paul the Apostle, and this man who was the greatest opponent of Jesus Christ became one of the most influential proponents of the faith. Why would Saul make this change unless of course, the resurrection was a reality?
• Evidence three the empty tomb. What we have on Easter morning is an empty tomb. It is sealed and guarded yet found empty. He notes that even the enemies of Jesus attest to the fact that the tomb was empty. The real question is how did it become empty? It's important to note that no body was ever recovered. And therefore we have to wrestle with never finding evidence that this who want to disprove Christianity desperately want.
• Evidence four the eyewitnesses. In the end, Jesus appears in resurrected form on more than a dozen occasions and to over 515 people. He ate with, walked with, and talked with these people. Additionally, we have about nine sources of eye witness proof from inside and outside of the Bible. Also seven sources outside of the Bible accent the fact that disciples lived in deprivation and suffering because they had witnessed and pronounced this belief. What sane person would live in deprivation and suffering over a lie? I wouldn't.

But the big question then becomes what will you do with these pieces of evidence. Or as pastors have said for 2000 years, “What will you do with Jesus?” We will all answer this question, and as we wrestle through the story of Easter, we have to either choose to believe or choose to disbelieve. It is a choice we all have to make but a decision with eternal consequence.

DO THIS: Accept the truth—He is risen indeed.

PRAYER: God, we celebrate the miracle of the resurrection and the joy of a relationship with you through your defeat of death.