IMPLAUSIBLE

Imagine that I tell you a story about a young woman, 5’3” and weighing in at 115lbs, who just was released from a psychiatric ward, was able to lift a picnic table with connecting benches a few feet in the air and throw it off a porch. I explain that she believed her baby was in a house and that the belief was so strong that it gave her strength to lift this picnic table as she was trying to free her child. Would you believe this story? I am not sure that I would. But what if I said there were eye witnesses that you could go and ask about it; that the couple whose porch she threw the picnic table off of were at home at the time and had to call the police. Would you believe the story then? Most people would be more apt to believe this implausible story because there is corraborating evidence. You can go and ask the people whom it happened to.


Can you imagine how many times they had to tell that story? I bet they would be asked at parties, by neighbors and they would also just willingly tell the story time and again because they would not believe it happened. They would remember it for the rest of their days and most likely tell the story so many times that close friends may get tired of hearing it. But what if they made up the whole thing to gain attention or just to pull a prank? How long do you think it would last?

First, one could check the police records in the paper or the local police station to see if the incident actually happened. They could look at newspapers, because if this did happen it is probably going to catch the attention of some local newspaper and maybe a newstation. But, if it is made up, do you think they would enjoy telling the story like they would if it were true? Probably not, and they would probably start to get frustrated by people asking them all the time and regret ever telling the story, especially once it was found out as a fraud. I am betting that once they were interrogated and threatened with a fine, or prison for telling a false story to the police, that they would confess in a hurry. They would not go to prison, or pay a fine for such a story. At least most people would not.

What about a more implausible story, like the resurrection of Christ? Can you imagine someone telling you that this Jesus was on the cross, the most horrific way to die, and three days later was alive? The cross was so bad they made a new word to describe it, which is our English word excrutiating. We are to believe after this that Jesus came back to life and defeated death. Yes, we are, because of all the evidence and transformation of lives. One of the most important is who they referenced as proof. They used Mary, a woman. A woman was not considered a witness in Jesus’ time. They could not even be a witness in court, so to use them was to show they truly believed, because if it was a made up story they would have surely used a man as the first person testimony account.

Secondly, the transformation of people was extraordinary. All the disciples left in dismay when Jesus was buried in the tomb, because they believed he was dead and was not going to rise again. But after Mary reported and the disciples saw with their own eyes they were transformed. They went from being afraid to being out in public to speaking bodly to everyone because they believed the implausible. They believed based on testimony and eyewitness account. They checked the facts. It would have been easy to prove that Jesus did not rise from the dead. Just bring out the body, but instead they tried to fabricate a story that the disciples stole the body.

Why the stolen body theory does not work is because of how the apostles died. Some may try to convince people of a lie when there is no real threat of punishment, but when the punishment threatened is death most will not continue in a lie. The apostles were killed in horrific ways because they believed Jesus raised from the dead. They were crucified, stoned, skinned alive, cooked in an oven, head cut off, and speared. I don’t know about you, but there is no way I am going through anything like that for a lie, and I don’t think anyone who knew they were lying would.

This is one implausible story that checks out. Just look at the facts and testimonies of those involved and it is becomes very apparent that Jesus raised from the dead on the third day. If He did then it changes everything.