Week 14- Comment on the Resurrection

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/graham/263810_billy4-15.html
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Jesus most surely did die on the cross, for all of us
By DR. BILLY GRAHAM
DEAR DR. GRAHAM: A friend of mine says that Jesus didn't really die on the cross, but He was just drugged to make it look as if He was dead. Then He recovered in the coolness of the tomb and went on to live in secret with His disciples. I know this isn't the traditional view, but is it possible he's right? -- R.L.
DEAR R.L.: No, your friend is not right -- and that isn't just because Christians believe otherwise, but because what he's suggesting isn't logical.
Why is that? If you stop to think about it, you'll see why: Christ's death was witnessed by hundreds (if not thousands) of people. They saw the nails being hammered into His hands and feet, and they saw how the beatings and the loss of blood from His wounds weakened Him. They witnessed also His final seconds: "Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' When he had said this, he breathed his last" (Luke 23:46).
The Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus also had no doubt He was truly dead. As executioners, they were very familiar with death, and when they took Jesus' body down from the cross, they made sure He was not alive. They knew that if they failed to carry out the death penalty, they could be severely punished. Later, His body was tightly wrapped in strips of cloth, then laid in a guarded, cavelike tomb with a huge stone across the entrance.
Only one conclusion is possible: On that first Easter, Jesus Christ rose from the dead by the power of God. And because He did, you and I have hope of eternal life. Death and Hell and Satan have been defeated! Don't let anything keep you from Christ, but open your heart and life to Him today.
Contact the Rev. Billy Graham c/o Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, NC 28201, phone 877-247-2426, or see the Web site www.billygraham.org.

So much for the idea that Jesus only pretended to die on the cross.....
Crucifixion was known to be one of the most torturous gruesomely fatal ways to die. Once crucified, there is no escape from death. The first century AD Jewish historian Josephus, ( who, so to speak, worked for the Romans) discovered that a man he knew had just been crucified. He immediately went and asked for the life of the man, and permission was given for the man to be freed. Even though the man had not been on the cross very long, he still died from his ordeal despite being taken down.
It is not likely that someone who had been crucified, even if taken down in a timely fashion, would be able to be nursed back to health and that he would be in any condition to pretend to be a conquering Savior, much less inspire his friends to die for him.