The resurrection of Jesus Christ was not an accident. Jesus repeatedly told his disciples that he was going to rise from the dead before it happened.

Mark, one of the gospel writers, records that Jesus taught about his resurrection on three different occasions: ‘He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again’ (Mark 8:31); ‘He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise”’ (Mark 9:31); ‘“We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise’ (Mark 10:33-34). Matthew, Luke and John also record that Jesus taught that he would be raised from the dead.

But how can you believe that these predictions actually took place? Couldn’t the disciples have just made the predictions up? The odds of the disciples making up the resurrection predictions are very slim. To do so, would have been very embarrassing because they are also recorded as not initially believing the predictions.

After Jesus teaches about his resurrection, the disciples clearly do not understand what he was talking about. Peter even rebukes Christ for such predictions: ‘He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men”’ (Mark 8:33). On another occasion, the disciples had this response to Christ’s prophecy: ‘But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it’ (Mark 9:32). And when Jesus does come back to life, the disciples doubt the claim. After the women return from the empty tomb, we read that the disciples ‘did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense’ (Luke 24:11).

Now, if the disciples were making up the accounts about Jesus, wouldn’t it be too embarrassing to fabricate their disbelief in Christ’s resurrection? Let alone make up Christ’s prophecies about his resurrection and their disbelief in the predictions! The fact that the disciples repeatedly look bad demonstrates that they are telling the truth. Not only did Jesus come back to life, but he also predicted that it was going to happen.

Thus Jesus is the most monumental figure in history. He knows the future and is able to cheat the grave. Such a man is worthy of our attention. Particularly when you learn that he taught that you can be saved from death too, if you will only trust in him for your sins. The apostle Paul says: ‘That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved’ (Romans 10:9-10). So won’t you believe in Jesus and have eternal life?