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The Resurrection of
JesusA harmony of the resurrection accountsBased upon the outline given in Reason & Faith , R Forster & P Marston, Monarch Publications, 1989, p 79 - 108
By Andy Bannister
Contents
Introduction
Characters in the story, locations featured, and writers of the records
Two important presuppositions
Reconstruction of the resurrection
The scene is set : Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion
Early on Sunday morning
The women arrive at the tomb
The angels
Peter, John, and Mary
Meetings with the risen Jesus
The disciples gathered together
Other appearances
The reconstruction accounts: alternative theories
Conclusion
Introduction
If what is recorded in the New Testament is true, the resurrection of Jesus is the mostincredible and most significant event in the whole of human history. There are five passages
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in the New Testament that claim to be historical accounts of what happened to Jesus, and
these are:
Matthew 28:1-20
Mark 16:1-14
Luke 24:1-53 John 20:1-29
1 Corinthians 15:1-8
Since Christianity stands or falls on whether the resurrection of Jesus was an actual, real,
historical event (1 Corinthians 15:12-19), we need to ask the question, what marks the five
accounts above out as genuine, independent (or semi-independent) accounts of actual
historical events? In short, how can we trust them? I will begin by making some general
observations concerning eye-witness accounts and historical writing in general.
1. Selection and ‘contradiction’. Whilst this may be stating the obvious, it is worth
pointing out that historians naturally select which details to include and which toignore when describing any series of events. This will usually depend upon their
purpose in writing. It is also common that eye-witnesses will describe an event
differently from each other, as different points will stand out more strongly for
different eye-witnesses. Therefore, historians are usually of the opinion that accounts
which claim to be from different authors or eye-witnesses but which fail to show any
differences of selection or perspective are almost certainly the result of copying or
collusion. On the other-hand, if the event described by two or more eye-witnesses is
genuine, it should be possible to resolve any apparent contradictions between their
accounts.
2. Incidental corroboration. In the case of two independent accounts of the same event,
it is often the case that one report will only make complete sense taken in the light of
the other. Put simply, this is because both accounts may be true, but both are
incomplete. This kind of overlapping to build up the whole picture is to be expected
when the events described by multiple witnesses is true. It is also virtually impossible
to fabricate, unless one writer sits down with the report of the other and deliberately
sets out to do so.
3. Historical credibility. Details of the events described should be in harmony with
known historical practices, background of the period in question, as well as in
harmony with details known from other sources from that period.
4. Coherence. Historical accounts should be coherent, self-consistent, and make good
overall sense if we to learn from them.
(For further reading on the subject of historical credibility, E H Carr’s What is History?
(1987) contains much of value, as does G R Elton’s The Practice of History (1969) and the
summary contained in Colin Brown’s History and Faith (1987)).
The rest of this paper sets out to answer the question, do the New Testament accounts of
the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus hold up to points 1 - 4 above. Simply put, are
they true? In particular, we will compare the eye-witness accounts given in the five sourceslisted above and see whether, taken together, they can be used to form a reconstruction of the
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events, or whether they are full instead of hopelessly irreconcilable contradictions. The
harmony of the five accounts put forward is here is also accompanied with numerous
diagrams to help the reader follow the reconstruction.
Characters
The people who feature in the accounts of the resurrection of Jesus are as follows:
1. Joseph of Arimathea: a secret follower of Jesus and a member of the Jewish High
Council.(Matthew 27:57-60, Luke 23:50-55 and John 19:38-42)
2. Nicodemus: another secret follower of Jesus. Like Joseph, a member of the Jewish
High Council.
(John 3:1-21; 7:50-52; 19:38-42)
3. Simon Peter: one of the twelve disciples of Jesus(Matthew 4:18; 16:16; 17:24; 18:21; 19:27; 26:37,58,69, Mark 3:16; 5:37; 9:2, Luke 22:8,31; 24:12,34
John 1:41; 21:3,15; 13:6, Acts 1:15; 2:14; 3:1; 4:8; 5:3,29; 8:14,20; 9:32,40; 10:9; 11:2; 12:3; 15:7)
4. John: one of the twelve disciples, a cousin of Jesus, and also known as ‘the beloved
apostle’(Matthew 4:21; 17:1, Mark 1:29; 5:37; 14:33, Luke 5:10; 9:49, John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7,20, Acts
1:13; 3:1; 8:14)
5. Mary: mother of Jesus
(Matthew 1:16; 2:11; 12:46 13:55, Luke 1:27,38,46,56; 2:5,16,19,34; 2:43,40, John 2:1,5,12; 19:25)
6. Cleopas (also called ‘Clopas’ or ‘Alphaeus’): brother of Joseph and thus Jesus’
uncle.(Matthew 10:3; Luke 24:18; John 19:25)
7. Various other apostles and disciples
8. Mary (also called ‘the other Mary): wife of Cleopas, therefore aunt to Jesus and
sister-in-law to his mother, Mary. She was also the mother of Joses and of the disciple
James the Younger.(Matthew 27:61; 28:1, John 19:25)
9. Salome: wife of Zebedee and mother of the two disciples James and John. She was
also the sister of Jesus’ mother Mary, and thus was the aunt of Jesus.(Matthew 19:28; 20:20,21; 27:56, Mark 15:40; 16:1, John 19:25)
10. Mary Magdalene (also called ‘Mary of Bethany’): sister of Martha and Lazarus.(Luke 10:39; John 11:1,20,32; 12:3)
11. Joanna: wife of Herod Antipas’ steward, Chuza. (Luke 8:3; 24:10)
12. At least one other woman: possible Susanna of Luke 8:3.
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The diagram below shows Jesus’ immediate family relationships:
Locations featured in this reconstruction
Hasmonaean Palace: the Jerusalem residence during Passover of Joanna, wife of
Herod Antipas’ steward
Garden of Gethsemane:
The tomb: to the north of the city, outside the walls
Bethany: home of Martha, Lazarus, and Mary (called Magdalene). About 1.5 miles
from the city walls
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The house of John the apostle: situated in Jerusalem
Writers
1. Matthew: the writer of this gospel account was the Levite, Matthew, the ex tax-collector.
2. Mark: written by John Mark, much of it taken from the preaching of Peter of whom
John Mark was a companion. Some material was also drawn from his own first-hand
experience as a young man.
3. Luke: a Greek who was a travelling companion of Paul. As he explains at the start of
his account, his motivation is to provide a careful, accurate, historical record for the
non-Jewish reader.
4. John: authored by the apostle John, although set down on paper by one of hisdisciples (John 21:24).
Two important presuppositions
The following is evident from the way that the four gospel writers have treated their material,
and it is important to keep these two points in mind as we proceed:
1. Incompleteness in reporting the presence of characters: for example, in John
19:25, Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the wife of Cleopas are reported as being
at the foot of the cross. However, only Mary Magdalene is mentioned as going to the
tomb early on the Sunday morning. However, John hardly expected his readers to
assume that a young woman was wandering around alone in the dark city streets. And
when she arrived back from the tomb, her words were, "they have taken the Lord
from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him" (John 20:2). Her plural
indicates that she had companions there with her, but John has neglected to mention
them. Luke also shows this practice, where in Luke 24:12 he names only Peter as
going to the tomb, but in 24:24 refers to "some" who went there. It is clear that, from
the point of view of the gospel writers, mentioning one name only does not preclude
others being present. This principle was also applied to the angels at the tomb, as weshall see later.
2. Telescoping: for example, Luke clearly exhibits this principle. If we just read Luke’s
account of the resurrection, one would get the impression that all Jesus’ appearances
and his ascension took place in just one day. Yet in Acts, which was also written by
Luke, he clearly states that the events stretched over forty days. In his gospel he
telescopes events in order to bring out a particular perspective. Matthew also uses
telescoping; especially in the events surrounding the angels’ initial descent and later
conversation with the women. Telescoping is not at all uncommon in historical
reporting.
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The scene is set : Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion
Jesus was arrested late at night in the Garden of Gethsemane, betrayed into the hands of his
enemies by Judas Iscariot, who had been one of the twelve disciples. After Jesus’ arrest, hisdisciples scattered, in fear for their lives. Peter and John followed him to Jerusalem, the
others ran off. The most logical place to run to would have been Bethany; it was in the
opposite direction to the city, only a mile away, and more importantly, they had good friends
there in the shape of Mary Magdalene, Martha, and Lazarus. These disciples are mentioned
no more until the evening of the resurrection. The one exception to all this is Thomas, who
may have gone further afield.
Many were watching Jesus’ death on the cross that day, and among them were Mary
Magdalene, and Jesus’ aunts Salome and Mary (wife of Cleopas), his mother, and his beloved
cousin, John (Matthew 27:56; John 19:25-26). Jesus committed his mother into the care of
John (who was her nephew), and it is recorded that "from that hour" John took her into his
home, which was in south Jerusalem. Her sister Salome probably also went to John's home,
to comfort Mary in her grief. John had already taken Peter there, a broken and desolate man
after he had denied Jesus three times during their visit to the house of Caiaphas the night
before.
The body of Jesus was taken down from the cross by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea,
who had sought permission from Pilate to do so. They took the body to the nearby tomb
owned by Joseph, where the Jewish burial custom of wrapping the corpse with spices and
linen was begun. However, because of the impending high Sabbath, this task was not
finished. Several women, including both Mary’s, watched this, and as the Sabbath drew onthey retired back to the house of John, where, as recorded by Luke (23:26), they "rested on
the Sabbath".
However, for obvious reasons, there was much anxiety on the part of the authorities this
Sabbath. Whilst they had finally rid themselves of that irksome troublemaker, Jesus, they
were concerned about what his disciples might do. Some recalled how Jesus had taught that
he would rise from the dead after three days, and they began to worry that his disciples might
somehow try to steal his body from the grave to make it seem that this had indeed happened.
A martyred troublemaker was one problem, but rumours of a risen and resurrected one would
be worse! Thus the Jewish authorities obtained permission from Pilate to place a Roman
guard on the tomb (Matthew 28:11-15). Jesus’ friends, passing the Sabbath in the homes of John in Jerusalem and Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in Bethany knew nothing of these
machinations at this time.
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The diagram below shows the locations of people on that Sabbath day
Joanna is with her
husband in the old Hasmonaean
Palace, residence
of Herod Antipas.
Also staying there
is her friend
Susanna.
Most of the
disciples have fled
to Bethany. The
rest are at John’shouse in south
Jerusalem, with
the possible
exception of
Thomas, who may
have gone further
afield.
Location of people on the night after the Sabbath (which finished at sunset)
Mary Magdalene
has returned home
to Bethany. With
her have gone
Cleopas and his
wife Mary to see
the disciples;
among them weretheir son James the
Younger and their
nephew, James.
Early on Sunday morning
The gospel writer Matthew, who was at Bethany with seven of the other disciples, reportshow Mary Magdalene and Mary the wife of Cleopas set out "at dawn" (Matthew 28:1).
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Cleopas probably accompanied them. They first visited John’s house, where Cleopas
remained and the two Mary’s, joined now by Salome, set off to call for Joanna at the
Hasmonaean Palace. Mark, who gives Peter’s version of events, says that the three women
set off "very early" and reached the tomb just after sunrise (Mark 16:1-2). Luke, who
compiled his account from various sources and eye-witnesses, includes Joanna in his list of
women, and gives the time as "very early" (Luke 24:1).
Thus to summarise:
Luke gives the most comprehensive account of who exactly was present
Matthew records events as they would have appeared to him at Bethany
Mark reports what Peter would have experienced at John’s house in Jerusalem
John has a particular focus on Mary Magdalene, through whom he would have first
heard the astounding news that the body of Jesus had disappeared.
Next, Matthew informs us that after the two Mary’s left Bethany, the four soldiers who made
up the Roman guard experienced an earthquake. They briefly glimpsed a vision of adescending angel before, petrified with fear, they passed out. One of the rings of truth in this
account is that nobody in any of the accounts claims to have seen the actual moment of
resurrection. If the accounts had been fabricated, there would have been a glorious
opportunity to really go to town and invent this part of the story.
Locations of characters early that Sunday morning
Mary Magdalene,
Cleopas, and his
wife have set out to
John’s house in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, at the
tomb, the guards
have been stunned
by the appearance
of the angels, who
roll back the stone
sealing the
entrance to the
tomb. The guards
faint in terror.
When the guards came round, they would have discovered the tomb empty; they were now
guilty of a capital offence under Roman law, and so they fled in terror. Their only hope were
the Jewish authorities who agreed to use their influence if the soldiers spread the story that
the disciples had come in the night and stolen the body of Jesus. No bribe could have kept the
soldiers totally quiet, and thus Matthew (perhaps through his old friends from his days as a
collaborator) heard the story and was able to record it. It may also be true that as the most
Hebrew orientated of the gospel writers, he especially wanted to counter the "stolen body"
myth, given that the Jews were still using it years later. So to return to the reconstruction, asthe women were on their way to the tomb, the soldiers were running away!
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Movements early that Sunday morning
Cleopas remains at
John’s house,whilst the two
Marys, along with
Salome, have
called for Joanna
and Susanna. The
five women now
head for the tomb
to do the women’s
work of anointing
the body.
Meanwhile, the
guards have
recovered and are
running back to tell
the authorities of
their experience.
The angels are
waiting inside the
tomb.
The women arrive at the tomb
Unaware of events at the tomb, the five women arrive, as they approach discussing the
impending problem of how they would get the stone rolled away from the entrance to the
tomb (Mark 16:3). Still some way off the tomb, they see in the distance that the stone has
already been moved. Quickly jumping to the conclusion that the authorities must have
opened the tomb and moved the body, Mary Magdalene turns on her heel, running back to in
panic and grief to cry those now famous words to John: "They have taken the Lord out of the
tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid him!" (John 20:2). Note the two very
important points of cross corroboration here:
Although at a first glance, John has Mary setting off alone, she uses the all important
plural "we". It is only by reading the other gospels that we discover why, and who
was with her.
Yet John still records her use of "we" because that it how he remembers it. If John had
simply been making things up he had gone along, he would have written "I" in Mary’s
report, not "we".
This also explains why Mary did not mention the angels when she spoke to John. Again, we
need to look at the details that the other gospel writers provide; Matthew reports the initialdescent of the angel, only seen by the Roman guards. Mark and Luke report that when the
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women arrived, the angels were inside the tomb. So when did Mary turn back? According to
John, when she saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. And when was that?
Mark provides the answer: ‘When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been removed
from the entrance’ (Mark 16:4). By reading all the gospel accounts, we have the complete
picture:
Arriving at the edge of the garden, the women look up from a distance and see the
stone has been rolled back the tomb.
Mary jumps to the obvious conclusion, and runs back to Peter and John in Jerusalem.
The other women continued to the tomb, and went on inside where they encountered
the angels.
Not only do these accounts fit together perfectly, but we can see why, for John, it is important
that Mary Magdalene did turn back and race back to Jerusalem. It was her report that led to
him personally visiting the tomb and experiencing the renewal of his faith. To the other three
gospel writers, it was a minor detail, since Mary, like the other four women, could later
report seeing both the angels and the risen Lord Jesus.
The women arrive at the garden and the tomb
The women have
reached the edge
of the garden, and
have seen in the
distance that the
stone sealing the
tomb has been
rolled away. Mary Magdalene jumps
to the conclusion
that the authorities
have taken the
body, and races
back to Jerusalem
to tell Peter and
John.
The angels
At a casual glance, it seems that there might be a contradiction in the accounts over the
angels. After all:
Matthew mentions just one angel (28:2)
Mark refers to a man dressed in white (16:5)
Luke’s account speaks of two men (24:4)
John records two angels (20:12)
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Firstly, it is important to note that the Bible nowhere portrays angels as winged figures
carrying harps! Rather, they are always portrayed simply as men (e.g. Joshua 5:13-15). Thus,
for example, there is no contradiction when Luke speaks of "men" (24:4) yet later records
Cleopas speaking of a "vision of angels" (24:23). And there is no contradiction between the
gospel accounts which speak of "men in white" and those that speak of "angels".
Neither is the number of angels a problem, despite the attempts by some sceptics to highlight
this as an apparent contradiction. The question has simply arisen because Matthew and Mark
mention one angel, whereas Luke and John both refer to two. However, unless the angels
spoke in simultaneously, then it seems obvious that one was the spokesperson of the pair.
Matthew and Mark may very well have been aware that angel who spoke had a companion.
But all historians, whether sacred or secular, decide which details to record, and what secular
historian would be pronounced unreliable for failing to mention that an important speaker had
a companion with him or her? It is not vital to the account, and whether or not to mention it is
simply a matter of personal choice.
Again, whilst the gospel writers record different parts of the angel’s speech, those parts fittogether remarkably well. Even more surprising is that Luke and Mark seem fairly parallel on
the parts up to the angel’s speech which Matthew omits, but on the speech itself it is Luke
who differs and Matthew and Mark who are parallel. This is exactly what one might expect
of three accounts which were independently compiled, yet drew on some of the same eye-
witness reports.
The four women encounter the angels at the tomb
The four women
enter the tomb,
where theyencounter the two
angels, one of
whom gives them a
message for the
disciples.
Meanwhile, Mary
Magdalene has
reached Peter and
John and cried:
"They have taken
the Lord out of the
tomb, and we don’t
know where they
have laid him!"
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Peter, John, and Mary
Mary Magdalene
has reached Peter
and John, and
tearfully blurted
out her worst fears;
that the body of
Jesus has been
taken, presumably
by the authorities.
The two men race
back to the tomb,
with Maryfollowing.
In the maze of the
city streets, they
miss the other four
women who are
even now returning
from the tomb,
bearing the
message from the
angel.
Arriving at the
tomb, Peter and
John see the empty
tomb, complete
with the grave-
clothes, but neither
the angels nor the
body of Jesus
(Luke 24:24; John
20:2-9).
Meanwhile, the
other four women
have arrived back
in Jerusalem at the
house of John,
bearing their news
of having seen the
angels. One of the
angels had giventhem a message to
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give to the disciples
(Matthew 28:7 and
Mark 16:7); a
message that
specifically
included Peter as arecipient. As Peter
and John had both
run off to the tomb,
the women awaited
their return.
Peter and John now
make their way
back to the others
in Jerusalem,leaving Mary
Magdalene at the
tomb, weeping
(John 20:11).
Unlike them, when
Mary looked into
the tomb she saw
the two men in
white, although she
did not yet
recognise them asangels. Earlier we
saw that where she
spoke for all the
women, she used
the plural we (John
20:2); now she uses
the singular (" I
don’t know where
they have put
him"). This is
because she nolonger knows
where the other
four women are, or
if they have maybe
even located the
body (John 20:13).
It is then that Mary
had her now
famous encounter
with the risen Jesus
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(John 20:14-17).
John’s account
corroborates
Mark’s observation
that Jesus first
appeared to Mary(Mark 16:9).
Meetings with Jesus
Immediately after the return of Peter and John from the tomb, the women hurried off (without
waiting for Mary Magdalene) across the Mount of Olives to Bethany, in order to give the
amazing news to the other eight disciples there. Among those disciples both Salome and
Mary (Mrs. Cleopas) has sons. They were also doing this in order to complete the task that
had been given to them by the angels.
As they ran along the road to Bethany, there occurred the meeting with Jesus that is reported
by Matthew (28:8-10). Why is Matthew alone in reporting this meeting? For Peter and John
in Jerusalem, only Mary Magdalene would have come and spoken of having met Jesus, and
thus this is what we f ind written in John’s gospel and that of Mark (reporting Peter); see John
20:18 and Mark 16:10. Peter, unlike John, did not yet believe (John 20:8) and so Mark’s
gospel naturally reflects an unbelief in Mary’s news (Mark 16:10). Matthew, who received
the news after waiting in Bethany, naturally telescoped the women’s meetings with the angels
and with Jesus - for this would have been how the women reported the events to him, as they
excitedly blurted out all that they had seen and heard. The only slight puzzle is Luke, who
records neither encounter with Jesus. Two points need making here; firstly, Luke in hischronological account mentions neither the men’s visit to the tomb nor the appearance to
Peter himself - yet he clearly refers to both in later reported speech (Luke 24:24,34) so it is
obvious that Luke did not intend to imply that his report was complete. Secondly, there is no
point in his narrative where he could insert either incident without spoiling the drama of
realisation on the Emmaus road and the crescendo of the unmistakable appearance in Luke
24:36. Thus Luke 24:9-12 are a general summary, indicating the main characters and the
general atmosphere of unbelief that prevailed. Both Mary Magdalene and the others had seen
angels and were generally disbelieved, so what he actually says is true if incomplete.
Two other people had also set out from John’s house in south Jerusalem. Jesus’ uncle
Cleopas, having been told of the angels from the group of women (which included his ownwife, Mary) set out with a companion to go to Emmaus. Whilst on the road they had the
famous encounter that Luke has recorded in Luke 24:13-32. The information given by
Cleopas in verses 22-24 exactly match what he would have known in this reconstructed
account; he would have known of the women’s encounter with two men in white, and of
Peter and John’s experience of discovering the tomb empty. But he and his companion would
have set out before Mary Magdalene had returned with the news of having actually seen and
spoken to Jesus, and thus neither Cleopas or his friend would have had any idea that Jesus
was risen and alive.
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Meetings with Jesus
As Mary
Magdalene
returns from
her meetingwith the
risen Jesus,
Cleopas and
his friend set
out for
Emmaus,
meeting
Jesus on the
road.
The other four women
are heading
for Bethany,
to tell the
disciples (as
they were
instructed
by the
angels). As
they run
along theroad, they
too meet
Jesus. Thus
when
Matthew is
given the
news at
Bethany, he
can be told
about both
the angels
and Jesus at
once!
The disciples gathered together
When Cleopas and his friend got back to Jerusalem that night, excitedly bearing the news that
they had seen Jesus, they found all the disciples gathered. But do Mark 16:13 and Luke 24:34
give conflicting accounts of whether general belief or outright scepticism prevailed? Only a
very naïve reader could see these as being in conflict. Firstly, we may note that Luke, whoimplies belief, says only a few verses later that they "still did not believe it because of joy"
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when Jesus himself was standing there! (24:41) One can well imagine Cleopas and his friend
bursting into the house to be greeted by a confused babble of comments; "Yes, Peter has also
seen him!" "Well, I just don’t believe it!" and so on. The situation simply was not one where
a single spokesperson voiced a unanimous opinion. Discussion swayed to and fro, and both
Mark and Luke record the various comments that were doubtless made. Then, as the tide may
well have been turning towards general scepticism, Jesus himself appeared to them. Eventhen, some were not convinced, and thought they were seeing a ghost! They wanted more
tangible proof, which Jesus offered to them:
"Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself, for a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have." And
when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. Luke 24:38-40
The disciples all meet Jesus
All the
disciples,with the
exception of
Thomas, are
gathered
back in
Jerusalem;
either in
John’s
house, or
that of John
Mark. Jesusappears.
Thomas, as
yet still a
sceptic, will
later have
his own
meeting with
Jesus (John
20:24-29);
Luke,
however, has
telescoped
the various
appearances
of Jesus into
one.
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Other appearances
We have already noted that Luke telescopes events in his gospel; whilst it may appear at a
casual glance that all the events in chapter 24 happened in one day, it is clear from reading
Acts (also authored by Luke), that he is totally aware that the events occurred over forty days
(Acts 1:3). It was during these forty days that all the other appearances recorded in thegospels occurred; both in Jerusalem and in Galilee. Another interesting corroboration occurs
in that it is Matthew (28:7) and Mark (16:7) who record the instruction to the disciples to go
to Galilee, whilst it is John who actually reports some of the appearances there (21:1).
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed;
blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not
recorded in this book.
But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that by believing you may have life in his name."
John 20:29-30
The Resurrection accounts: alternative theories
The five accounts of the resurrections are all from the first-century, written between fifteen
and thirty years of the death of Jesus. They fit together in exactly the kind of way we would
expect from good historical accounts based on eye-witnesses of the actual events. In fact, the
way that they mesh and fit together, containing corroborating cross-details means that they
would have been nigh on impossible to fabricate. Time and time again we find that particulardetails included in the four accounts match the precise position in the events of the main first-
hand source of that particular account, be it Matthew, Peter, or John.
The accounts themselves claim to record two historical events: the actual physical
disa ppearance of Jesus’ body from the tomb and the appearances of the risen Jesus to his
followers over a period of forty days. As we have already noted above, it is interesting that
none of the eye-witnesses claim to have seen the moment of resurrection itself; such an
opportunity for exaggeration would not have been missed had the accounts been mere fiction!
So how are these accounts to be explained? Are they telling the truth of a miraculous event,
or are there more plausible explanations than the simple one: that they were true? I will endthis paper by taking a brief glance over some of the alternative theories that have been forth
throughout the years by various sceptics.
The legend theorySome have suggested that the New Testament accounts are simply fictional. However,
this simply will not do. As we have seen, the five accounts bear all the hallmarks of
being independent accounts of actual events. Secondly, the records were written too
close to the events themselves, thus there would have been plenty of people alive who
remembered Jesus, and who could have protested "no, that wasn’t what happened".
And thirdly, the accounts bear none of the usual indications of myth.
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The wrong tomb theoryOther sceptics have put forth the idea that it was all simply a mistake. Perhaps the
disciples went to the wrong tomb, failed to find the body, and thus thought Jesus was
alive. Once again, this theory is so implausible as to be rendered almost unworthy of a
reply. Firstly, the women had watched the burial, and knew where the tomb was.
Secondly, Joseph of Arimathea would have known where his own family tomb was! Itwas also inconceivable that such an upright, socially important man would have sat
back and let the disciples continue propagating such a fundamental mistake. Thirdly,
the Jewish authorities would hardly have been so incompetent as to post a guard on
the wrong tomb! Fourthly, the authorities would have quickly produced the body from
the right tomb once the rumours started circulating, in order to crush the embryonic
church once and for all . But fifthly and most importantly, the wrong tomb theory fails
to take account of or explain the post-resurrection appearances, to over 500 people in
total.
The swoon theory
This popular theory suggests that Jesus merely passed out on the cross, and camearound a while later in the cool darkness of the tomb, from which he was then able to
emerge and pass himself off as the risen Christ! This theory suffers from a number of
flaws; firstly, Roman guards were well trained in the art of execution, and were more
than able to tell whether or not a prisoner was dead. And besides, failure would have
resulted in capital punishment for them. Secondly, Jesus was subjected to a lengthy
physical torture; flogged to the point of death, and then crucified. He would have been
in dire need of medical help, and to suggest that he could come round in the tomb,
without food, water, or medical aid, rolled aside a huge stone (large enough that five
women could not move it), over powered four roman guards, and then passed himself
as the victorious risen Christ is laughable. Thirdly, there is the more important moral
question, that in doing so Jesus would have been founding a massive lie in order topropagate the myth of his resurrection. All that we know of his character from the rest
of the New Testament goes against this theory. (For more information on the medical flaws in
this theory, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) have published an article by a
group of medics examining the medical evidence for Jesus death. It has been reprinted here).
The stolen body theoryPerhaps the oldest of all the alternative theories that has been invented to explain the
resurrection is this one. In Matthew 28:12-15 we read that the Jewish authorities
bribed the Roman guards to spread the myth that Jesus’ disciples had come in the
night and stolen his body. Thus this theory dates back almost two thousand years!
However, the biggest flaw with the stolen body theory is who stole it? Ordinarygrave-robbers would not have taken a body and left the grave-clothes and spices, they
would not easily have got past the guards, and then there is the question of the post-
resurrection appearances. The Jewish authorities would hardly have stolen the body,
and even if they had, they would have produced it quickly to destroy any stories of the
resurrection. The only group with any motive would have been the disciples.
Now the idea that the disciples stole the body is just one of a whole series of conspiracy theories, many of which read like the outline for a low budget Hollywood
movie. All of these theories imply that the whole resurrection story was merely a
fabrication, engineered to make it appear that Jesus had risen. One such theory is that
the disciples stole the body, another that Jesus only fainted and was later resuscitated,and yet another than the Roman soldiers were bribed to crucify somebody else in the
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place of Jesus. The fundamental flaw in all of them is that they would make the whole
foundation of Christianity based on a lie; would men who knew this really spend the
rest of their lives preaching a religion that demanded the highest standards of truth
and morality, even to the point of being martyred for it.
The disciples are, in fact, one of the biggest proofs for the truth of theresurrection. People who put forward alternative theories have to explain what
transformed a frightened group of insignificant people whose leader and been killed
and who were hiding from the authorities, into a bunch of radical men and women
ready to spread a new world faith and to die for their beliefs. What brought about the
change if not what the gospel accounts claim, their meeting with the risen Jesus and
their filling with the Holy Spirit (Acts chapter 2)? It would surely have taken more
than just one missing corpse to institute such a change, and this has never been
explained, nor is it usually taken into account by those who wish to peddle such
theories.
The hallucination theoryThe last theory that comes up from time to time is that the whole resurrection was
based on a mass hallucination. This is perhaps the most plausible of the alternative
theories, but is actually based on a complete ignorance of psychiatry. Hallucinations
normally occur to people who are expecting to see something, yet the gospel accounts
make it clear that the disciples believed with the death of Jesus, it was all over. They
were demoralised, broken men and women, not buoyed up by religious hope or
expectation. One does not go to a burial tomb carrying spices to anoint a corpse, as
the five women did, if one expects to see the occupant alive and risen! Indeed, it is
recorded that the women’s first thoughts on seeing the open tomb was not that Jesus
had risen, but that the authorities had removed his body. What can have happened to
transform these people? Did they all have the same hallucination, men and women of radically different temperaments and backgrounds? How did the hallucination eat a
piece of fish to prove it was real (Luke 24:42)? And of course, the hallucination
theory singularly fails to explain what happened to the body!
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Conclusion
The most obvious conclusion, providing one does not come to the Bible with preconceptions
(such as the non-existence of miracles, or that Jesus didn’t actually die on the cross), is that
the accounts are telling the truth and describe events as the eye-witnesses actually saw them.
Jesus Christ rose from the dead, not just in some mystical his ideas and teaching will live on forever sense, but in some sense in which the actual person of Jesus of Nazareth still lives on
and interacts with people. It is this that transformed his disciples from a bunch of defeated
nobodies into a fearless body of men and women who set out to transform the world, it is this
that is the testimony of millions upon millions upon millions of Christians around the world
today; Jesus Christ is still transforming lives today, and will continue to do so until he comes
back again!
Amen, Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people.
Amen.
Edited for the web by Andy Bannister