The Monday after Easter always feels like a letdown to me. I’d say it was similar to the day after Christmas. But seeing as how the 26thof December is MY birthday, the closest thing I can compare it to is the day after the day after Christmas!
Holy week takes us on an emotional journey starting with the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday. We then experience the foreboding of the last supper. This is followed by the crushing pain of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus on Friday. And finally, the joy of celebrating the resurrection on Sunday!
But what if you want to continue on in your study of Holy Week? We as a Church often miss an opportunity to truly look as the resurrection in depth. How does someone find out more information on the resurrection? I’ve listed some resources below that will help you have a better understanding of single most important event in the Christian faith.
Alive; A Cold Case Approach To The Resurrection– By J. Warner Wallace
This small book is slightly larger than your average tract. It’s around 40 pages long and can easily be read in an hour or so. Jim lays out the minimal facts surrounding the resurrection, and then works through the most common alternate explanations to it. This is a great book to have on hand to give out to someone who might ask you about the events in question.
The Case For The Resurrection Of Jesus– By Mike Licona and Gary Habermas
This is a more in depth look at the minimal facts approach to the resurrection. Heavily footnoted and indexed, this book will give you all the information most people will need to defend the idea of a risen Jesus. The book is very engaging. It even comes with a CD containing a game show type video game that tests your knowledge of the material. This is a neat bonus if you are working with students.
Crushed; A Physician Analyzes The Agony of Jesus– By J. Shan Young
In his book, J. Shan Young looks at the physical wounds Jesus suffered on Good Friday. He uses his medical knowledge to describe every step of the process. While graphic and hard to read, one comes away with a better appreciation of what was required of Jesus. It also puts to rest any illusions that people might have about Jesus surviving the crucifixion.
Risen– Directed by Kevin Reynolds
Everyone knows (or SHOULD know) about Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ. It’s a movie every Christian should force themselves to watch at least once. Risen picks up the story right after the resurrection. A Roman Tribune (played by Joseph Fiennes) is tasked with finding the body of Jesus to put an end to the stories of His being raised from the dead. Told from the point of view of a non-believer, this in one of the better “Christian Movies” out there. The acting directing and script are all good. Definitely worth watching directly after Passion of the Christ.
These resources should get you headed in the right direction. Of course, I also recommend the blog series we produced here at Tent Making Christianity. We looked at the Minimal Facts approach to the resurrection, and many of the alternate explanation’s skeptics offer. I hope you will check them out and use them as resources in your own studies. Have any other resources you like to recommend? Head over to our Facebook discussion page and let us know what they are. We’d love to hear your thoughts!
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