Hi friends!!
Last time we discussed whether Jesus actually died on the cross or not, and this week we will talk about if Jesus really rose from the dead. If you didn’t see the last post be sure to check it out. :)
So, did Jesus really rise from the dead? First off, we know Jesus’ tomb was empty. The reports of the first to find the tomb empty include; Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, Joanna, Salone, and other women. For a quick side note, many people do not believe in the resurrection because of “contradictions'' of the gospels with each account of who saw the empty tomb first. Here is why; in Matthew, it says that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, yet in John it just says Mary Magdalene(this happens with Mark and Luke as well). This is simpler than it seems. In every situation in life, everyone has different viewpoints and notices different details. Some details to me may seem way more important than they do to others. For example, for an eye witness testimony of a shoplifting crime, the owner of the store compared to a witness outside the store would have different descriptions of minor facts. The owner in the store may be able to get a better look at the criminals and their weapons, whereas a witness outside the store could get a look at their getaway vehicle. Because of their placement, their views of the story are different, and they notice different details. Related, your background influences how you see and notice things. The store owner might have been a hunter who studies weapons and thus may have noticed the weapons more so then the witness outside. This is much like what happened in the gospel. The authors' different backgrounds and connections with the world shaped the details they noticed.
Along with the tomb being empty, many witnesses at different times saw Jesus resurrected. Paul tells us that Jesus showed himself to all the disciples, James, Mary Magdalene and other women, and later to a group of 500 people. The fact that he showed himself to 500 people at once helps prove that the resurrection was not a hallucination because scientifically 500 people cannot have the same hallucination at one time. In addition to Jesus showing up to many people, many people's lives radically changed after the resurrection including Jesus’ skeptical half-brother James. James was an unbeliever during the time of Jesus’ ministry, but after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the resurrection event radically changed his beliefs, and he ended up becoming one of the leaders in the church. Why would James who for so long did not believe Jesus’ message, change his mind so quickly knowing that his change in mind would lead to immense persecution? Why would he and so many others willingly walk into the possibility of persecution and the likelihood of death if they did not fully believe in what they saw? They must have been convinced that something radical happened and believed it with their whole hearts. Luke Timothy Johnson says that “some sort of powerful transformative experience is required to generate this sort of movement early Christianity was.” They experienced something massive. Life changing. Massive amounts of people changing their beliefs at one time. How is that a random coincidence? It seems to take more faith to not believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection then to believe in it.
Let me know if you have any questions or want to talk. You can email me at brokenvessels03@gmail.com. Also, be sure to check out Sophie and Addy’s podcast “Our Hearts Surrendered” available on the app Podbean, Spotify, or Apple podcast. Check out their episode “Challenge Them” if you want to hear me guest speak about the importance of challenging your friends, or check out their brand new episode “opportunities through social media,” with Elijah Lamb. Have an amazing weekend!
With joy,
Megan Conway
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