His first followers were totally convinced that he had. Many of them preferred to die often horrible deaths rather than deny the certainty they believed in. Of his original disciples, most were killed for this belief. Since then hundreds of thousands have been likewise killed for believing this. But how sure can we be that they were right in their conviction? Contemporary writers of the Roman period in which Jesus lived, such as Tacitus, Suetonius and Josephus all refer to the fact that Jesus’ followers were sufficiently convinced of Jesus’ resurrection to die for their belief rather than renounce it. Worldwide Christianity, which is based on the fact of Jesus’ resurrection, continues to flourish as a major faith. Just supposing Jesus didn’t rise from the dead - why didn’t the Jewish authorities produce his body as evidence? If the disciples had stolen it and made up a story about his resurrection, why were they all prepared to die rather than deny this fact? . Just supposing Jesus didn’t rise from the dead - why didn’t the Jewish authorities produce his body as evidence? If the disciples had stolen it and made up a story about his resurrection, why were they all prepared to die rather than to deny this fact? Some expert lawyers have looked carefully into the claims for Jesus’ resurrection and have concluded that no other explanation other than the resurrection of Jesus being true fits the facts. If Jesus did rise from the dead, as he predicted he would, what consequence has this got for us today? We need to take what he said about life beyond the grave very seriously.