It is a common question.  How do you know that the gospel is true?  How do you know that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead? The truth of the gospel depends on the physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  If He did not rise, there is no salvation and therefore no gospel.  If He did, then He is the Son of God, the saviour of the world and its judge.

“But how do you know He rose again?“

“Because we are speaking about Him.”

“But we speak of Buddha and Mohammad as well...”

“True, but Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, the One promised by the prophets in the Scriptures to the Jewish nation.  Prophets die, philosophers die, wise men die, but the Messiah must live.  So when Jesus was crucified His disciples, both men and women, lost all hope that He was the Messiah, despite everything that He had said and done.”

“Then, suddenly, everything changed.  In the same place where He had died, right under the noses of the people responsible for killing Him, these same disciples declared that He was alive, and began to work the same miracles that He had worked!  The number of those who believed in Him exploded, many paying with their lives for the faith they now held.  How do you explain this?“

“When you examine the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection, you have to explain the empty tomb, the bold declaration by His disciples of His victory over death after crushing disappointment, the rapid growth and spread of the church, and even our conversation today.”

“If Jesus had died like other men, He would have been forgotten entirely.  He was not.  He has changed the course of human history.“