Have you ever believed something and then discovered it wasn’t true? Here are far-fetched claims written on insurance forms.

“A house hit my car.”

“I had been driving for forty years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.”

“The car in front hit the pedestrian but he got up, so I hit him again.”

“I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and headed over the embankment.”

“The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.”

“The pedestrian ran for the pavement, but I got him.”

These outlandish claims can’t hold a candle to those made by North Korea’s oppressive former leader Kim Jong Il.

Official records reportedly claim that Kim learned to walk at three weeks and to talk at eight weeks. He grew up to write 1,500 books in three years and six full operas which are “better than any in the history of music.” When Kim first picked up a golf club, he shot a 38-under par round on North Korea’s only golf course, including eleven holes-in-one. Each of his 17 highly-impressed bodyguards verified the record-breaking feat. Documents also claim that a glowing new star appeared in the heavens to herald his birth on North Korea’s Baekdu Mountain in 1942. Unfortunately, Soviet records indicate he was born in a Siberian village in 1941. Mythbusters didn’t labour long over his claims.

But surely the most outrageous claim ever made is this:

That Jesus, God’s son, died, was buried, and raised to life.

One by one, Jesus’ disciples lost their lives for claiming this to be true.

No one dies for something he knows to be false.

At my father’s graveside service, a strange thought hit me. If my dad was raised from the dead, what would it take to convince people that it happened? I live in a town of 3,500. Could it be done? Absolutely not. Unless it were true. If you doubt me, try faking a resurrection where you live. Let me know how it goes.

At the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, our guide said, “300,000 people a year visit this place to see something that isn’t here.” Outside the tomb is a wooden sign:

“He is not here. For He is risen.”

For the believer, there is no greater reason for joy. It is the most outrageous and transforming claim in all of history.