Politics & Government
Get Real Evidence for Jesus Christ, Easter & the Resurrection Miracle.
Why were Roman Guards at Jesus' Tomb important? Doctor at Calvary. Glenn Beck. USCCB. Atheist to believer C.S. Lewis- 'Liar, Lunatic, Lord.'
The first of headline and subheading topics is from the Daily Signal to this writer for MHProNews as today's installment of the "Reality Check" series for this Patch is Part I. More on those subjects plus other topics follow in Part II.
Part I
Commentary
There’s Real Evidence for Easter
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Victor Joecks | April 18, 2025 |
If you think politicians make outlandish claims, consider what Christians celebrate at Easter. They believe a man named Jesus was brutally tortured, murdered, and buried for three days before rising from the dead. Furthermore, they assert this man was also fully God and that your belief or lack of belief in him determines your eternal destiny.
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Christians have no video evidence or DNA tests to prove this. That’s understandable since Christians say the event Easter celebrates took place almost 2,000 years ago.
Americans can’t even agree on things that happened two weeks ago. Isn’t Easter an ancient example of “fake news,” a myth propagated by people putting faith over historical realities?
It’s a valid question. The answer starts with looking at the books of the New Testament. How can you determine if what you read today is what the author wrote 2,000 years ago?
That question isn’t unique to the Bible. There are no original copies of any ancient work. Historians use a twofold test to determine how accurately copyists transmitted a manuscript throughout the ages. Scholars look at how many copies exist and the number of years between the original and the earliest surviving copy.
For example, Julius Caesar fought and won a series of battles against the Gauls from 58 to 50 B.C. He chronicled his conquests in “On the Gallic War.” Historians have 251 manuscripts of this book, and the earliest is from the ninth century, a gap of over 850 years.
Plato was one of the most important ancient philosophers. He wrote a series of dialogues before he died in 348/347 B.C. Scholars have 210 manuscripts of those writings. The oldest is from 895 A.D., a gap of over 1,200 years.
Aside from the Bible, the ancient work with the greatest number of copies is Homer’s “Iliad,” created around 800 B.C. There are over 1,800 copies of it, and the earliest is from around 400 B.C., a gap of just 400 years.
The books of the New Testament were written between 50 and 100 A.D. There are over 5,800 New Testament manuscripts in Greek and over 18,500 New Testament manuscripts in other languages. The time gap between authorship and the earliest manuscript is just 50 years. All statistics are from a 2014 review by Josh McDowell and Clay Jones.
Try telling a history professor that there isn’t enough historical evidence to confirm Julius Caesar conquered the Gaels or that Plato wrote philosophy. Yet there is a much greater track record for the accurate transmittal of the books depicting the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
An accurate transmission doesn’t mean what is written is true. “The Iliad” is, after all, a work of fiction. A key group, however, did believe the events recorded in the writings that became the New Testament—its authors. Some even explicitly emphasized that their writings were trustworthy and accurate recordings. It wasn’t just idle talk. Their actions changed too.
Jesus’ disciples abandoned him when he was arrested. Within weeks, however, those cowards became bold preachers of a gospel message that would transform the world. They didn’t preach to get rich. Rather their preaching led to imprisonments and executions.
Faith doesn’t have to mean turning off your brain. Rather, having faith can be the step one takes based on the evidence, including the historical documentation of an empty tomb.
Happy Easter.
We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.
Part II
1) C.S. Lewis was an English atheist before he converted to Christianity. Lewis once insightfully observed that when someone considers the words and deeds of Jesus, they would have to conclude one of three things. Lewis said that Jesus is either Liar, Lunatic, or the Lord - the long awaited Messiah first promised by God the Father in the Garden of Eden.
Lewis considered the evidence and realized that Jesus wasn't just some good man or moral teacher.
So how do we know that Jesus is Lord?
There are many ways. But among them is the ironic reality that the enemies of Jesus while He was on earth wanted his dead body placed under guard for longer than 3 days. Why? Because they understood that Jesus spoke of his own death and resurrection before it occurred. To make sure that the disciples of Jesus didn't 'steal' the dead body, the authorities decided that the Romans should guard the tomb where the Christ's dead body lay.
This can be a good day to watch one or more videos on the topic.
https://www.manufacturedhomeli...
2) Falling asleep or failing at an assigned task while on guard duty was punishable by death or severe beatings and humiliation for Roman soldiers. With that understood, the following Bible passage are from Bible Study tools.
Matthew 27:62-66: The Guard at the Tomb
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
So, Victor Joecks post on the vast numbers of ancient Scriptural texts are significant indeed.
3) From the USCCB website for this date.
Gospel
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.W hen Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,a nd the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first,and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripturethat he had to rise from the dead.
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Peter proceeded to speak and said: “You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing goodand healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us,the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears,then you too will appear with him in glory.
4) While Catholics are not told to believe that the Shroud of Turin is most certainly the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, there is ample evidence to consider that notion to be true. Many non-Catholic Christians and others have come to believe that the Shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus described in Scriptures.
While other topics are covered too, see the post linked here and here for more about the Shroud.
5) Among the videos posted on that second linked page includes Glenn Beck (a Mormon) and a Baptist preacher. The evidence is compelling and many believe that the evidence for the Shroud being authentic vs. those who claim it isn't is real but rather some clever medieval forgery. The physician who authored "A Doctor at Calvary: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ as Described by a Surgeon" by Pierre Barbe was moved by the medical evidence from the Shroud to believe.
6) God does not force us to believe. Even for those who do believe, God does not force us to pick right from wrong. God gives us free will. But the understanding about life that comes from true faith, and the rewards for those who faithfully follow in the footsteps of Jesus and his believers are, well, eternal.
May the joys and blessings of Easter be yours and with all of those whom you love.
Thanks for checking in to today's installment of the "Reality Check" series for this Patch. Back to our normal format tomorrow. Other subjects follow.
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L. A. “Tony” Kovach is a publisher who has earned multiple awards in history. He and his family live in a manufactured home on private property in Winter Haven, FL. He is the co-founder of Manufactured Home Living News.com (MHLivingNews.com) and Manufactured Home Pro News.com (MHProNews.com), trade publications serving segments of the manufactured home industry. Having worked in several segments of the manufactured home industry for over 3 decades, Kovach is a widely acknowledged and often praised expert on manufactured housing. ###
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