Jesus - If He was raised, He is God and Christianity is true!

What If Jesus was resurrected - does that mean He is God and Christianity is true?

I have had a few people say to me, "Actually Julian, even if Jesus was raised to life, it just means that He was raised to life, it doesn't necessarily follow that He is God or Christianity is true".

I would answer the following...

1) The fact that the resurrection of Jesus is embedded in Old Testament prophecy connects the resurrection of Jesus to those Old Testament prophecies and explanations.
2) This means the resurrection of Jesus is not just an isolated event; it is part of something bigger. To ignore that 'something bigger' is to ignore the context of the resurrection - without which it becomes nothing more than meaningless magic!

But the resurrection of Jesus is part of something much bigger than itself and it can only be understood in the light of the Old (OT) (and New (NT)) Testament.

Below I show how Jesus Life, Death and Resurrection are embedded in the Old Testament. I have taken two Old Testament passages, one long passage from the book of Isaiah, and the other - just a short prophecy from Zechariah 2:10, and I have shown how they point to Jesus by quoting corresponding verses from the New Testament.

All the Old Testament verses are in blue and the New Testament verses are in red. You don't need to read all these, the black, bulleted headings explain the verses, but the verses are there if you want to check them.

• Jesus will appear as an ordinary man without privilege or advantage in life. (Compare Isaiah 53:2 with NT Mark 6:3)

Isaiah 53 [2] He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

Mark 6:
[3] Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

• He was despised and rejected (Compare OT Isaiah 53:3 with Matthew 27:22,23)

Isaiah 53 [3] He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not.

Matthew 27 [22] “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” [23] “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

• He was led like a lamb to the slaughter though he was innocent and did not open His mouth (Isaiah 53:7 with Mark 14:53-61)

Isaiah 53 [7] He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Mark 14 [53] They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together. ... [55] The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any ... [60] Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” [61] But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.

• He was considered stricken by God Himself (Compare Isaiah 53:4 with NT Galatians 3:13)

Isaiah 53 [4] Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

Galatians 3[13] Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

• He was wounded, bruised, pierced, marred and disfigured (compare Isaiah 52:14, 53:5 with Mark 14:61, 15:16-20, Mark 15:15, 25)

Isaiah 53 [14] Just as there were many who were appalled at him — his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness

[5] But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Mark 14 [65] Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him. [15] Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. [16] The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. [17] They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. [18] And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” [19] Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. [20] And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

[25] It was the third hour when they crucified him. 

• He was killed (Compare Isaiah 53:8 with Mark 15:37)

Isaiah 53 [9] He was assigned a grave with the wicked,and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 

Mark 15:37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

• He was assigned a grave with the wicked and the rich (Compare Isaiah 53:9 with Luke 23:50-53)

Isaiah 53 [9] He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 

Luke 23 [50-53] Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, Lk 23:51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Lk 23:52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body.  Lk 23:53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.

• He will not remain dead but will come back to life (Compare Isaiah 53:11 with Luke 24)

Isaiah 53 [11] After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light└ of life┘ and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

See all of Luke 24

• Many Nations will come to Him (Compare Isaiah 53:11, Zechariah 2:10 with the fact that now Christianity is a global Faith)

Isaiah 53 [11] After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities

The Bible also tells us that this servant, the Messiah is God (LORD) in person. We can see this from Zechariah 2 ...

• Jesus – the one who was sent is in fact God in human form.

Zechariah [10] “Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the LORD. [11] “Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.

Ok, so this is a little hard to understand but it is also clear. It says, "For I am coming, and I will live among you". Who is the "I"? We are told, "Declares the LORD". The word LORD, when it appears in capitals is actually the divine name 'Yahweh' which is the Old Testament name for God. It is God who will come and live among us.

So this tells us that God Himself will come and live among men and through Him many Nations will be joined to Him.

The confusing bit is that it then says,

"I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you."

So that means the LORD sent the LORD, or Yahweh sent Yahweh. How should we understand this?

Well Jesus said He was sent by His Father. Christians teach the Trinity, that means God is one and He is called Yahweh in the Old Testament. But this one God Yahweh, is three persons, Father, Son (Jesus) and Holy Spirit. So in this verse from Zechariah we have God (Yahweh) the Father sending God (Yahweh) the Son. As the Meerkats would say "simples!".

So Jesus stepped onto the stage of this world and fulfilled all the OT prophesy. The Apostle Paul tells us that the Resurrection itself is the final nail in the coffin of the skeptic.

So, when a person says, "Ok, so Jesus came back to life, but that doesn't mean He is God or that Christianity is true", my answer is this ...

That may be true. But the Prophecies and explanations of the OT were all pointing to Jesus resurrection in the first place. If Jesus did rise from the grave fulfilling predictive prophecies and explanations, surely it would be unreasonable, irrational and foolish to ignore those explanations that predicted and explained it in the first place.

To summaries let me put it like this.

It was written in the Old Testament hundreds of years before Jesus was born that ...

God (Yahweh - LORD) is going to come to earth in the form of a man, He will claim to be the Messiah - the 'Son of Man' (see Daniel 7:13 / Matthew 26:64).  He will be rejected and suffer, he will be killed, but He will come back to life.

Well, Jesus (whose name means 'Yahweh Saves') came, He called Himself 'The Son of Man', was rejected, suffered, was killed on grounds of blasphemy by the Jews (claiming to be God) and sedition by the Romans (claiming to be a King). Jesus was raised on the third day. Jesus' resurrection was the ultimate vindication proving His alleged blasphemous claims to be in fact true. To then say, "Just because Jesus came back to life does not mean He was God" is to either ignore the picture as a whole or just be in denial, either way, it would seem disingenuous or ignorant.

If Jesus came back to life, the claims of scripture about Him are true. If the claims of scripture about Jesus are true, Jesus is God and Christianity is true.