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On the third day He rose again; |
One of the
best-witnessed events in the gospels; Paul claimed in his writing that over
500 people saw the risen Jesus, and many of those were still alive (and could
be questioned) at the time of writing. |
Jesus
was dead (sounds like the opening of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” doesn’t it!).
This has been discussed elsewhere.
What
happened next was that a rich man had him buried, in haste late Friday
afternoon (so that the Sabbath rules, that would start at 6pm, could be
observed); the tomb was sealed with a very heavy stone, and a Roman guard was
set, to prevent anyone stealing the body. (Matthew
27,57+)
Exactly
when God raised Jesus back to life is not stated, but
to fulfil the “Third day” prophesy it had to be between 6pm on the Saturday
evening and dawn Sunday morning. Matthew records an angel appearing to
immobilise the guards, roll away the stone and tell the women, at just after
dawn (28,1-10); by that time, Jesus’
body had vanished: he also records the start of a cover-up (28,11-15). Mark has the same narrative
in condensed form (16,1-8). Luke
records the burial (23,50-56) and the
visit of the women to the tomb (24,1-12), and adds the visit of Peter and John; he then records
additional resurrection appearances including the ascension (24,13-end). John records the burial (19,38-42), and even more of the
resurrection appearances (20-21).
Acts picks up the ascension (1,1-11).
The other main coverage of the resurrection is in 1 Corinthians (15), though the fact of it is
universally implied.
What
can we argue from all this?
·
The
resurrection was prophesied, in the Old Testament (see for example Psalm 16,9-10) and by Jesus Himself (Mark 8,31).
·
Because
Jesus had predicted it (and based his claim to Messiah-ship
on it), the Jewish authorities were anxious to prevent it.
·
But
neither Roman nor Jewish authorities could dis-prove it (e.g. by “producing the
body”).
·
The
disciples were slow to believe it; once they did, though, they were prepared to
face torture and death rather than deny it (so they hadn’t stolen
the body!)
·
Jesus’
resurrection body was “similar but different” to his pre-death one. It bore the
marks of torture, nail marks and a wound in the side. But the disciples didn’t
“instantly” recognise him. And He could enter a room through locked doors, and seems to now have the ability to appear and
disappear at will in different places. So this wasn’t
a recuperation, but the start of a totally different sort of life.
·
All
“alternative explanations” fail – some of them are derisory, others just don’t
explain the facts. The main “alternative explanations are noted below.
Why
is this important?
·
This
is the fundamental fact of the Christian faith. If Jesus was not raised from
the dead, the Christian faith is pointless, and null and void (1 Cor 15,12-19).
What
about the main “alternative explanations”?
1.
The
mistake theory … the women went to the wrong tomb. (a) the women had a “good
hard look” at the tomb (Matt 27,61; Mark 15,47; Luke 23,55); Peter and John
also visited the tomb – were they wrong, too? (c) the right tomb had been
sealed and guarded, which would have clearly identified it!
2.
The
hallucination theory … the disciples wanted to see Jesus
rise, so they somehow imagined it. (a) Hallucinations are single-person events;
Jesus was seen by many people at once – sometimes two or three, sometimes 11,
once 500. (b) Jesus invited people to touch him. (c) Why didn’t the authorities
produce the body? (d) some of the disciples were “somewhat hard-headed” – Simon
Peter, Andrew, Simon the Zealot, Thomas to start with; not the sort of people
given to hallucinating. (e) why did these hallucinations stop after 40 days?
(f) the disciples were not expecting the resurrection.
3.
The
fraud theory … the disciples had stolen and hidden the body. (a) Despite the
seal and the Roman guard? (Matthew 27,62-66 and 28,11-15 … how could the guards
know what happened while asleep, and being asleep on
guard was punishable by death). (b) Why did the disciples give their lives for
the truth of the resurrection, knowing it was a lie? (c) How did they remove
the body and leave the grave-clothes intact? (d) Who
was it that went around showing crucifixion wounds, including the non-normal
wound in the side? (e) How could they maintain the lie – clever and powerful
men tried to lie about Watergate, and that lie lasted for only 3 weeks!
4.
The
swoon theory … Jesus didn’t really die, but recovered in the cool of the tomb. (a) Roman
soldiers just didn’t make mistakes like that! (b) The method of crucifixion in
the first century was that of a Y-shape, not a T-shape; if the victim hung from
his hands, his hands were in agony and breathing was really
difficult – but if they pushed up with their legs they could breathe,
but the pain in their feet became unbearable. So the
victim would alternately push up and sink down repeatedly; failure to push up
for 10 minutes was indicative of death[1].
(c) Witnesses saw blood and water from Jesus’ side, following a spear-thrust;
that indicates penetration into the heart, which is non-recoverable. (d) Jesus
had had no food or drink since the Thursday evening. (e) Patients following
massive trauma (scourging, crucifixion, impalement) need heat, not cold –
hypothermia kills. (f) How could a seriously wounded man recover enough to roll
away the stone from inside the grave?
A
final note … Christians loosely say that “Jesus rose from the grave”; the Bible
actually says “God raised Him from the dead”. The
result is the same, but the grammar and the agency are different.
Return
to the “What we believe” page, or the “Faith” index, or the main
website index.
[1] This is why, just before the Jewish Sabbath was to start, the soldiers broke the legs of the remaining victims (not Jesus, who was already dead). They would not be able to push up, and death from asphyxiation would follow fairly shortly.