The Resurrection

Jesus was crucified on a Friday, and the Jewish sabbath begins Friday at sunset. The sabbath ended on Saturday night, and so the women who wished to anoint Jesus’ body pursuant to funeral rites had to wait until Sunday morning to seek access to his tomb.

As is the case with much of the Gospels, the accounts of the Resurrection don’t always align, with Mark and Luke reporting that three women came to the tomb only to discover it empty. (Matthew 28:1-8; Luck 24: 1-3)

John gives us a slightly different narrative which is of interest because—remember—there are scholars who believe the Apostle John is the same person who wrote the Gospel of John and is also the “John” who wrote the Book of Revelation. So, it is possible that John is telling the story as an eyewitness.  He tells us that Mary Magdalene—a former prostitute and now a devout follower—came to the tomb early in the morning only to see that stone had been rolled away from the entry. In great distress, she then ran to fetch Simon Peter and John because she feared that someone had taken Jesus’s body. The two apostles raced to the tomb, with John arriving first but afraid to enter. Simon Peter then joined him, entered the tomb and saw that it was empty, with the burial cloth that had covered Jesus’ head rolled up separately from the cloths that had covered his body. (John 20:1-10)

Meanwhile, Mary is outside weeping and a man asks her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She believes she is speaking to the gardener, and explains that she does not know what has happened to Jesus’ body. The man then says her name, and she realizes it is Jesus. He warns her not to touch him, but to go tell the others what she has seen. (John 20:11-18).

Later, Jesus appeared to all the other disciples in the room where they’d been hiding. John tells us he came through a locked door and “stood in their midst,” showing them his wounds. (John 20:19-20, 26-27).  He then said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 20:21)

We are also told that Jesus appeared to other followers on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-43) and later to a crowd of more than 500 people. Paul, the Christian leader who wrote much of the New Testament, told the early church that most of those 500 people were still alive and could verify the resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:6).

So; did this really happen? If it did, Jesus is exactly who he said he was, and if it didn’t, Jesus is of little importance—there’s really no in-between, is there? But perhaps the strongest evidence is circumstantial in nature.

In law, there are two kinds of evidence, direct and circumstantial. Oftentimes, direct evidence doesn’t exist and so a legal case has to be proven using circumstantial evidence—evidence that creates a reasonable inference. One example of circumstantial evidence is the behavior of a person around the time of an alleged act; for instance, if a thief was seen to go on a wild shopping spree shortly after the money went missing.

In this case, the behavior of the persons is very compelling. The Apostles went from cowering in a room—afraid that they would be crucified next—to losing all fear of death, and going out to boldly proclaim the Gospel. And whatever happened to create this change of heart also inspired these provincial men to travel across the known world—from India to Africa to Europe—so as to spread their message. They were no longer afraid of death, and indeed, all were tortured to death save John, who went to prison instead. No one ever recanted.

And meanwhile, Christianity spread like wildfire—despite some very serious efforts to crush it—with the result that it became the official religion of the Roman Empire some 300 years later.  All the armies that ever marched and all the leaders that ever led—all put together—haven’t affected life on earth as much as this one itinerant preacher who briefly lived in an obscure backwater of the mighty Roman Empire.

And on top of that, there’s the evidence of Paul of Tarsus—the unlikeliest hero of all—who we will discuss next time.

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