Board index ‹ Resurrection of Christ

[Jeweler]

Many Christians will agree that their only way to heaven is through the belief of Jesus being our saviour. Though if this is our only way to heaven, why did Jesus only show himself to 500 people after her was lifted from death ? - By proving to them he was indeed the Messiah would have made many convert - Why wouldn’t he stand in the temple and show himself to all in Nazareth in order to save them, or does it have to be purely from the faith we have in him despite not seeing him risen?

(Apologies if the answer seems obvious, I’m and agnostic searching for Christ)

[jimwalton]

He had to draw the line somewhere. Yes, He could have stood in the Temple and shown Himself to all of Jerusalem who happened to be in the Temple at the time. But what about the people who weren't? What about the rest of the people in Judea? Samaria? Galilee? Decapolis? Tyre & Sidon? Syro-phoenicia? Where would it stop, and what would it accomplish? Jesus himself said, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." This is true. When someone sees something that goes against the way they think and what they think is possible, they come up with another explanation for it.

As it is, we have 11 recorded appearance of Jesus in His resurrected form. Why He appeared to whom He did when He did is beyond our figuring out. But here's the record. It actually seems like His resurrection appearance were to the least credible, most obscure people, just like the announcement of His birth to shepherds, and not at all to the political, religious, or scholarly elite. We can talk about that more if you want.

1. Mary Magdalene, when she was alone (John 20.14). This fact alone meets a historical "Criteria of Embarrassment." If you're a historian, when you try to determine "Is an ancient writer telling the truth?" one of the tools you use is the criterion of embarrassment. Was the writer reporting something embarrassing to himself or that hurts his own case? If so, it gives credibility to the writing. But who discovered the tomb? WOMEN! This is the last thing a fiction writer would claim, since a female’s testimony was considered so unreliable in first-century Judea that women were not allowed to testify in a court of law. If the Gospel writers were making up a story to gain credibility, they would never have made women the first witnesses. As Gary Habermas says, “To fabricate this story with women as the central witnesses most likely would serve only to have the case dismissed without a hearing. This report only makes sense if it reflected what actually happened.”[1]

2. Certain women returning from the tomb (Matthew 28.8-10). This is another credibility issue that harms their case unless it is true.

3. Peter, when he was alone (Luke 24.34; 1 Cor. 15.5). Luke’s record states: "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." The way this sentence is phrased is not the way Luke writes, leading some scholars to identify it as an older oral formula, circulating in society. In other words, Luke got it from somebody else, and the story of Jesus appearing to Peter when he was alone was a known story told from community to community. To even mention this appearance "seems somewhat foreign to Luke’s narrative, since the appearance to Simon was not narrated by Luke or any other of the Gospel writers."[2] If this was part of oral tradition, it was circulating before Luke wrote his Gospel, which is dated between AD 55-60.

4. Two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24.13-35). Mike Licona comments, "While many have concluded that this story was invented by the early church to describe the practice of the Eucharist, there is nothing to commend this interpretation over an actual appearance. That the appearance is a modified angelophany has even less to commend it."[3] Unnamed[4] disciples on an isolated road is an odd way to build credibility. Luke would only include this if it were verifiably true, and people could confirm the story with the one who is named for us, Cleopas.

5. Ten apostles in Jerusalem, without Thomas (John 20.19-24)—certainly an odd event to present if the narrative is fictional. If they were making up the story, all the apostles would have been together when Jesus miraculously appeared to them.

6 Eleven apostles in Jerusalem, this time with Thomas (John 20.26). Thomas wouldn’t believe unless he saw the evidence himself.

7. Seven disciples fishing in the Sea of Galilee (John 21.1, 2). While some scholars think chapter 21 was added later to the Gospel, there is no evidence that the Gospel of John ever existed without chapter 21, and using a story as an epilogue is very typical of John.[5] The Gospel of John has credibility as an eyewitness account, and this story is supportive of the actual historicity and eyewitness nature of John’s records.

8. Eleven apostles (and possibly others) on a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28.16-20)

9. More than 500 people at one time (1 Corinthians 15.6). This report has credibility since there is no such thing as a mass (group) hallucination.

10. James, when he was alone (1 Corinthians 15.7). It is commonly believed that Paul wrote 1 Corinthians in AD 54-55, within 25 years of Jesus’ death. This reference in 1 Corinthians is most likely a reference to James, Jesus’ half brother, the head of the church at Jerusalem (Acts 21.18). Since 1 Corinthians 15.3-7 has been shown to be creedal, Peter and James are part of the oral tradition as having seen Jesus after the resurrection. “It is already probable that Paul received the creed from Peter and James when he visited Jerusalem (in about AD 35). This hypothesis is reinforced by the fact that Paul, when recounting his trip to Jerusalem, claims to have gathered information from Cephas (an early name for Peter) and James (Gal. 1.18-19), precisely the two names found in the verses postulated as belonging to the original formula and the two people from whom the formula is already known to have likely come. For these reasons, the contextual evidence provides a powerful evidence in support of the creedal identification of vv. 6a & 7.”[6] In other words, the story of James having seen the risen Lord was circulating very early after the resurrection itself.

11. Eleven apostles on the Mount of Olives, at his ascension (Acts 1.1-12)

NOTES:

[1] Gary Habermas, “The Case for Christ’s Resurrection,” To Everyone An Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview, edited by Francis J. Beckwith, William Lane Craig, and J.P. Moreland (Downers Grove, IL: VP Academic, 2004) p. 188
[2] Mike Licona, The Resurrection of Christ: A New Historiographical Approach (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010), p. 222
[3] Licona, Op. Cit., p. 358
[4] One of the men is named (Cleopas), and the other person remains anonymous. It’s possible that Cleopas’s companion could have been his wife, who was present at the cross (Jn. 19.25).
[5] Raymond E. Brown, The Anchor Bible Vol. 29A, John 13-21 (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1970) p. 1077
[6] Kirk MacGregor, “1 Corinthians 15.3b-6a, 7 and the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus, JETS 49/2 (June 2006) p. 229

[Jeweler]

Wow thank you so much, this is so informative and helps hugely in understanding his resurrection