#131 Jesus the Resurrection and the Way
It is well evidenced that Jesus died on the cross and was not as some people believe not dead. This paper will demonstrate that it is logically and historically clear that Jesus died on the cross. This paper will also show that based on the information available it is not possible for Jesus to have survived the cross. The result of the presented facts will lead to the conclusion that Jesus Christ is resurrected from the dead.
There are many versions of the theory that Jesus was not actually dead when he was put in the tomb. These range from the idea that Jesus had a twin, that the wrong person was on the cross, or that someone else impersonated Jesus after His death. The most common version of this idea though is called the swoon theory. The swoon theory is that Jesus was actually the one hung on the cross and that He was placed in the tomb. Yet that somehow Jesus survived. The swoon theory comes in many forms but in general it relies on the idea that those who were present were either lying or faulty witnesses of the cross. The idea is the “view that Christ was not dead when taken from the cross and placed in the tomb. Therefore, he was not raised from the dead.”
It is well evidenced that Jesus died on the cross and was not as some people believe not dead. The Bible provides many historical accounts of the final days of Jesus Christ’s life. All four Gospels say that Jesus died on the cross. In John 19:19 (NASB) we observe that there was a sign on the cross where Jesus was hung that said, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” This indicates that if anyone was present that wanted Jesus dead and saw that sign they would have spoken up. The Pharisees and Sadducees were witness to the death of Jesus and they were the ones most against Jesus. This is also attested to in Matt 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38. We later also observe that Jesus did die on the cross. Many of the disciples of Jesus were present at the crucifixion which shows that they cared about the person on the cross or in other words they believed that the person they saw was Jesus see John 19:26. It is further recorded that Christ did die in John 19:30, ““It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” If this is not enough evidence to suggest that Jesus was dead, John 19:33 says the guards observed he was dead and then in John 19:34 “one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.” These soldiers knew that Jesus was dead and to make sure that was the case stabbed. Such that if He was not dead He would now be dead.
Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli wrote in the Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics nine different reasons that the swoon theory must be wrong. The reasons are that one, Romans had robust procedures in place for crucifixion. Then there is the fact the Roman soldier did not break Jesus’s legs, John was a witness, blood and water came out when he was stabbed, the body was wrapped in “winding sheets and entombed.” Jesus appeared after His death to the disciples, the Roman guards at Jesus’s tomb could not be “overpowered by a swooning corpse,” the half dead Jesus could not have moved the stone of the tomb by Himself, if He swooned where did the body go? The final issue with the swoon theory is that it turns into a conspiracy or hallucination theory as many people attested to seeing Jesus both dead and alive.
The swoon theory suffers from the fact that Jesus so clearly died. One author said, “For the swoon theory to be true, Jesus would have had to have not only survived the spear piercing His heart and one of His lungs, but He would have had to control how much blood flowed out of the wound by sheer willpower.” This is most obviously not the case for Jesus. No one can survive having their heart and lung pierced by a spear. Especially not on top of being beaten nearly to death, being hung on a cross, and bleeding out.
The swoon theory could potentially be defended if the Romans wanted Jesus to live. Consider that Pontious Pilate did not actually consider Jesus guilty of anything. In Luke 23:4, Pilate said, “Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.”” What if Pontius Pilate grew a conscience? Could the scourging be more superficial than real? Furthermore the hanging on the cross could have been a ruse as well. Jesus could have been attached to the cross in such a way as to not be in pain. Then finally the sour wine that Jesus drank could have had some ancient sleeping medicine in it. If all of that had happened the swoon theory may hold some ground. Yet we can know that Jesus was attached to the cross in a normal way. Many people observed him there. Furthermore the guards that scourged Christ would have spoken about going easy on Jesus. And people would have had to tend to Jesus’s wounds, and roll away the stone. This would have been a massive conspiracy. That conspiracy would have been impossible to keep a secret in light of the claims that the Christians began to make after Christ’s resurrection.
In conclusion, the swoon theory in its many forms is not consistent with the available facts. We can reasonably know that Jesus did die on a cross and that He was seen three days later not dead. We have shown that the available historical accounts indicate that Christians are correct in their beliefs at least as far as the history of Jesus and the cross is concerned.
Bibliography
Doug Powell, Holman QuickSource Guide to Christian Apologetics (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2006), 273.
Norman L. Geisler, “Swoon Theory,” in Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999), 713.
Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli, Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics, The IVP Pocket Reference Series (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2003), 71.
