One Easter, I wrote about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ in a local newspaper. Almost immediately, a 76-year-old reader took issue with me on this. After listening to him for three hours, Joshua (as I shall call him) finally came to the point: “Jesus did not die on the cross, his resurrection is grossly misunderstood. This ‘historical hoax’ has to be exposed.”

He was really convinced about it; after all he had spent 50 years of his life trying to do just this.

But his is not the only dissenting voice. There’s the well known ‘swoon’ theory, for instance, that Jesus was crucified but did not die on the cross. He just passed out or ‘swooned’ from all the flogging. He was later resuscitated - not resurrected - inside the tomb, by women followers.

Another conspiracy theory says that Jesus was crucified on the cross but did not die there. Ludicrous as it may sound, the claim is that God switched Jesus with Judas in broad daylight in the dying moments on the cross right in front of everyone, including seasoned Roman guards who were under strict orders to ensure that the death sentence was duly carried out.

To the faithful, Jesus had risen on Easter Sunday. Make no bones about it, the tomb was empty. But who moved the stone to let the women in or Jesus out?

Archaeological evidence suggests that a two-tonne stone would have been used as a doorway for the tomb. Once the body had been placed inside the tomb, the stone would be rolled over the doorway to block any potential grave robbers.

Yet, this enormous stone was found rolled away from the entrance of the tomb, according to Gospel accounts (Mark 16:3-4 and John 20:1).There’s no way the women could have moved it as it has been suggested that it would take 20 strong men to do it. A Roman seal would have been fastened, to warn away grave robbers (Matthew 27:66).

The punishment for breaking such a seal was death by being crucified upside down. This seal was either broken or missing when the empty tomb was discovered. Sixteen guards would have been stationed at the tomb (Matthew 27:66). Four stood watch immediately in front of the tomb, and the remaining twelve in groups of four fanning out in a semi-circle.

These were Roman legionnaires, the most disciplined fighting force of their time. They would all have known that the penalty for sleeping on the job was execution by being burned to death.

Scriptures tell us that these guards, upon realising that the tomb was empty, they did not dare to go back to their barracks, but went instead to the Jewish priests to plead their case. The temple priests bribed the soldiers and asked them to tell the people that the disciples had stolen the body (Matthew 28:11-15).

But how reliable is this Gospel evidence? Influenced by sceptic thinkers at the turn of the previous century, English journalist and lawyer Frank Morison decided to scrutinise the Gospel accounts but ended up convinced of the validity of the biblical record. He published his findings in 1930 in his book ‘Who Moved the Stone?’ which went on to become an apologetics classic.

Dr Simon Greenleaf, a law professor at Harvard University, famous for his three-volume work, A Treatise on the Law of Evidence, examined the value of the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His findings were recorded in An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice (1846).

More evidence for resurrection

Greenleaf concluded that, according to the rules of evidence used in courts of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history.

Former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Darling, once said that, “No intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in a verdict that the resurrection story is true”.

The Apostle Paul, after a lengthy treatise, put the matter to rest by simply declaring: “...that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

But 13 verses later many still didn’t believe him that the Christ had risen from the dead prompting him to tell them straight in their faces: “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins” (1 Cor 15:17).

It takes faith to believe that. Well, my friend Joshua tells me faith is belief without proof or evidence. The Bible, however, says: “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).

So did Jesus die on the cross? It depends very much on one’s faith, really.

BOB TEOH is a freelance columnist and a lay preacher. He is an associate in theology with a diploma in ministry from Perth Bible College, Australia.