Resurrection

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth;  and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then from my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

Job 19: 25-27

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most powerful event in history.  One cannot be a historian without acknowledging the shock waves that this one event imprinted upon the history of the world.  Indeed, we divide history by the life of this one who claims to be the Messiah.  The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15:12-22 that without the resurrection of Jesus the Christian faith is useless:

Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; ¹⁴ if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷ If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.¹⁹ If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. ²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 

There are skeptics who disregard the resurrection of Jesus and treat it as fable.  However, the evidence for the resurrection is extremely strong.  

1. The Empty Tomb.  Though well-trained Roman soldiers guarded the tomb of Jesus, it was empty 3 days after his death as Jesus had repeatedly foretold.  Matt. 12:40; Mark 8:31. The guards had fled (a death penalty offense).  The massive stone had been rolled away and the body was gone.  His body was never produced by his enemies.  The linen grave clothes in which he had been buried were still in the tomb undisturbed.  Even the Jewish historian, Josephus, to the 5th century Jewish writings called the "Toledoth Jeshu" admit that the tomb was empty.  The body was never found.
2. Living Witnesses.  There were a multitude of witnesses who saw Jesus alive after his death.  The disciples, the travelers on the road to Emmaus and a number of women all spoke to Jesus.  Thomas doubted until he was able to put his fingers into Jesus' wounds (John 20: 26-27).  He later spread the gospel all the way to India.  The apostle Paul tells of 500 people to whom Jesus appeared at one time, most of whom were still alive and available for questioning when Paul wrote his letter to the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 15:6). How do we do know something is true today.  If multiple witnesses corroborate an event by their testimony in a courtroom, we accept that evidence as fact.  Jesus was seen alive many times by hundreds of different people over the course of forty days after his death.  (John 20-21, Acts 1:3).
3. The Disciples.  Jesus' followers who had been fearful and ran away when he was arrested were completely changed after the resurrection and became courageous witnesses.  Peter, whom had denied knowing Jesus to a simple servant girl, became the powerfully bold leader of those who had seen Christ alive and spoke to thousands gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost).  Someone may die for a lie if they do not know it is a lie.  But, people do not give their lives up and face severe persecution to spread a lie that they themselves invented.  The fact that the disciples willing suffered beatings and persecution and death is strong evidence that they actually witnessed the resurrection.  They simply refused to quit telling the story.
4. Saul of Tarsus.  A devoutly religious Pharisee, who persecuted the church and had followers of Jesus thrown into prison, had his life absolutely changed by an encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus.  He became a devoted follower of Christ spreading the gospel throughout Turkey and Greece in  the face of beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonment and finally his execution.

F.F. Bruce wrote "If the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt".

Even Job, through all his trials and tribulations, foretells his faith in His Redeemer whom shall "stand upon the earth" and gives him hope of his bodily resurrection when he shall God!