8. Did Jesus really come back from the dead?

The jury is out. Vital evidence for the case has been presented but one crucial witness is missing. Jesus.

The jury have had eye witness experience of His words and actions but they have also seen Him arrested and crucified.

The jury would like to deliver the verdict but doubts have been sown and over the dark days they have grown and multiplied. They know the case will collapse unless the key witness occupies the stand, but they know there is a slight problem with that. He is dead!

The jury have delivered their verdict. They have shouted it in the market square. It has been broadcast throughout the city. Jesus is alive!

So convinced are the jury that they have even been prepared to allow themselves to be thrown into prison. They will not change their minds.

Years roll by and one by one the jury are killed for their verdict. The answer they delivered has led to their own assassinations. Only one of the jury remains alive to continue to be an eye witness of what he saw and knows.

The jury of eleven, the disciples, risked and gave their lives because of Jesus. The reality of the resurrection had the most radical effect on these men, as you can imagine!

Two thousand years on, that reality is still having a radical effect on people’s lives. Still not convinced? Weight the evidence. An empty tomb. No body found. Jesus seen by hundreds of people over a period of forty days. The birth of the Church. The martyrdom of the disciples. The millions of followers of Jesus today.

Have you reached your verdict?