What is the evidence that Jesus rose from the dead?

The case for the Resurrection rests on several connected facts: Jesus truly died, His tomb was found empty, many disciples said they encountered Him alive, and the Church proclaimed this immediately.

Jesus died and was buried. All four Gospels report that Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried by Joseph of Arimathea. Roman crucifixion was designed to kill, and the soldiers confirmed Jesus' death before His body was released (Mk 15:42-47; Jn 19:33-35). The claim that He merely fainted does not fit the evidence. A severely scourged and crucified man could not have escaped a tomb and convinced His disciples that He had conquered death.

The tomb was empty. The Gospels report that women discovered the empty tomb on the first day of the week (Mt 28:1-8; Jn 20:1-2). In that culture, inventing women as the first witnesses would have done little to make a fabricated story more persuasive. The empty tomb alone does not prove the Resurrection, but it is an essential sign (CCC 640). The authorities' claim that the disciples stole the body also acknowledges that the tomb was empty, while failing to explain the disciples' conviction that they had seen Jesus alive (Mt 28:11-15).

The risen Jesus appeared to witnesses. St. Paul preserves an early summary of the apostolic preaching: Christ died, was buried, rose on the third day, and appeared to Peter, the Twelve, more than five hundred people, James, and Paul himself (1 Cor 15:3-8). This tradition arose too early to be dismissed as a legend that developed centuries later. The Gospels describe appearances to individuals and groups, indoors and outdoors, in Jerusalem and Galilee. The disciples touched Jesus and ate with Him, yet His risen body also possessed new qualities (Lk 24:36-43; Jn 20:24-29; CCC 645).

The best explanation. The apostles changed from frightened men into public witnesses willing to suffer for their testimony. Their courage alone does not prove every claim they made, but it strongly supports their sincerity. Hallucination theories do not adequately explain the empty tomb, group appearances, or the conversions of skeptics such as James and Paul. Christians believe the Resurrection as a real event that also surpasses ordinary history (CCC 639, 647). Read 1 Corinthians 15 and the final chapters of all four Gospels, then ask whether any alternative explains the evidence as well as the apostles' own claim: "The Lord has risen indeed" (Lk 24:34).