The Reasons why "Just Following Jesus" Doesn't work

[TheRocketSurgeon]

They didn't have to know it to true; they simply needed to believe it. You acknowledged that yourself with the September 11 hijackers. I think the person who wrote the first part of your post needs a chat with the one who wrote the second half and collaborate on a consistent opinion.

There is also a difference from having control over your own death and allowing someone else to murder you. If there is even the slightest doubt about wither Jesus rose from the dead they would have acknowledged that. There were 11 disciples and they were all willing to die and 10 were martyred. If they didn't know for a fact that he had rose from the dead I find it hard to believe that all of them would have been willing to endure what they did. At the very least one would have belled out

Ten Christians proved you wrong,yesterday, Rekeisha. They were asked if they were Christians, and were shot if they were. They didn't know the resurrection directly, they had only indirect accounts about it, and believed. They knew they'd die if they said yes and they still said yes. People will die for what they've convinced themselves is the truth. It doesn't matter if it's actually true or not. You're assuming that the empty tomb is something they actually saw, and that the resurrection is something they actually saw, and not something that became part of the legend later and was written down as part of that legend. All they had to believe was that Jesus was the Davidic Messiah and would rise again from death to save Israel, and they would refuse to recant on pain of death. It doesn't prove the story.

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I didn't say all were crucified. I will look into the Paul thing. Still we do know he was killed for his beliefs.
Jesus was killed by the will of God and he used the Jewish leaders jealousy and the Pilate's fear of the Jews accusations.
The disciples believed that they saw Jesus after He was crucified alive and ascend into the clouds. Paul believed that He saw Jesus on the road to Damascus. 

In the case of Jesus' death why would the Jewish authorities of the day not know where Jesus was buried and make sure that He stayed buried? They knew that He said he would rise from the grave so they were very interested that no one would try to make it look like He did.

The good Jews would have removed the bodied of the dead and buried them that same day. Deut 21:23 Since Jesus was crucified for political reasons He would have been allowed a tomb. Joseph of Arimathea was a part of the Sanhedrin and if He didn't allow the disciples to use His tomb why would he allow His name to be apart of that lie? He would have stated and made a point of letting everyone know He didn't give Jesus his tomb. Also the religious leaders would not have to lie and say the body was stolen. They would have stated where the tomb was that he was buried in because they would have made sure he was there.

How would the Sanhedrin have known what he said to his disciples about rising again? It wasn't a part of his public, but only his private, ministry. We only know about it because they (or someone they told the story to) wrote it down decades later.

And they had no reason to assume he'd be stolen from the grave, or rise, or anything. To them he was just another radical who claimed to be the Messiah. There were dozens of those, before and after Jesus of Nazareth.

Finally, you're again confusing what the legend of Jesus is with known fact. You're presuming that Joseph of Arimathea was a real person, was really on the Sanhedrin, and really gave his tomb for that purpose, simply because it's written in the gospels. But even if I grant that he was and he did, it doesn't prevent any number of scenarios in which the body could have been moved, or destroyed, whatever. Suppose Joseph offered the tomb for burial and the Romans said "sure!" and then dumped him in a mass grave anyway, like all the other convicted and crucified people were. Then everyone shows up after the mourning period and there's no body. GASP! He must have arisen!