The Witnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Is the Resurrection A Hoax?

Did the early followers of Jesus make up the story of Him arising from the dead... was it merely a pathetic attempt to keep the dream alive after the unexpected execution of their spiritual guru from Galilee? Was it wishful thinking... was it malicious deceit... was it a trick to gain followers and fame... or extract money from credulous fools... an opiate to control the masses?

Our purpose today is to review the record of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and examine the witnesses.

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Establishing the Death of Jesus

The fact of Jesus execution is backed up by historical documentation outside scripture:

Roman: (Cornelius Tacitus ca. 56-120) wrote 16 volume history: Annals of the Roman Emperors. In it he recorded “Christ… suffered the extreme penalty [crucifixion] during the reign of Tiberius at the hand of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus”. Note: a hostile witness out to discredit of Christians.

Jewish: Flavius Jospehus writing at about the same time period says in his Antiquities of the Jews: “Now there was about this time Jesus a wise man... and when Pilate at the suggestion of the principle men among us had condemned Him [Jesus] to the cross…”

Jesus' execution is a documented historical fact.

From the beginning people have made the ridiculous proposal that Jesus never really died during the crucifixion. He faked His own death [through drugs, self hypnosis etc.] He tricked the Romans then got himself out of tomb and pretended to be resurrected. The other variation of this idea is that the disciples were His accomplices in pulling off this elaborate entire hoax.

Mark 15:42-45 the Centurion [a military man] would have known a dead body when he saw one. Perhaps this was the same guy who thrust his spear into the body to make sure it was dead. But if Pilate had not been convinced Jesus was truly dead how would it have gotten into the Roman records.

Matthew  27: 62-66 Suspicions of trickery were afoot from the very beginning. And the gospel writers sought to nip it in the bud. The argument is not a new one.

Matthew 28:11-15 the scriptures warn of a cover-up instigated by the Jewish religious leaders! 

Roman history says Jesus was dead, Jewish history says Jesus was dead, the personal testimony of His companions says Jesus was dead. Conclusion: Jesus was a real person... and he was executed.

Witnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus

In order to make the case for the truth and reality of Jesus resurrection we can only go to those who say they witnessed it. The record we have of the testimony of the witnesses is in the new testament writings.

If you wanted to know what actually happened on D-Day in Normandy who would you want to hear from? People who were there! Eye-witnesses!

Did D-day really happen? --> How about the holocaust?

But that generation of people is almost all gone. Soon, all we will have are the written and recorded accounts of the people interviewed before they die. Even today people try to say the holocaust never really happened. The best way to confront that sort of claim is to refer to the living survivors.

In the 1^st century if anyone claimed the resurrection was a hoax one could refer back to the living survivors [in addition to the 11 disciples there were over 500 eye witnesses who saw the resurrected Jesus at the same time].

Would you want to go on the basis of only one witness? Or, would you want multiple? If all the witnesses you went to parroted the same exact phrases verbatim you’d probably be suspicious… you’d wonder if they had been coached to get the story straight.

What if each eyewitness remembered different details but kept the major facts the same. Wouldn’t that make the testimony more realistic and believable? Isn’t that what the four Gospel accounts do. Different details… same basic facts, consistent story. The witness of the bible has all the hallmarks of authenticity!

The Empty Tomb

Luke 24:1-8 when the women went to the tomb they were surprised to find the body of Jesus gone. In spite of all Jesus had said to them the followers  weren't really expecting Him to rise to life again.

Luke 24:9-11when the 11 remaining disciples first heard the body was gone they didn't believe it. Peter is recording as simply wondering to himself "what's going on"?  Then he went to see for himself.

John 20:2-8 Joseph and Nicodemus had wound Jesus corpse up in linen strips. The Greek word translated folded up means it was still all wound up. What he is saying is it was like it had been when the body was in it. As if the body had just risen up through the linen and left it lying there like a deflated balloon.  Clearly this made quite an impression on John.

Note: our first indication the resurrection body of Jesus was different from mere flesh and blood.

John 20:9-10 John’s report also tells us they still didn’t know what was going on… even though they had heard Jesus talk about rising from death they didn’t really consider that as the answer.  They wandered off alone to think about what they had seen.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

John 20:11-16 Mary Magdalene saw Jesus first. After she spoke briefly to Jesus she ran off to tell the others. Jesus then appeared to the other women, He appeared to the two men travelling down the road to Emmaus… He also appeared to Peter.

Luke 24:34-49 the report of a single person doesn’t mean much [they’re just hallucinating etc]… multiple people reporting the same phenomenon leave you slightly more inclined to listen [but that’s easy to brush of as more hallucination based on the power of suggestion]. But if something miraculous happens to a group of  a dozen or more people… who see then look at each other and ask, did you just see what I saw?… that’s different.

Note: our second indication the resurrection body of Jesus was different from mere flesh and blood.

I Want You to Spread the Word

John 20:1-3 they figured the whole grand adventure was over… it was time to get back to the fishing boat back in Galilee. While they are out in the boat they saw Jesus on the shore.

Jesus: how’s the catch boys?

Disciples: terrible!

Jesus: throw the net on the other side of the boat and try again.

They do just that… and then haul in a huge catch. They bring the catch to the shore…  grill some up and eat it with the resurrected Jesus. At the beginning of their 3.5 year adventure with Jesus he had said: “follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”. Now that was going to come to pass.

Jesus goes on to tell Peter that he was going to be responsible to feed the sheep… meaning teach and instruct those who would become believers in the future. He also tells him this:

John 21:18-19Jesus told Peter he would have to give up his life and be executed later in life as part of his witness and testimony to the truth and reality of the resurrection.

Peter became the representative of the group but they all testified together that it was true. They had the mutual support   of one another “did you see what I saw”… “yup”… “OK, good. Just checking”. None of them is ever recorded as having contradicted the testimony of the others.

The Church Begins Telling Everyone About The Resurrection

After that last Passover with Jesus… they all ran away and hid. When Jesus first appeared to them as a group they were locked in a room out of fear. Yet, 7 weeks later these same people were prepared to be beaten, lashed, and even executed for their testimony. What changed them was what they had witnessed… the greatest event in human history. Proof of life beyond the grave!

They had seen Him with their eyes, they had touched Him with their hands, they had talked to Him.

Acts 2:32 - We are telling you about things we have seen. The core of message the Church of God is to proclaim is the truth of the resurrection… AND the resurrection of Jesus is just the beginning… because His death and resurrection is only a demonstration of what God has in store… for everyone willing to repent!

Acts 3:14-15 Second recorded sermon of Peter

Acts 4:1-5 arrested and hauled before the supreme court of Jerusalem… verse 10… testified to the truth of the resurrection… verse 18-20 we have to tell people about what we saw! …  verse 33.

Acts 5:18-21 they were imprisoned again, then they were miraculously freed by an angel…. and they rushed right back to give further witness.

Acts 5:26-33 the religious authorities were getting mad enough… Gamaliel says”look, if this is not of God it’ll die out… if it is of God we don’t want to act against God… so they let them go… Verse 40 but before they let them go they had them lashed with whips and let them go.  Verse 41 the disciples understood that their suffering was serving God’s purpose… it validated their testimony in that they were willing to suffer horribly rather than pretend they had not seen what they had seen.

Many people in Jerusalem were convinced… perhaps in part because of what the disciple were willing to endure for their proclamations.

The Fate of the Witnesses

We don’t have a good record of what happened to all the 11 disciples. The scriptural record only really follows Peter, John, and James [James was not an apostle but rather Jesus’ brother by Mary]. There are traditions about all of them meeting a violent death but many of those traditions are rather sketchy. However what we do know is sufficient to make the point:

Acts 12:1-2 after a few years have passed the first of the original witnesses is executed… James Zebedee [one of the 11] has his head cut off. Peter is saved from execution and lives on to continue witnessing.

2 Peter 2 1:12-15 in verse 14 Peter tells us he is soon to be executed as Jesus had foretold. At that time He was working on the project to compile all the written works of testimony and instruction we now call the new testament… so that future generations could reference it.

2 Timothy 4:6 Paul was not one of the original 11 but was also considered an apostle. Paul had also seen the resurrected Christ. Paul did not personally know Jesus before His crucifixion like the others had… but he was willing to give his life testifying to what he had seen and knew to be true. He wrote this letter while he was in prison awaiting his own execution.

Paul could be thought of as a hostile witness who changed his mind. Before that He was on record as having organized the beating, imprisonment and execution of believers.

James, the Brother of Jesus: The first evidence for the death of James comes from Jewish historian Josephus in his Antiquities - It places the date of James’s execution to AD 62, since Josephus places his death between two Roman procurators, Festus and Albinus. According to this account, the high priest Ananus had James stoned to death. The death of James is also reported by Hegesippus (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 2.23.8–18).

How did the Apostles finally provide compelling proof that they were not lying? By their willingness to be beaten, imprisoned, humiliated and in some cases even executed. Does a man go through all that for a hoax... for something he knows is not true?

Belief Based On Testimony

John 20:24-29 the disciples were allowed to personally see and experience the resurrections of Jesus. They had solid confirmation of the future God has in store for human beings… not just raised from the dead like Lazarus… but raised to a new spirit life… eternal and indestructible.

Notice that Jesus says there is a blessing upon those who would come after them and believe based solely on the testimony of the actual witnesses. That my friends is you!

You are here because someone before you accepted the truth and took up the task of proclaiming it to you. That task is now ours.

We teach reconciliation through Christ… we teach obedience to Christ… but neither of those mean anything without the truth and the expectation of the resurrection.

That is what we do. That is the work you are a part of. That is nature of the work you support. Let’s not get weary. Lets not give up. Persevere!