Anyhow, in case you haven't seen the movie, Robert Downey Jr. plays Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law plays his sidekick Dr. Watson. In the movie, the nefarious character of Lord Blackwood uses black magic to plot his own demise and RESURRECTION! Although Dr. Watson pronounces his death after Lord Blackwood is hanged, he is seen a few days later by a shocked undertaker as his huge tomb is broken through from the INSIDE.
Days later, Lord Blackwood has turned many members of parliament to his side and is promising to take over the new world (America). Anyone who doesn't join him, will of course be killed. Sherlock Holmes comes in to save Parliament when he discovers the machine that is going to release cyanide into the Palace of Westminster. Of course, Lord Blackwood's newly believing cronies have already taken the antidote (unbeknownst to them) to the cyanide treatment and they would be seen as surviving because they BELIEVED in Lord Blackwood.
Throughout this story, Holmes and Watson discover how Lord Blackwood faked his resurrection, in amazing fashion. Lord Blackwood was in cohorts with the man who was hanging him and the noose had a metal hook in it that would keep it from collapsing. Lord Blackwood had taken a special potion that would render him pulse-less when Dr. Watson declared him dead, but would bring him back to life when in his grave. The large stone placed over his grave had been glued in a way that would weaken when London's infamous rain falls.
So all of this thinking got me to THE RESURRECTION, just in time for Easter. Now, I'm a firm believer in Jesus Christ and that he rose from the dead 3 days after he was killed, just like the prophets and Jesus himself said he would. However, I got to thinking: Could Jesus's death and resurrection have been faked?
The bottom line of this question is, "Yes." The reason is because it has been 2,000 years since Jesus lived and died. It is impossible to prove that ANYONE existed 2,000 years ago, without a body.
Now that we are clear on that, given the eyewitness accounts and the number of people present, it is very easy to believe that a man named Jesus was crucified and died. This year, I finally found out how crucifixion kills people. You actually die because you are asphyxiated. For hours, you hang with your arms outstretched, and as you get more and more tired, your body sags lower and lower. Then you no longer have room for your diaphragm to expand your lungs.
Have you ever heard the saying, "Stick a fork in me, I'm done"? Although this saying probably comes from actual meat and checking its doneness, this is literally what they did to Jesus after he was presumed dead. See, the Jews didn't want any bodies hanging on crosses on their Sabbath day, especially not Jesus, since he was trying to go against their rules and claim he was God's son. They actually asked Pilate to break his legs and have him taken down from the cross. Breaking the legs would hasten death because a person couldn't continue to support himself with his legs at all and would sink lower, causing asphyxiation sooner.
The soldiers broke the legs of the other two men crucified with Jesus, but when they got to Jesus, they realized he was already dead. Faking his death would've gotten a lot easier if the guards had taken Jesus down then. (Could he have still been alive?) Instead, the guards pierced Jesus's side and blood and fluids began flowing out. Popular speculation is that perhaps the guards pierced Jesus's pericardium which is a fluid-filled cavity around the heart, which resulted in both water and blood flowing. In any case, the guards were doing their job to ensure Jesus was indeed dead. Little did the guards know that by doing this they had ensured Jesus's prophecy that he would perish "with no bones broken".
It is presumed that as evening approached, one of Jesus's disciples, Joseph came to retrieve the body. The Sabbath begins as the evening arrives, so Joseph was worried that the Jews would destroy Jesus's body as the Sabbath approached. There was a nearby fresh tomb (speculated to be made by Joseph) and he and another man, Nicodemus prepared his body in the Jewish custom and rolled a stone to cover the doorway.
Next, Jews who remembered hearing Jesus speak that he would be resurrected on the third day, begged Pilate to post guards at Jesus's tomb, to ensure the Christians would not steal his body. Pilate sent guards, and together they somehow put a seal on the tomb and guards were there to protect it. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb after the Sabbath. As they sat there, a violent earthquake happened and an ANGEL appeared and rolled away the stone and sat on it. Then the guards, being terribly afraid, fell into a dead faint. The angel told the women," Do not be afraid, Jesus isn't in the tomb, he had risen already! You'll see him where he's gone ahead of you in Gallilee."
From there, Jesus appears to many other people throughout Gallilee. In fact, eyewitnesses number in the hundreds, including the guards who were converted. EVERY PERSON who came in contact with the resurrected Jesus became a Christian.
The plot thickens though. The Jewish leaders and Pilate hatch a plan and tell the guards they must tell people that they were approached during the night and paid off by Jesus's followers to be permitted to steal Jesus's body.
This story is better than Sherlock Holmes's story! So, it seems that Jesus was most-likely dead and killed by Pontius Pilate. Could his resurrection have been faked? It's possible, I guess. A lot of things would have had to have lined up, though. Why would an earthquake happen that third day and guards who were "guards of guards" or the king's best men shout that Jesus must have been God's son? Why would hundreds of people report seeing Jesus in the following days? Mass Hysteria? Possibly. Were people payed off to steal Jesus's body? Maybe.
The real thing that gets me is this: The scripture that was written hundreds of years ago was completely fulfilled. Everything that prophets have been claiming would happen, DID happen. Could that have been faked? Possibly. The Roman church decided which documents to keep over the last thousands of years, and of course those are supportive to the Christian cause.
So, how can I be sure and believe? The Holy Spirit fills me. There have been entirely too many things that have happened in my life, directly after praying, to have been lucky coincidences. My dog's return, the meeting of me and Adam, the birth of my son. (Some day I'll tell you exactly how these contribute to my testimony.) Are there things that I've prayed for that I've not gotten? Yes, but an answer from God has always come as to WHY I can't have what I've asked for. When I see people surrounding me with the true joy of Jesus in their heart, I cannot help but believe. I have seen so many lives changed, including my own.
In history, it seems that every "false claim" has always been disproved. Yet, this one mystery keeps on going. From just a few hundreds of people who saw Jesus to 2 BILLION Christians worldwide. So many transformed lives. I wonder what would have happened had Sherlock Holmes met Jesus. Surely, we would no longer have to live by faith alone. Now THAT would be a movie I would want to see....of course only in my uncle's home movie theater, surrounded by Jiffy Pop and Skittles!
Updated: Just for kicks, here's a photo of Downey Jr. from Sherlock 2! I realllly need to watch that soon!
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