Archaeology and the Resurrection of Jesus

On the holiday traditionally known as Easter, millions of professing Christians gather to celebrate how God the Son was bodily raised from the dead. Jesus is our Creator (John1:1-3, Colossians 1:15-17) and took the form of man to die on the cross (Philippians 2:8), then his Resurrection was on the third day. We have eyewitness testimony in the Gospels (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). We also have evidence from archaeology.

While it is not direct evidence, there are many aspects that support the biblical narratives. Something noteworthy about the Bible that sets it apart from myths, legends, fairy tales, and so on is the amount of very specific details that are not found in made-up stories.

Church of the Holy Sepulcher image credit: Flickr / Seetheholyland.net (CC BY-SA 2.0)

There are several compelling facts supported by archaeology, including the fact that he was worshiped as God long before such a legend would have time to develop. Cumulative details from history and archaeology indicate that the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is quite likely built on the site of  Jesus' death, burial, and Resurrection.

Details about the stone being rolled away I found to be rather startling, because the tomb itself and that kind of stone only belong to rich people — such as Joseph of Arimathea, who was also important enough to speak directly to Pilate. Jesus only borrowed the tomb, so he essentially gave it back so Joseph was able to use it for himself.

There are also other indirect archaeological evidences for the Resurrection of Jesus in the fascinating analysis linked below. It is rather long, so you may want to bookmark it, send it to an eBook reader, download the PDF, or just get comfy for just over an hour (the references and footnotes add to the overall length of the document). I hope you'll carve out some time and examine it.

Archaeology has not yet uncovered a large number of artifacts to directly support Jesus’s resurrection. However, though few, the sites and artifacts uncovered by archaeology are rich in meaning and significance. This paper will discuss seven archaeological discoveries and sites related to the resurrection of Jesus Christ: (1) the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, (2) the Garden Tomb, (3) the rolling-stone tombs of the first century AD, (4) the remains of Jehohanan son of HGQWL, (5) the Alexamenos graffito, (6) the Megiddo Mosaic Inscription, and (7) the Nazareth Inscription. Taken together, these archaeological finds (minus the Garden Tomb) are indirect evidences which build a cumulative case supporting the biblical account of Jesus’s resurrection.

Ready? To keep reading or download the PDF, see "Jesus’s Resurrection: An Archaeological Analysis".