The Case for Easter

The Case for Easter, by Lee Strobel

This author is well known for his books, The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, and The Case for a Creator. Theoretically, these books would fall in the category of evangelism or apologetics. This legal journalist was astounded when his wife became a Christian. He decided to put his investigative skills to work to prove how silly she was being. While the other three investigative books were full length, this, The Case for Easter, is only a few chapters long.

In the first subject to be examined, Strobel interviews a doctor who describes each moment leading up to Jesus' death, as it is recorded in the known historical documents. From this medical perspective, the reader can understand: why Jesus was sweating blood, why the flogging would have been worse than normal, why he (a carpenter in the prime of his youth) was unable to carry the horizontal beam of the cross (the patibulum), why he said he was thirsty on the cross, why he knew exactly when his moment of death would come ("Into your hands I commit my spirit"), and why when the Roman soldier pierced his side, blood and water flowed out. For any medical geeks out there reading this, the reasons are, in order: hematidrosis, hematidrosis, hypovolemic shock, hypovolemic shock, respiratory acidosis, and pericardial/pleural effusions. Cause of death, cardiac arrest.

From this interview, Strobel was left with no doubt that Jesus died on the cross. He goes on to another interview, where he learns that there is no doubt that Jesus was placed in a tomb, and that three days later (days by Jewish reckoning) the same tomb he was laid in was discovered to be empty, despite several precautions against possible resurrections and/or tomb raiding. Most convincing in my mind is that when the Jewish leaders and Jesus' disciples were arguing, the question was not whether or not the tomb was empty, but where on earth did the body go? Even the Jewish leaders admitted that the tomb was empty.

Ok so where did the body go? In the final interview, Strobel mostly debates the historical reliability of the New Testament books, because they are full of eyewitness reports of seeing Jesus alive (more than 500 people). He determines that hallucinations and groupthink are not possible explanations, and if everyone collectively lied, then when they began to be persecuted for their beliefs they would have given up on their lie, confessed, and lived out their days in peace. They did not. Instead, they became martyrs.

All in all, the book was interesting, but did not inspire me to buy any of his other books. It seems to me that The Case for Easter is The Case for Christ Lite. Once I got a taste, I have whet my appetite, and in my mind, I need no further proof to back up my faith, because I feel that more proof would undermine my definition of FAITH. I would strongly encourage anyone else who needs proof to pick up a copy of The Case for Easter (for about 3 bucks) or if you want a lot of proof, then The Case for Christ.

One last comment: I realize the book analyzes events in chronological order, but starting off with blood and gore is a turn off to some people. Medically I was fascinated. But I'm not the rest of the world. If you do read this book and the blood starts to get to you, my suggestion is just to skip to the next chapter and take it on FAITH that Jesus actually died.