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hilip never felt like he belonged. He was pleasant enough but he looked different and sometimes seemed a little unusual to his eight-year-old class mates. He was born with Down\'s Syndrome.

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In his Sunday School class following one Easter, Philip\'s teacher, in keeping with the Easter theme, gave each member a plastic egg—the kind pantyhose come in—and instructed them to go outside and find a symbol for new life and put it in their egg. In class the eggs were opened one at a time with each child explaining the meaning of his symbol.

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In the first egg was a pretty flower, in the next a beautiful butterfly. The children \"oohed\" and \"aahed.\" In another there was a rock. The children laughed. In the last egg there was nothing. \"That\'s stupid,\" one child said. \"It\'s not fair,\" another remarked.

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The teacher felt a tug on his shirt. It was Philip, who said, \"It\'s mine. It\'s empty—the tomb was empty.\"

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The class was visibly moved and from that day accepted Philip as part of the group.

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Philip still had many physical problems and that summer he picked up an infection most children could have easily shaken off. But Philip\'s weak body couldn\'t. A few weeks later he died. At his funeral nine eight-year-old children with their teacher brought their symbol of remembrance and placed it on the altar. Their gift of love to Philip wasn\'t flowers. It was an empty egg—now their symbol of new life and hope.

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Even the soldiers were terrified
when they saw what had happened.

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It was Philip, the \"different\" child, who helped his friends see the exciting hope that Easter holds.

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Most people accept that Jesus Christ died by crucifixion at Easter time two thousand years ago. But what about his rising from the dead—is that fact or fantasy?

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If it\'s fantasy, Easter is an empty religious ritual and shatters man\'s hope of life beyond the grave. If it\'s fact, it is life\'s most wondrous story and proves beyond doubt that man can live again after his dies!

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Dr. Simon Greenleaf, a professor at Harvard Law School, was challenged to evaluate the resurrection of Jesus Christ using well established legal principles. In his treatise, The Four Evangelists, he wrote, \"According to the laws of legal evidence the resurrection of Jesus Christ is proven by more substantial evidence than any other event of ancient history.\" The following is some of that evidence.

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Item one: The empty tomb. The religious leaders were so intensely jealous of Christ\'s popularity they used false testimony to have him crucified. Immediately following his burial these men went to Pilate, the Roman Governor and, reminding him that Jesus said he would rise three days after his death, persuaded Pilate to make Christ\'s tomb secure to ensure that his followers couldn\'t remove his body and claim that he had risen.

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Neither Pilate nor the religious leaders could afford to take any chances. If Christ rose from the dead, it would cause such an uproar Pilate\'s political career would be in jeopardy, and the religious leaders\' reputation would be destroyed.

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Christ\'s tomb was thus given maximum security.

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Item one: A massive stone was rolled in front of the grave. Next, the stone was sealed with the signet of Tiberius Caesar, Emperor of the mighty Roman Empire. To break this seal meant certain death—by crucifixion. Nobody would dare do it. Finally, sixteen superbly trained Roman soldiers were stationed about the tomb to guard it with their lives.

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In spite of all this, on the third day the seal was broken, the stone was rolled aside, and Christ\'s body gone. The tomb was empty apart from Christ\'s undisturbed grave clothes! Even the soldiers were terrified when they saw what had happened. Some fled. Others rushed to the high priest begging for him to spare their life.

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Immediately the high priest made a deal with the soldiers: \"We\'ll give you money if you will say that his disciples came by night and stole his body while you slept. When the governor hears about this, we\'ll persuade him and secure you.\"

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Could you imagine even one of these highly trained soldiers going to sleep on his post and thereby risking his life, let alone all sixteen going to sleep at once? Could you see Christ\'s disciples (who all scattered in terror when Christ was taken captive) risking their lives to steal the body of Christ from under the nose of the world\'s greatest soldiers? Or could you understand any group removing the massive grave stone without waking just one of sixteen \"sleeping\" soldiers?

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Item two: The grave-clothes. According to the Gospel record, Joseph of Arimathea obtained permission from Pilate to prepare the body of Jesus for burial. Using narrow strips of linen treated with a paste-like mixture of aloes and myrrh (which would set into a hard shellac-like encasement with 24 hours), Joseph bound the body of Jesus making it like a mummy. An ornate death cloth was used to cover the face. Then Jesus was entombed.

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After his resurrection these
cowardly men were transformed
into courageous spokesmen.

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Three days later when Mary Magdalene came to visit the tomb, the stone was rolled aside and Jesus was gone. She ran and told Peter and John who found only the empty grave-clothes still in the shape of Christ\'s body with the head cloth neatly rolled up. Nothing short of a miracle would have allowed anybody to escape those grave-wrappings without them first being cut and loosened.

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Many others came to see the empty tomb. Soon Christ appeared in person to his disciples and friends and later to 500 followers at one time. Many were convinced that Jesus had come back to life and became believers in him.

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Item three: The remarkable turnabout of the disciples. When Christ was arrested his disciples fled in terror. But after his resurrection these cowardly men were transformed into courageous spokesmen. They were so convinced they spent the rest of their lives proclaiming throughout the entire Roman Empire that Jesus had risen from the dead and was the Savior of the world. Most died a martyr\'s death as a result.

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The crucial issue is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for a purpose. God so loved the world he gave Jesus, his only Son, to die on the cross to pay the penalty for every sin ever committed. By dying, Christ destroyed sin\'s power over mankind. By rising from the dead he totally defeated death and now offers the gift of eternal life to all who put their trust in him.

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God\'s Word says, \"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.\"¹ That is, saved from the penalty of sin and receive eternal life.

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You can know with certainty that you have God\'s gift of eternal life by praying and thanking Christ for dying for your sins, by believing he rose from the dead, and by responding to his invitation to accept him into your heart as Lord and Savior. This gift is of inestimable value and is yours for the taking. It is truly life\'s greatest hope. For assistance to do this click on the \"God\'s Invitation\" or to \"Find Peace With God\" button link below. Or for further help click on the \"Know God\" button link below.

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1. Romans 10:9.

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