Resurrection of Jesus

Why was it such a sacrifice for god to lose his only son Jesus, when he has the power to tell the future and knew he would be resurrected?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Resurrection of Jesus, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Why was it such a sacrifice for god to lose his only son Jesus, when he has the power to tell the future and knew he would be resurrected? Answer: I am guessing that you are not a parent. For me, to imagine watching my one and only son (I actually have one son […]

Is it true that the idea that the miracles and resurrection of Jesus were only claimed to be myths long after the time of Jesus? Is this not good evidence that Jesus worked miracles?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Miracles, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: If the miracle stories and the resurection are myths started years after the crucifiction wouldn’t there be alternate stories of Christ that would be written down? I don’t know of any stories of a non-miracle working Jesus so isn’t this very strong evidence that the stories are not myths? Why don’t I ever here […]

How can you explain Romans 11:26 and Matthew 2:23 are prophecies? In one case, it is not a correct quote from the Old Testament. In the other case, there is no prophecy in the Old Testament about a Nazarene.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: Ever since last year, I’ve been sharing with a Jewish friend I have. He told me about this small book he read about why you can’t trust the Christian Bible and why not to believe in Jesus. The thing that made me think the most is when this little book talked about how scriptures […]

Why did the disciples not recognize Jesus when he had resurrected? Could it be because his beard was ripped out or his wounds in general?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Resurrection of Jesus, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: For a long time I have wondered why Luke and John describe the Mary?s and the disciples not recognizing Jesus after the resurrection. Even Thomas didn?t recognize him until he saw the scars (even after the other disciples told him who he was.) I guess I just always chocked it up to the disciples […]

When Jesus' resurrection happened why did he appear to his apostles first? Why did he not appear to the Pharisees & teachers of the law?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: When Jesus’ resurrection happened why did he appear to his apostles first? Why did he not appear to the Pharisees & teachers of the law who handed Jesus over to be crucified? Answer: The Bible does not answer this question, at least not directly. This requires me to speculate to some extent. First of […]

How do you know Psalm 16:10-11 is messianic, since David seems to be talking about himself?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: Quoting from page 238 of your book From Shadow to Reality, Psalm 16: 10-11. How can you possibly use this as a “prophecy” of anything? The Psalmist is speaking personally. What principle of hermeneutics authorizes the injection of additional significance? Answer: I do so for at least four reasons. First, there are several examples […]

In Matthew 27:65, could the Greek word mean "I have" rather than "You have," which would prove that the guard at Jesus' tomb was Roman?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: I am currently studying the resurrection of Jesus in an apologetic manner and have started looking into the Greek texts. Matthew 27:65 mentions the guard requested by the Jews, I noticed that the word translated as “you have” appears to be “I have” (echo as opposed to the ete ending denoting you plural). Unfortunately […]

A Muslim friend told me the original NT word for cross meant stick, and that the meaning changed over time. Is that true?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Other Religions, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: I was talking to a Muslim and he told me that the word that was used in the original Hebrew New Testament for the cross actually meant Stick and that the word has changes over time to mean cross, is this true? Also I am readibng your book “Reasons for Belief.” It is very […]

What about a theory that the resurrection was a fake by a person who pretended to be Jesus?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Miracles, Resurrection of Jesus .

I have heard of a conspiracy theory that argues that Jesus’s body was taken by the Romans and then some sort of stunt was pulled using someone who looked like Jesus to make the 500 mentioned by Paul in 1 Cor 15 believe he had risen from the dead. The argument then says that church […]

No one outside Christianity believes Jesus rose from the dead. How can I be sure it happened?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Miracles, Resurrection of Jesus .

No one outside Christians claim that Jesus rose from the dead. A few mention he had been crucified- and they admit Christians believe he rose from the dead, but no one outside Christian writers say he rose from the dead. And there’s no writings from the actual existence of Jesus that say he was crucified […]

What was the Jewish custom on burial? Does this relate to the swoon theory?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, Miracles, Resurrection of Jesus .

I’m doing a brief study on the foundation of Christianity for our Bible study group and have been browsing your website. Am I correct in that in accordance with Jewish burial customs Jesus’ body would have been wrapped similar to that of an Egyptian mummy? If so would that not be further evidence against the […]

What was the point of the resurrection?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Resurrection of Jesus .

I was just wondering; I believe Jesus died and was raised from the dead. I also believe in the resurrection. However what is the point of the resurrection? Was it just an example of God’s power? Other people have been raised from the dead. What really makes Christ’s resurrection so special? There are many things […]

What proof do we have that Jesus really did rise from the dead?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Miracles, Resurrection of Jesus .

This is an excellent question. I believe I have already answered it pretty thoroughly, so I refer you to one of the articles already at this web site, “The Ultimate Miracle.” This article goes into great detail describing all the alternative explanations of the evidence about what happened to Jesus, showing that the only even […]