How do you know Jesus actually has risen?

Easter is meaningful to Christians and all those who are grateful for being given a second chance in life. The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of Christianity. With the passion and resurrection of Jesus, God and sinners reconcile. Through faith in the resurrection of Jesus, Christians become the adopted children of God and as children, partake in the eternal life of God. Easter is a joyful feast because we celebrate the remission of our sins and a transformation of our life for the better.

We don't have any forensic evidence to prove the resurrection of Jesus. Even the famous relic, the Shroud of Turin, is carbon dated to be a piece of 12^th century fabrics. Fortunately, the truth of our faith does not rely on the authenticity of relics. For us modern Christians, we believe in the resurrection of Jesus handed down throughout the ages by the witnesses of generations of Christians. We experience the risen Lord and his transformative power from within. Truly, we may never know and understand how the resurrection actually took place in our life time on earth. We will know it when we meet our Creator. One easily thinks that the first generation Christians were in a better position to know but it is a mistake to think so.

From what we can gather in the canonical gospels, the first generation Christians who ate and walked with Jesus, had a hard time accepting this resurrection event. If we read the gospel according to St. Mark, we find that the disciples did not accept the witness borne by the women disciples until Jesus appeared to them and "upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart" (Mark 16:14). If we read the gospel according to St. Matthew, we find that the eleven Apostles met Jesus on a mountain as directed by him in Galilee. Yet, some doubted (Matthew 28:17). The story in St. Luke is a bit more elaborate. The women disciples reported to the Apostles. "but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them." (Luke 24:11) Then Luke recorded the story of Jesus' apparition to the two disciples returning to Emmaus and when the two disciples reported back to the Apostles, they were told that Jesus had also appeared to Simon Peter (Luke 24:34). No further details are given.

The story in John was what we read on Easter Sunday. It is more enigmatic!
After seeing the stone being rolled away, Mary Magdalene ran and reported to Simon Peter and John. The two of them ran to the tomb to check it out. John outran Peter and reached the tomb first. John looked in and saw the linen cloths but did not enter the tomb. Peter arrived and went into the tomb. The gospel reported that he saw the linen cloths and the napkin, which had been on Jesus' head, rolled up in a place by itself. Period. The gospel does not say anything about the response of Peter.
"Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;" (John 20:8).
Peter saw the same thing but the gospel does not say that Peter believed. John saw and the gospel says that John believed. Of course, silence does not imply absence. The gospel of John does not say whether Peter believed or not. From this, we cannot conclude that Peter did not believe. Yet, I tend to think that Peter did not yet believe until some time later when Jesus appeared to him. John did not need such "strong" evidence. The empty tomb with linen cloths lying around was enough to convince John that the Lord had risen. I repeat, our faith does not rely on evidence, whether strong or weak. The Holy Spirit will help us and teach us what we need to know to keep this faith in resurrection.

Dear Holy Spirit, be our Advocate and defend us from doubts and despair. I pray that we can have the faith of John. Amen.