Exploring the evidence

Eleven appearances of Jesus to his followers, in the forty days from his resurrection to his ascension, are recorded in the New Testament.* Later he appeared to Stephen at his stoning, Paul on the road to Damascus and John on the Island of Patmos.** In a separate booklet Did the Writers of the New Testament Get Their Picture of Jesus Right? I have looked at the evidence we have for eyewitness testimony in the stories reported in the gospels. As far as the resurrection appearances are concerned this is particularly evident in the stories reported in Luke 24, and John 20, 21. If you wish to consider arguments for the eyewitness nature of these writings then you may like to read this booklet, or, better still, read the accounts in the New Testament and judge for yourself.

There are other arguments, in addition to those I have presented in that booklet, supporting the integrity of these accounts. One is the unvarnished reporting of the weaknesses and unbelief of the apostles in the face of what happened. Wouldn't we expect them, as the first witnesses, and founders of the Church, to be idealised in an invented story? Notice, too, the prominence given to the testimony of the women in an age when women were not considered proper witnesses in either Jewish or Gentile law. These things were reported simply because that was the way they happened. C. H. Dodd has pointed out that the gospel narratives are free from the legendary embellishments of later apocryphal accounts. They simply recount the surprise of the empty tomb and the way Jesus' followers only gradually realised its significance after encounters with the risen Christ.

In this booklet, however, I wish to focus on just one line of evidence - that the remarkable events which followed that first Easter morning could never have happened if Jesus had not risen bodily from the grave.

*Matthew 28; Luke 24; John 20, 21; I Corinthians 15:5-7.
**Acts 7:56; 9:3-6; I Corinthians 15:8; Revelation 1:9-20.

The transformation of the disciples

It would be hard to imagine a group of people so changed in their goals and outlook as the disciples were in the 50 days between the two Jewish feasts of Passover (when Jesus was crucified), and Pentecost (when the message of the crucified and risen Lord was first preached by them). The picture we have of the disciples before the momentous events of Passover Sunday is that of a fearful, dispirited and defeated group of men and women. The one they loved, and in whom they placed all their hopes for the future of Israel, had been brutally executed. The few who had the courage to venture out had seen the grisly details and some of them had buried him. They kept their doors locked, fully expecting that they would be next on the list. Luke captures their despair vividly in the picture he gives of Cleopas and his companion in Luke 24:13-24.

Fifty days later the picture is dramatically changed. The disciples have been transformed from a rabble into an effective team for leading the fledgling and fast-growing church. Peter, who denied and forsook his Master when the crunch came, is now fearless, and publicly faces the crowds of Jerusalem proclaiming that Jesus is the promised Messiah and risen Lord. Questioned twice before the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of the land, he cannot now be cowed by threats, imprisonment, beating or death sentence. Thomas the doubter is now fully convinced that Jesus is both risen from the dead and is God. James, Jesus' brother, who had previously been sceptical about his brother's claims, is now identified with the believers. Later he will become leader of the church in Jerusalem. Mary, who had watched her son's agonising death, instead of retreating into mourning, is now praying with the disciples as they await his promised gift of the Holy Spirit. Nothing could stop them, not even the violent persecution launched by the hostile rabbi, Saul of Tarsus.

What made the difference? They did not change because their circumstances had changed. The situation looked just as desperate at Pentecost as it had at Passover. The Jewish authorities were still adamant in their opposition to Jesus' message. And yet it is obvious that something had happened.

Luke, who spent two years in Judea from AD 57 to 59, and who would have known many of the persons involved in these dramatic events, records the reasons the apostles themselves gave for this transformation.

Peter to the crowds at Pentecost: Men of Israel, listen...Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourself know...you with the help of wicked men, put him to death... God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. (Acts 2:22-32)

Peter in the temple: You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this (Acts 3:15).

Peter before the High Court: Rulers and elders... It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you completely healed...we cannot help speaking what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:8-10,20).

Peter again before the High Court: The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead - whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree... We are witnesses of these things (Acts 5:30-32).

Peter to Cornelius' household: God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen - by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead (Acts 10:40,41).

Paul in the synagogue at Antioch: God raised him from the dead, and for many days he was seen by those who had travelled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people (Acts 13:30,31).