The Resurrection Question | Easter 2026

If someone could have produced Jesus’ body, the Christian movement dies instantly. That simple reality is why we spend Easter doing more than celebrating a holiday. We follow the evidence trail and ask the question that won’t leave us alone: what do we do with the historical claims that Jesus died and rose again?

We talk through why the crucifixion is widely accepted by historians, including details like Roman execution practices and references from sources such as Josephus and Tacitus. Then we move to what happened next: the empty tomb, the earliest resurrection proclamation in 1 Corinthians 15, and the uncomfortable weight of eyewitness claims, including the report of more than 500 people who said they saw Jesus alive. We also test the most common alternative explanations, from stolen-body theories to hallucinations to legend development, and why none of them fully accounts for the facts on the table.

But we do not stop at history. If the resurrection of Jesus is true, it becomes personal. We explore what it means for forgiveness, guilt, present-day power through the Spirit of God, and hope beyond death that changes how we suffer now. We also offer a direct 30-day challenge for skeptics who want evidence and for believers who know the truth but have not fully surrendered.

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Transcript

Welcome And Easter Context

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hello, this is Jamie Bridges, and thank you so much for joining us for this week's podcast. All of our services are inspired and built straight from the Bible. Let's get into this week's message recorded at Life Community Church.

The Evidence Question We All Face

Why Jesus’ Death Is Historical

The Empty Tomb And Witnesses

Alternative Theories Put To Test

If True Then It Changes Everything

Hope For Eternity And Suffering

Skeptic Or Surrendered, Choose A Path

Wanting God Like Breath, Prayer

SPEAKER_01 0:15

For us, Easter is obviously the foundation of why we do what we do. And that's that's a a lot of what's being talked about today. It's what's being talked about all across our county and churches, all across our state, all across our world, really, where millions of people are gathering today to remember the resurrection of Jesus. We'll talk about that. Another special thing for us is 15 years ago, on Easter Saturday, Life Community Church planted. And yeah, they said, don't do a Saturday and don't do it on Easter. And we said, okay, we're gonna do it on a Saturday, and we're gonna do it at Easter. And here we are, uh 15 years later. And so in four weeks, on May 3rd, we're celebrating our 15th anniversary. So Easter, yeah, absolutely. Some of you, it's like a lot of your marriages. You know, your father-in-law at some point goes, I don't know if it's gonna last, right? That's what some people said about us too. And here we are, 15 years later. I don't know if that guy's gonna make it. I don't know. He's a little shady, right? It's what they said, it's what they're still saying. It's what they're still saying, and you're like, there's a lot of nervous laughter going on in here right now. It's like, should I laugh at that? Should I smile about it? I don't know how I feel about that. Well, go out to the coffee pot and get some more caffeine in you, right? Because they don't offer decaf. I do know that. I do know that. Hey, when I was growing up as a kid, um I got kind of this reputation uh of being gullible. And uh last night um I said, hey, listen, uh, I was raised and I was kind of gullible. And at that moment, my mom openly laughed out loud, uh, which made for a great moment. Uh my mom affirming how gullible I was. I didn't love that afterwards. She proceeded to tell stories in the well uh afterwards, and so while I'm at the Connect tent, people are walking out telling stories about me when I was eight, nine, fifteen, thirty-five, um, and and all the way up. I'm like, thanks, mom, for uh for being here. You are not allowed to come tomorrow. And uh she says, but I am coming. I'm stuck here in the nursery, so that's where she's at at 10:30. I'll show you, right? And so uh, but I did. I was uh I was an easy to believe kind of guy, and uh I I jumped right in when it came to uh religion, when it came to faith, when it came to asking a lot of questions. Um, and so I really want to to come from an angle today to have a conversation uh about not just faith, not just Jesus, but why we celebrate what we do. And really it comes down to this question What do we do with the evidence that Christ not only died, but he rose again? Because historically, it's been proven by Christian philosophers, theologians, by atheists, by men and women who who have gone down a rabbit trail of conversation and they've come to this conclusion that Jesus really died. Like historically, this isn't debated much anymore, and here's why because Roman crucifixion was brutal and efficient. That tells me the the Romans were really good at what they did. And when it came to crucifixions, that was their forte. So we know it's not really debated because the Romans were brutal, they were efficient, they were professional executioners, and John 19 confirms that a spear was driven through Jesus' side, proving that he actually died. And again, skeptics believe this. Philosophers, historians like Josephus, who said Pilate condemned Jesus to the cross. Or Tacitus, a Roman historian, hostile to Christianity. He said Christ suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius under the hands of Pontius Pilate. These are independent confirmations that Jesus existed, that he was crucified, and this wasn't just legend. So this is not about did he die? It was about what happened next. That was the question. And here's what we find. And this is what also the same philosophers will come to the conclusion of the tomb was empty. Three days later, the body is gone. Now think logically. If the body was still there, Christianity dies instantly. But we know, because here we are in 2026, still gathering, still meeting about what they were meeting about that day, which tells us something that millions of people, billions of people across our world will gather today to remember an event that actually happened. And the authorities, the religious leaders, they wanted to stop the movement. And I've seen enough shows, mysteries, read enough novels to know that all you had to do was produce a body. That's it, and Christianity ceased to exist, but they never did. And again, Justin the Martyr, a philosopher quoting Jewish claims. He said his disciples stole him by night from the tomb. Don't miss this. Even Jesus' enemies know his body is not there. Even his enemies. So this is the direct admission. And here's what else we know people claimed to see him alive. And this is where it gets uncomfortable. And Paul addresses this in the 15th chapter of the book of 1 Corinthians. He says in verse 3, I passed on to you what was most important. Not just important, the most important thing. And what had also been passed on to me. Here it is. He was buried and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the scripture said. He was seen by Peter, he was seen by the twelve, and after that, he was seen by over 500 followers, of which some of them are still alive. He's saying, Listen, guys, what I'm writing to you about is the fact that it wasn't just one person, it wasn't just a legend. Last night we had over 500 people here. Right now we have over 500 people here. If Jesus showed up and he showed you his hands, he showed you the scars, and he said, Here I am, and you all seen it. All 500 people in this room saw what you saw, and you cannot leave here unchanged. This is what he's talking about. This is what Paul is telling the Corinthian church. Guys, this is the most important thing. And this was also important. They knew how the disciples were before Jesus died. They were cowards, they were hiding, they were afraid, they were denying Jesus. After Jesus, they were bold, they were public, and most of them died for their faith. And this is the other thing: the church exploded in the city where Jesus died. This is huge. This is not, it started outside of Jerusalem, it started as a legend and it made its way back. This thing started where it could have been disproven immediately. Could have instantly been disproven. But in the same city, it was proven to be right. And then this historian says they were in the habit of meeting and they were singing, and they were singing about Christ as if he was a God. There was a recognition that within decades of Jesus people are worshiping him as God, not as a memory, but as someone who was alive. Again, if there's a body, game over. But instead, the message spread rapidly. Thousands believed, and opposition could not stop it. So, what are the alternatives? This is historically what has been tried to be proven. The disciples stole the body. This is the problem, though, because that means the disciples built a lie, it means they suffered and died for it, and they never recanted, which means not only is that unlikely, it's irrational. People do die for lies, but not usually lies they make up. This is what they're talking about. Some say they hallucinated, which hallucinations are usually individual, not so much group hallucinations, but not to 500 people, not over 40 days, not involving conversations, meals, and physical touch. So rule that out. Then there's the swoon theory that Jesus didn't actually die. The problem is, again, Roman executioner usually didn't mess this up. They were really good at it. Secondly, half-dead men don't usually roll stones away, much less overtake guards, much less than convince other people that that's what they did. So that's not just the resurrection, that's that's survival, and I would question whether that would even be survival. Legend developed over time. Again, this problem is that the resurrection claims show immediately, not century later. That's what it's immediately, and that's why Paul and 1 Corinthians 15, this is the early creed. This is within moments, years of the event. This wasn't myth building, this was a proclamation, what Paul was saying. And when you stack all the evidence together, here's what we find: Jesus actually died. The tomb was actually empty. Their lives were radically changed, and a movement exploded. And as I said, you're here because of that movement. You may not know why you're here. You may be looking at the person next to you like, why did you bring me here? But you're here because a movement started and it's continued, and that's why we gather. So here's the tension. If the resurrection didn't happen, we can walk away, we can ignore all this, you got a cup of coffee. But if it did happen, then this is not just a historical debate. This is a personal confrontation. Meaning, history forces a conclusion, the resurrection forces a decision. It forces us to say, What am I gonna do with this? What am I gonna do with these facts? And again, the Apostle Paul, of anybody, he wrote more about the resurrection than anybody else. Not only did he write most of the New Testament, he talked the most about the resurrection. In fact, to Paul, it was the foundation of everything he believed, to the point where he says, if Christ has not been raised, then all of our preaching is useless and your faith is useless. What Paul is saying is if the resurrection didn't happen, then Christianity collapses. It goes away. It's a fad, it's a trend that goes away. And we know fads and trends. We've seen them go away. He's saying if this didn't happen, this goes away. But what you and I sitting here are proof that it didn't go away. In fact, I would argue the case as people keep arguing that Christianity is on the down, I would argue the opposite. It's on the rise. And mostly amongst college-age students. You know what that means? That means they're tired of us. I put myself in that category, older people. I'm gonna let you fill in the blank since you're already laughing. He's saying, listen, there's no middle ground. Without the resurrection, is preaching's empty, faith is pointless, we're still in our sins. It's the it's proof that the cross worked. He said this to the Roman church. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. What this means, you don't have to carry guilt like a life sentence. You don't have to make up for your past. You're not defined by your worst decision, you're not a project that God is just fixing, you're a person that he's paid the ultimate price for. And the resurrection proves that there's forgiveness, that we are forgiven. Again, Paul says three verses later, and he repeats almost the same thing because he knows we might have missed it the first time. And if you're reading something that says something similar, you're gonna say to yourself, Didn't I read this already? To which the answer is yes. Why didn't I get it the first time? Stubborn people, where are we at? Come on, come on, it's okay. Self-admission right now. My hand is up. Yes, thank you for your honesty. We're gonna stop right now. No, I'm just kidding. Verse 17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless, and what? You're still guilty of your sins, which means the opposite is also true. Because Jesus was raised, your sin has been dealt with. It's not covered temporarily, it's not ignored, it's paid in full, it's proven by an empty tomb. And then this is Paul's main point. The resurrection gives you power to live right now in a culture that is talking about eternity, in a culture who's debating heaven, in a culture that is talking constantly about where we go when we die. Paul comes to this conclusion. He says, Listen, it's not just a future hope, it is seen as a present power. So much that to Philippians church, he says, I want to know Christ and I want to experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. He later says, the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead, it lives in you. This isn't poetic, this is practical. He's saying, listen, if you're a type of person that you're tired of living this mundane life, if you think that there's more to life in this, he's saying in this moment, there is. There's more to life than what you're experiencing. He's saying Christianity is not about trying harder, it's about living empowered. Same power, different address. And this is why this is important. Because a lot of times we can say, that's good for her over here, that's good for him, that's good for that guy over here. He's like, nope, this is for everyone. This is the game changer. Because you and I, we base things on last names, where we live, where we're from, what kind of education, what kind of work we have. We base it all on that. And Jesus comes and says, if anyone would come after me, He throws out, He throws out the popularity, He throws out the all of it. Says, if anyone. He says, Listen, if if you feel like you're powerless, just know this change is actually possible. In a culture that says, once this, always this, he says, no, no, no, watch this. And this is what Paul is saying. Look at look at this. 1 Corinthians 15. He says, last of all, verse 8, though I have been born at the wrong time, I also saw him, for I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I'm not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God's church. This is Paul's story. Paul's story is he's the guy who tried to stop Christianity. He's the guy who did not want this to spread. And what did he do? He started killing Christians, pulling them from their homes, seeing them be martyrs. In fact, the first martyr, Stephen, he's not only did he order it, he's there while Stephen is being stoned. So this guy, he's saying, I'm I'm the worst of the worst. I'm not even worthy to be called an apostle. In a world in a culture that constantly compares our lives to one another, compare your life to Paul right now. Do that, compare it to him. He's the guy who says, I found Jesus even though I was the one who was killing them, even though I was the one trying to stop. Could you imagine Paul knocking on the door, knocking on going to church that day? You imagine Paul walking into church, and the apostles and the disciples are there, and Paul walks in and they're like, We know who you are. You killed our best friend. And now he's preaching the gospel, the good news of Jesus. Listen, your excuses of how you used to live, they don't carry weight when it comes to the grace and the mercy of Jesus. Not in a bad way, in a way that says, you can be forgiven, you can live different, you can overcome that addiction. You can overcome whatever it is that has been passed on to you generationally. He says, You can. And not only that, Paul does go to the future. He does talk about eternity. He says this in verse 20. Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of the great harvest of all who have died. What Paul is saying is Jesus' resurrection is a preview of ours. Death is no longer the end, it's a doorway. Because Jesus walked out of the grave, death is no longer the end of your story. In fact, he says this in John 14, 19. He says, Because I live, you also will live. What that means for you, death loses its fear, eternity becomes real, it's not just abstract, and your life now has eternal weight and meaning, which means the resurrection changes how you live and how you suffer. Know this. You are gonna go through pain, you're gonna go through struggle. Like every single one of us, we know this. We know there are gonna be things that we go through that that we don't love that we go through. Things are gonna happen. Reports are gonna happen. Someone's gonna give you bad news, someone's gonna call you in the middle of the night, someone is gonna tell you a loved one dies, someone is gonna give you a bad health report. All of this is gonna happen. How we now see and put this in the right perspective is because of the resurrection. Paul endured insane hardship, and here's why he didn't quit. He says in 2 Corinthians 4 14, we know that God will also raise us with Jesus. Because of the resurrection, pain isn't pointless, suffering isn't final, and this life isn't all there is. There's so much more. If you can endure anything when you know how the story ends. Because it can appear at times like we're losing, it can appear at times like the world is just gone to pot. I don't even know what that means, but it's always been said the world's gone to pot. I really don't know what it means. Maybe you can enlighten me afterwards. Connect at the connect tent. But here's what I know the resurrection demands a response. Paul did not present something as information, he presented something to make a decision. It was always an invitation. Hey, if you would openly declare that Jesus is Lord, and if you would believe in your heart that Jesus is a good moral teacher, that Jesus died on a cross, that Jesus heals, Jesus saves. No, in this moment, declaring Paul is how important the resurrection is, he says, if you would openly declare that Jesus the Lord, and you believe in your heart that what? That Christ raised him from the dead. You believe that. He says, if you believe that, that's a game changer. That's the game changer. Because when you believe it, this is not just agreeing intellectually, this is not about being a good person, this is about believing it and surrendering to it. He says, it's not just about belief, it is about surrendering. Your mission now becomes urgent, not just optional. You have purpose, you have mission. That's the reason he says, guys, this is what you're to do. Go and make disciples. And again, we're here today because someone believed it. Someone grabbed a hold of it, someone prayed for you, someone presented. Someone brought you. Someone someone did the hard had a hard conversation with you. And now you find yourself in a different spot. And people are saying things like, you are different. You have changed. It wasn't that you tried harder. It's because of what you believe about the Bible, about the gospel, about what Jesus said. This is not about tradition. This is about a God who died on the ground. I'm asking you not to make it about religion. You don't just add that to your life. You give your life to it. By no means am I gonna ask you to identify publicly? No social security number, no standing number. No waving your hands, not doing any of that. But I am asking you to allow God to search your heart. Because I do, I believe there are two types of people that will be with us all weekend. And the first person is the skeptic. The skeptic is someone who questions or doubts the truth of Christianity and has yet to be convinced that Jesus is who we claim to be. You are searching, you are not hostile. You are you want evidence, you want logic, you want personal proof. You your hesitation is usually rooted in intellectual questions, past experiences, maybe mistrust. Just know this. And I want to be the first to tell you I'm sorry if someone has treated your questions as threats, or if someone has reacted to your questions, but you've yet to respond to your questions. I'm sorry that you found someone that you trusted and you saw a hypocritical side of them, or maybe they couldn't give an answer or defense of why they believed what they believed. And so I want to say sorry to you that you haven't been given the answers that you have questions for. And let me challenge you in this. If we could take 30 days, and of those 30 days, you go all in to disprove what I just presented to you. I'm asking you to prove that Christ didn't die, that he wasn't risen from the grave. I'll resource you, I'll I'll have you meet with some of the top intellectual people, but I would challenge you for 30 days to keep asking questions, to still keep going down this trail to come to the conclusion. And that is my prayer that you come to a conclusion. Not your parents' conclusion, not your coworkers' conclusion, not the person that brought you's conclusion, but your own personal conclusion to where you can say there is no other way but Jesus. Like that is the prayer. And then there's a second person. This is someone who hasn't fully surrendered to Christ. This is different. This is way more personal. This person has fully hasn't fully surrendered. You believe in Jesus intellectually, you attend church, maybe you even identify as a Christian, but you still hold control over parts of your life. You haven't yielded your will, you haven't yielded your lifestyle, you haven't yielded your identity or your obedience. Someone who believes in Jesus but just hasn't given him full control. There's a key difference. A skeptic says, I'm not convinced yet. A non-surrendered believer says, I believe, but I'm still in charge. A skeptic questions if Jesus is Lord. A non-surrendered person know he is, but hasn't let him be. There is a difference, and I'm asking you the same thing I'm asking to the individual who is skeptic. I'm asking you over the next 30 days to surrender it all. To the thing that you said I could give up at any moment, I could give this thing up. Prove it. I'm not asking you to do something you've not said you couldn't do, I'm asking you to give it up. I'm asking you to surrender the very thing that is controlling your life or your controlling. Because listen, what you keep in secret has the most power over your life. So I'm not challenging you to a debate, I'm challenging you to surrender to who Jesus is. I'm not asking you to read the Bible in the next 30 days, Genesis to Revelation. I'm asking you to look at it from an angle of what is God inviting you to do to prove that His resurrection changes that addiction, it changes that generational thing that has been on your life, and that is a real thing. You've believed a lie. I'm just asking you to find the truth. So the invitation is not to join our church, the invitation is to pursue the truth, the truth of who Jesus is. And maybe that starts with the person that brought you asking them their story. Maybe it's leaning over and going, Why'd you bring me here? What's going on? What happened to you if you don't know that yet? Maybe that's what you're saying. Hey, what why? Tell me about you. What is your story? And I hope you've already heard that. But maybe you haven't. Maybe it's going up to someone who's a little older in the room. Man, tell me your story. Maybe these next 30 days isn't about a moment, maybe it's about a decision to say, I'm pursuing this. As I've already mentioned, man, we're right outside. And if that connect is, I feel like I'm doing this alone, I feel like I'm isolated, I want to connect you to a life group. But hear me, you can't come in late and leave early and think you're gonna get connected. It won't happen. So the permission to ask questions means we can answer them honestly. Not for the sake of shaming you, not for the sake of saying we're better than you, but for the sake of getting you to an understanding of who Jesus is. Because he's the one that changes you, not me. If we're dependent on that, we are all in trouble. It's not about me, it's about the one that can change you. And it's the one who died, the one that rose, and the one that empowers you to never be the same again. Listen, if you're asking the question, is there more to life than this? The answer is yes. And the same answer is in a relationship with Christ. Again, we're not just taking my word for it, we're taking philosophers, the Bible, and what Jesus said himself. I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. No one finds the Father without me. Heard of a story a long time ago about a man that came to a village and he approached a monk and he said this question to the monk, I want to find God. The monk grabbed the man, threw him under the water, holds him there for a long time, brings him up. The man's like, What in the world are you doing? Grasping for breath. He's like, What are you doing? That wasn't the question. And as the man is talking again, down, holding him under the guy's kicking, brings him back up, completely out of breath. The man's frustrated, he's angry, and in his anger, the monk puts him back again, a third time, this time longer, so that when he comes up, can't say anything. He brings him up and he looks at the man in the eyes and says, When you want God as much as you just wanted breath, then you'll find him. The question isn't where is God? The question is, you haven't been looking in the right place. He's never left, he's still here, and my challenge to all of us: whether you're here, it's to go here. Whether you're here, go here. Like I'm inviting you to a journey, and it is the best journey of your life. That is the invite, that is the invitation. That's where we would love to walk with you. Amen. Pray with us. God, we lean in today, not into life community church, not into an earthly relationship, we lean into you. We lean into your word, we lean into your promises. God, we lean into the fact that you love us, and the fact that you died, you willingly laid your life down, knowing not just what the cross meant, but what an empty tomb meant. And God, we've seen proof, we've seen a denying disciple, we've seen disciples who were on their way home, their expectations had not been met, this new reality was unknown, they were skeptical, and their lives were radically changed. Never the same again. In fact, they surrendered it all, even their own life. God, I pray that you would help us, that you would strengthen us to lean in when we want to bail, to lean in when our questions are difficult. God, would you help us today? Would you soften our hearts today? In Jesus' name. Amen.