How a Trained Lawyer Looked at the Evidence
Lawyers are trained to be thorough in examining and sifting evidence. Often they can detect inconsistencies in testimony indicating fraud where ordinary observers are easily deceived. Albert L. Roper, graduate of the University of Virginia (U.S.A.) and its law school, and a member of the Virginia State bar for many years, wrote a book in which he examines the evidence of Christ’s death and resurrection from a lawyer’s viewpoint.
(Did Jesus Rise From the Dead? Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1965). Following is a resume of his book:
(1) The historical facts stated in the Gospel records confirm the life of Jesus in the time of Tiberius Caesar, emperor of Rome, and Pontius Pilate, Procurator of Judea under Roman rule. The Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus (A.D. 55- 120) vouches for the existence of “Christus, the founder of the name, [who] had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilatus, and the pernicious superstition [of his teachings] was checked for a moment, only to break out once more, not merely in Judaea, the home of the disease, but in the capital itself.” (Histories, xv. 44; translated by Clifford H. Moore, Vol. 4, pp. 283, 284; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.) Tacitus was an eminent and disinterested Roman historian, obviously an unbeliever; he recorded what was generally accepted at the time as fact, and his scholarly learning and accuracy were highly esteemed by contemporaries. No historical event of ancient times is more firmly established than that Jesus died. The enemies of the early followers of Jesus were numerous and powerful; the imperial government of Rome held tight control of practically the entire civilized world and her watchful police and military were everywhere. The unbelieving Jews were also everywhere, and powerful. To disprove either the death or the resurrection of Jesus would have smothered the early church in its cradle.
(2) The Roman Governor Pilate marvelled that Jesus should die as early as “the ninth hour” of the day when it was usual for crucifixion victims to linger on for many hours, even some days. He sent for the Roman centurion to confirm the death. A Roman spear had been thrust through his side, and a stream of blood and water had flowed out. (Mark 15:42-45; John 19:32- 37.) The testimony of the witnesses after the resurrection demonstrates that his body had indeed been thus mutilated. The enemies of Jesus and the disciples were so observant and determined that’ they would have made capital of any “Jesus” who survived the cross and hobbled around afterward with nail-pierced feet and hands and torn side; the fact is that not a shred of evidence was ever brought forth to support such a theory. Jesus’ numerous enemies were as convinced of his death as were his friends. And none ever brought forward the suggestion that Jesus had escaped the actual crucifixion by a substitute taking his place at the last moment. Both the Roman guard and the determined Jewish priests who wanted revenge would have prevented it. All the witnesses testify that Jesus appeared to them in a glorified, resurrected body.
(3) Governor Pilate had an Imperial Seal of Rome affixed to the stone that blocked the entrance to Jesus’ tomb. No one would dare to tamper with such a Roman seal, under pain of death. This exposes the story concocted by the Jewish priests, that the disciples stole his body, as a lie. A lawyer looks for a motive that lies behind a crime. The terrified disciples who were too scared even to ask Pilate for the body of their Master would never dare to break an Imperial Roman seal in order to steal it. And they themselves did not even believe the resurrection was possible — why would they try to steal the body? The rich man’s tomb (Joseph’s, of Arimathea) was good enough for his burial; they could not provide a better one.
(4) The apostle John (chapter 20:1-10) tells simple, direct facts about what he saw in the empty tomb on the third day. If he were fabricating a tale in order to deceive, he would have embroidered the story with supernatural manifestations, as are so common in legends and “miracle” stories. Again, the other disciples “believed not” when the women who found the empty tomb told of the angels’ words that he had been resurrected. They were hard-headed, mature men who were not subject to women’s emotional tales. But something convinced these hard-headed men. What was it? Two things: they saw the resurrected Jesus and examined his nail-pierced hands and feet and torn side; and they became aware of the Old Testament prophecies that predicted this very death and resurrection of the Messiah.
(5) The testimony of the pagan Roman soldiers that Jesus had risen from the dead is unimpeachable. They were eyewitnesses. (Matthew 28:11-15 .) Not even the enemies of Jesus doubted that the tomb was empty. They would not have the slightest reason to steal his body, for they wanted to prevent a resurrection story; and the friends of Jesus could not steal it because the power of the greatest empire on earth was employed in guarding the tomb against just such a theft. Between ten and thirty Roman soldiers were detailed for the job. “Soldiers cold-blooded enough to gamble over a dying victim’s cloak are not the kind of men to be hood-winked by timid Galileans or to jeopardize their Roman necks by sleeping on their posts.” And thieves do not leave the scene of their crime in a neat, orderly condition as was the empty tomb, with the grave clothes folded and set properly in place. Thieves work in haste and leave things in disarray.
(6) The idea that Jesus escaped actual crucifixion, and that a substitute took his place while he went free, is contradicted by all the evidence. Such an idea involves Jesus in trickery and deceit, and everyone, including the honoured Koran, recognized that he was without sin. How could he convince eleven devoted disciples plus “five hundred” witnesses that he had risen from the dead, showing them scarred hands, feet, and side, if he had tricked someone else into taking his place on the cross? Someone would have recognized the fraud. People don’t endure life-long suffering, loss of property, and finally death by torture in order to propagate a lie. And the character of the disciple witnesses is not that of deceitful plotters.
(7) A lawyer is impressed by the behaviour of the disciples, who for some important reason were transformed from cowardly, discouraged, even unbelieving adherents of a supposedly dead cause into the most bold witnesses possible to find. Says lawyer Roper : “The only reasonable explanation of the ‘something’ is, I submit, the truthfulness of the record given us. No other explanation explains.”