the resurrection of jesus - by andy bannister

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8/4/2019 The Resurrection of Jesus - By Andy Bannister http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-resurrection-of-jesus-by-andy-bannister 1/20 The Resurrection of Jesus A harmony of the resurrection accounts Based 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 most incredible and most significant event in the whole of human history. There are five passages

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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