"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay," Matthew 28:6. The doctrine of the resurrection of Christ is central to the gospel message of hope. So central was it to the apostle witness that they spoke of it as the whole of their witness. "Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection," Acts 1:21-22. This is emphasised again in Peter's sermon on Pentecost. "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses," Acts 2:32. The death and the resurrection of Christ is the sum total of the gospel. "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you . . . . Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures," 1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-4. We may be certain of the truth of the victorious resurrection of Christ despite the scoffings of men.