Before the Crucifixion, it was the religious leaders and Hebrew politicians who were in a tether about Jesus. Now that the body of Jesus was missing, the Romans were upset. How would they solve the problem of his missing body? The Jews couldn’t very well say he had risen from the dead because that would mean they had part in killing the Messiah. The Roman leaders didn’t want an uprising. There was only one reasonable thing to do. They gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, “Tell them, his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept” (Mt 28:11-15). So the rumor began and has been passed from generation to generation of unbelievers.
How did eleven poor men over power a Roman guard? Why did not at least one of the eleven disciples confess to the hoax instead of being tortured to death? Roman soldiers who lost prisoners were killed. So why weren’t these soldiers? How did five hundred people claim Jesus had appeared to them at the same gathering? Why did his brother James, who did not believe in him when he was alive, suddenly risk his life by saying he had seen him after his death? If someone else besides the disciples stole his body, why didn’t they produce it when the rumors of his resurrection started flying? How could a man survive in a tomb for three days without food and water when he had suffered a crucifixion and had his heart pierced by a spear?
Too many questions and not enough answers for those who do not believe in Jesus’ resurrection.
