Resurrection! From Death to Life

The Christian faith depends on the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:16-19, “For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

The early church exploded as the eyewitnesses of his resurrection testified to what they had seen and heard. They were believable, just as their accounts as recorded in the Bible are believable today.

This is what makes the Christian faith unique among all “religions”. It isn’t based on a vision, or a dream, or a philosophy like other religions, but on a real person, Jesus the Messiah, God’s Son, the “image of the invisible God” who lived on this earth, died, and rose again.

The Resurrection Accounts

Each of the four gospels contains accounts of the resurrection, and Paul’s account in 1 Corinthians 15.

Matthew 28:1-10
Visitors to the tomb: Mary Magdalene, “other” Mary.
Angels: one. He told them to tell the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee.
Jesus appeared to the women on their way to tell the disciples.
28:16-20 Jesus gives the great commission to his disciples from a mountain in Galilee.

Mark 16:1-8
Visitors to the tomb: Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, Salome.
Angels: one. He told them to tell the disciples that they would see Jesus in Galilee.

Luke 24:1-12
Visitors to the tomb: “the women”.
Angels: two. They told them he had risen just as he had predicted to them in Galilee.
Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary mother of James, and “others with them” went to tell the disciples. Peter ran to the tomb.
24:13-35 Jesus appeared to two followers on the road to Emmaus.
24:36-49 Jesus appeared to the disciples in the upper room.
24:51-53 Jesus’ ascension in front of his disciples, in the vicinity of Bethany.

John 20:1-18
Visitor to the tomb: Mary Magdalene
Angels: two. They appeared to Mary after Peter and John had left.
Mary told the disciples, Peter and John ran to the tomb. Jesus appears to Mary.
20:19-29 Jesus appeared twice to the disciples, without and then with Thomas.
21:1-25 Jesus meets several disciples by the Sea of Galilee.

Corinthians 15:3-8 relates that Jesus appeared to the 11 disciples, 500 followers at the same time, James (his half-brother), and lastly, to Paul on the road to Damascus.

Discrepancies?

Critics of the truthfulness of the Bible point out all of these “discrepancies” to reinforce their unbelief and dismiss the biblical accounts as fiction. The accounts do have variations, but they only have additions and omissions between each other, not contradictions. That is always the case when several different people see, experience, or hear about the same event.

Many law school classes demonstrate this by staging an event by surprise, and asking the students to describe it. The students always see the event differently, including some details, omitting others. Everyone filters what they see through their own experiences, priorities, etc.

When detectives interview suspects and witnesses, they are also very much aware of this phenomenon. When interviewees tell exactly the same stories in every detail, detectives don’t consider them to be as valid as when there are natural variations. Warner Wallace, a former cold-case detective, has written about this.

In the same way, the differences in the Gospel accounts make them more credible. The writers didn’t have a meeting to “get their stories straight”. Rather, they recorded the events as they (or the ones they interviewed) saw and remembered them, based on their opinions of which details were the most important to record. In the end, the Holy Spirit inspired them to write what we need to hear.

What the accounts have in common

There are several commonalities that would lead the objective reader to conclude the basic truthfulness of these accounts.
1. The tomb was empty. Even “hostile” witnesses, the Jewish leadership, acknowledged this, paying the guards to say that the disciples stole the body (Matthew 28:13). Roman sources also refer to Jesus’ empty tomb.

2. Women were the first ones to visit the tomb and reported to the disciples that it was empty.

3. Three of the four gospels have at least one angel at the tomb.

4. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, then to the 11 disciples, and ultimately to many others as listed in 1 Corinthians 15.

Women were the first to see Jesus after the resurrection. If these stories were made up, women would NOT have been the first witnesses; their testimony would be considered invalid in Jewish tradition. Consistent with this cultural attitude, the disciples didn’t believe their story until they themselves saw Jesus.

It is interesting to note that Jesus only appeared to those who believed in him. He didn’t go to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leadership who condemned him, or to Pilate and the Romans who crucified him. God rewards faith, not unbelief. Those believers who did see him became Spirit-empowered witnesses who were willing to die rather than deny what they had seen and heard. That’s powerful evidence in itself!

The resurrection is one of the best attested events of ancient history. The documents that describe this event are far more numerous, and closer in time to the events they describe, than any other documents from that period and earlier.

Jesus continues to appear

The appearances of Jesus continue. In our day, there are many reports in the Muslim world of Jesus appearing to seeking people in dreams and visions, revealing to them who he really is, not just one of their major prophets, but the Son of God who died for their sins. Many who have had “near death” experiences also report seeing Jesus. His resurrection is still being witnessed today!