"Do you people REALLY believe the Jesus resurrection fairy tale?" Despite all that Jesus said and did, if Jesus had died and not been seen after his resurrection, Christianity would have died with him. Consider Jesus' resurrection from the perspective of His Apostles. They followed Jesus around for three years and saw amazing things. Yet when he hung on the cross, all but one hid, fearing their own arrest and execution. But just six weeks later, they marched back into Jerusalem and confidently proclaimed Jesus' resurrection, declaring to the masses that Jesus, "whom you crucified" (Acts 2:36), "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses." (Acts 2:32) Something significant must have happened during those six weeks - something so astounding in fact, that it confirmed their faith in Jesus' deity even more than all of the miracles they had witnessed during the previous three years combined. But what could be more dramatic than seeing Jesus feed 5000 with a boy's lunch (John 6), heal the blind and the sick (John 9), raise the dead (John 11), calm the storm and walk on water? This time, it wasn't what Jesus did, but what he couldn't do: Jesus couldn't stay dead. During those 6 weeks, they had seen and talked with the physically resurrected Jesus, who even ate food in front of them to prove that they weren't just seeing a ghost (Luke 24:36-43). Consider things also from the perspective of those who heard the Apostles' declaration. The last thing they wanted to hear was that Jesus, whose death they had called for (Matthew 27:22-23), is back and that he is their "Lord" (Acts 2:36). If the body still in the tomb, they would have yelled back, "What're you talking about? He's dead and we know where his body is!" But instead of challenging the Apostles' declaration, they listened in silence and then 3,000 of them became believers right then and there: "Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them." (Acts 2:41) Why? Again, the only possible explanation is that they couldn't deny Jesus' resurrection as the Apostles had declared.
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