U. You have opened my eyes to the Bible and the prophecies that were made and came true. But, I just can’t conceive of Jesus being raised from the dead. No one was ever raised from the dead. All the doctors will tell you that. His disciples must have stolen his body so it would look like he was resurrected. (To the Audience) Does it make any difference anyway?
B. Actually, Jesus was not the first person raised from the dead. There were at least two in the Old Testament. Elijah and Elisha both raised one each. Jesus himself raised three, then later Peter raised one and so did Paul. What distinguishes Jesus’ resurrection is that he said he would be raised on the third day and he never died again. Everyone else, as far as we know, died again
U. You just named seven. I didn’t realize the Bible told of them. But do I really have to believe that these people and Jesus were raised from the dead?
B. It makes a terrific difference whether Jesus was raised from the dead. But your question is not original as some in Corinth asked the same question in the first century. They evidently had trouble believing in resurrection after death. Paul answered them in 1st Corinthians 15:12-19
U. But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
Guess this answers my question. If Christ has not been raised, then Christianity is useless.
B. That’s right. That’s why the Bible is so careful in presenting the data for us to evaluate. God didn’t expect us to believe such a difficult concept without providing solid proof.
U. So, what is the proof?
B. Is there any question that Jesus was alive when he was nailed to the cross?
U. No, I’ll concede that. But did he really die or did the ignorant people just think he did. Perhaps Peter or some of the others gave him some drug that just made him look dead.
B. If they did, then they must have been the greatest pharmacists ever because no one has ever been able to duplicate such a drug. If they had, it would be in great demand as a lot of people would love to be thought dead so they could escape the mess they made of their lives and start over again. But there is no such drug.
U. Maybe they just thought he was dead.
B. Let’s look at Jesus just before he died. Read from this version which weaves the four gospels together.
U.From about noon until three o’clock, darkness came over the land. At about three, Jesus cried in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Later, Jesus knew that everything had been accomplished, so to fulfill scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” Someone filled a sponge with vinegar and placed it on a hyssop stem and put it to his mouth. Jesus drank the vinegar and said, “It is finished.”
After again calling in a loud voice, “Father, I commit my spirit into your hands,” Jesus bowed his head and yielded his spirit.
I guess giving up his spirit is the same as dying, but it doesn’t say anyone else knew it. Besides, he called out in a loud voice, don’t dying people’s voice weaken?
B. Usually, but remember what we said last week, Jesus gave up his life. Let’s see what happened right after he died.
U. When the centurion and his soldiers who were watching Jesus saw the earthquake and the other things that happened, they were very afraid and said, “Truly, this was the Son of God, a righteous man.”
Everyone who had come to that place, when they saw what happened, smote their breasts, and left.
There was an earthquake?
B. That’s what it says. What was the reaction of the people to these things?
U. The centurion thought he was the Son of God and everyone else seemed to be upset. Isn’t that what beating their breast signifies? But what they thought doesn’t prove he was dead. Where were his disciples?
B. His friends and disciples were watching all this take place, but they weren’t very close.
U. His friends and many of the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for him were there watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome.
Then they were so far away they couldn’t be sure he was dead. He just looked dead.
B. Let’s look at another witness.
U. Because this was done on the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the crosses on the Sabbath, (for that was a high Sabbath) They therefore requested Pilate to break the victims’ legs so they would die more quickly. The soldiers went and broke the legs of the first thief and then the other who was crucified with him. When they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead so they didn’t break his legs. One of the soldiers had a spear so he pierced his side which made blood and water come out. The one who saw this bears testimony and his testimony is true. He knows what he saw was true and says this so you might believe. These things happened so that the scripture should be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken and another scripture that said, “They shall look on him whom they pierced.”
So the soldiers thought he was dead, were they trained physicians?
B. Probably not, but they were trained soldiers on the burial detail, so they had probably seen many die on the cross. So, he stuck Jesus with the spear to make sure and afterwards he was sure.
U. Possibly.
B. Also, they had their orders, “break the legs of the men so they would die sooner.” If they had any doubts about Jesus being dead, do you think they wouldn’t have broken his legs?
U. That’s a good point. They certainly thought he was dead, but maybe Jesus was just so exhausted he had passed out and couldn’t feel the spear.
B. So let’s look at what happened next. Two men asked for body to bury it. Look at Pilate’s reaction to his being dead so soon.
U. It was evening when Joseph of Arimathaea boldly requested Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. He was a member of the Sanhedrin who waited for the kingdom of God, but, because of his fear of the Jews, he was a secret disciple of Jesus and had not consented to his death. Pilate was surprised that he was already dead, so he summoned the centurion to ask him if Jesus had died. When the centurion assured him that he was dead, Pilate agreed for him to take the body.
We find another who thought he was dead.
B. Another trained soldier who probably had seen several dead men and several severely wounded men. Here are two more people who thought him dead along with their servants who probably carried the body.
U. He went and took down the body of Jesus. Also with him was Nicodemus, who had first come to Jesus at night. They brought about seventy five pounds of a mixture of myrrh and aloes, and taking the body of Jesus, they wound linen cloths along with the spices around him as that was the Jewish custom for burial. Near where he was crucified was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb carved out of the rock where no one had been buried. They laid Jesus in the tomb as it was nearly the end of the Jews’ preparation day, and the tomb was near. They rolled a stone over the tomb’s door.
B. How could they carry the dead body that far, wrap it in cloths, and lay him on a rock surface, and still not think he was dead?
U. Unless they were in on the conspiracy.
B. Here’s another group that certainly weren’t his disciples. They were the group who wanted him killed in the first place.
U. On the morning after the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that that deceiver, while he was still alive, said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Give the command therefore to make the tomb secure until the third day so his disciples cannot come at night, steal his body and tell the people, ‘He is raised from the dead.’ That deception would be worse than the first.”
Pilate told them, “Take these guards, go and make it as secure as you can.”
So they went, and secured the tomb by putting a seal on the stone and posting a guard detail.
They secured the tomb but it doesn’t say they saw Jesus’ body.
B. If you sealed a document in an envelope, why would you do it?
U. To make sure that no one opened the envelope to read the document without my knowing about it.
B. Would you check to make sure the document was in the envelope before you sealed it?
U. Of course, it would be foolish not to.
B. Do you think the Jews and the guards checked to make sure the body was in the tomb before they sealed it?
U. It doesn’t say they did.
B. You don’t think they were foolish people do you?
U. No, they must have checked it.
B. So on the day after he died, they found his body in the tomb and it appeared dead. They probably looked and maybe even poked it a little.
U. Probably. Ok, I concede, there were a lot of people who thought he was dead.
B. Enough to establish it beyond reasonable doubt?
U. Yeah.
B. The Jews thought so too, because they never claimed he wasn’t dead. They knew that everyone would have laughed at such a claim. They all knew crucified men didn’t escape the cross alive.
U. Are you laughing at me?
B. No, you weren’t there. Actually, I think your questions and doubts are good.
U. OK, I’ve conceded that Jesus was actually dead, but that doesn’t prove his disciples didn’t steal his body. Is there any evidence other than the Bible for his being crucified.
B. Again, yes. Here are what four non-believers who lived after Jesus wrote:
· Josephus, a Romano - Jewish historian who lived from 37 to 100 AD, called Jesus a wise teacher who was crucified by Pilate.
· Tacitus, a senator and historian of Rome and lived in 56 to 117 AD, wrote that Christ “suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus.”
· Lucian of Samosata, a satirist who lived 120 -180AD, said the Christians worship a man to this day who was crucified.
· Mara bar Sarapion, a Stoic philosopher from Syria, wrote sometime after 73 AD but during the first century about the execution of "the wise king" of the Jews.
U. All of them said he was crucified, so let’s put that to rest. Jesus died on the cross. But that still doesn’t say he was resurrected and lives now.
B. Exactly. So let’s look at the evidence for that. I have divided the evidence into 5 areas.
1. The tomb is empty
2. The disciples believed it
3. The primary persecutor of Christians changed to be one of the primary teachers of Christianity
4. Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe he was the Christ before he died, but did afterwards.
5. Women were the first to find the tomb empty.
U. You’re the one saying the tomb was empty.
B. The account of the first people to find the empty tomb is this:
U. Very early in the morning of the first day of the week, the women came to the tomb as the day dawned. They discussed among themselves, “Who will roll the stone away from the door of the tomb? It is very large.” When they arrived, they saw that the stone was rolled away. Looking into the tomb, they did not see his body. They were very confused. Then they saw a young man sitting on the right side wearing a long white garment and another whose clothing shined. The women were afraid and bowed their faces toward the ground. The man said, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is raised. Remember what he said to you when he was still in Galilee? ‘The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”
They found the tomb empty, but who rolled the stone away?
B. Read this.
U. When the Sabbath had ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, Salome, and other women bought sweet spices to anoint his body. Before they arrived at the tomb, there was a great earthquake, and the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled back the stone from the tomb’s door, and sat on it. His face was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow; the guards shook in fear of him and became like dead men.
So you’re telling me an angel rolled away the stone?
B. Yes, and the guards saw him do it. It scared them so bad they couldn’t move. Finally, they told the Jewish leaders. Read this.
U. While the women were on their way, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. After they had assembled with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large amount of money with these instructions, “You will say that his disciples came at night and stole the body while you slept. If this comes to the governor’s attention, we will convince him, and make you safe.” So they took the money, and did as they were told, and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
So the Jewish leaders knew what had happened and they came up with a story to explain it away. This does confirm the tomb was empty. Did they accuse the disciples publically of stealing the body?
B. There’s no record of that. Seems they resorted to circulating the rumor. Perhaps they knew they couldn’t sustain such an accusation.
U. Where were the disciples while this was taking place?
B. It appears they were all gathered together, confused about Jesus’ death and probably wondering what they were going to do now. It’s evident they didn’t expect him to rise. When the women returned from the tomb, they didn’t believe them. Peter and John went to the tomb to check out their story. Read this.
U. The women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, told the eleven and the others with them what they had seen. But to the men, their words seemed like nonsense and they didn’t believe them.
Peter and the other disciple ran together to the tomb and the other disciple outran Peter. He bent down, looked in and saw the linen clothes lying there. He didn’t go in, but Peter, when he arrived went into the tomb and also saw the linen clothes and the napkin which had been around Jesus’ head. The napkin was not lying with the linen clothes but was folded and lying by itself. The other disciple then went into the tomb and he saw and believed. As yet, they didn’t understand that scripture had said that he must rise from the dead. The disciples then went to their own home.
They didn’t expect him to rise from the dead? When did they start believing he was resurrected?
B. After Jesus appeared to some men. He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, then to two men walking away from Jerusalem who had heard everything, and then to Peter. Later that night, he appeared to ten of the eleven apostles and the others who were gathered in a room. Then the next Sunday, he appeared to the apostle who had not been there the first time, along with the others.
U. That was doubting Thomas. Was that all who saw him?
B. Paul wrote about that question in 1 Corinthians 5:3 through 8.
U. I first delivered to you everything I had received. How Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures. After that, he was seen by Peter, then by the twelve. Later, he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at one time, of whom the greater part remain unto this day, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James and then by all the apostles. Last of all, I also saw him as one born out of due time.
He appeared to a lot of people. Why didn’t he appear to the Jewish leaders so they could see him and believe.
B. I don’t know if they would have believed even then. They had seen Lazarus resurrected from the dead and didn’t believe. They had witnessed either first or second hand many miracles that he did and they didn’t believe.
U. If they saw those things why didn’t they believe?
B. I can’t be for certain why, but this is what they said.
U. The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Sanhedrin and said, “What shall we do? This man does many miracles. If we let him alone, everyone will believe on him, and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.” …From that day forward, they worked together to find a way to put him to death.
They didn’t believe because they would lose their place? They were more concerned about that than the truth?
B. As the old saying goes, “power corrupts.”
To be continued.
All of these blogs are on http://thinkersdiscuss.weebly.com/blog
B. Actually, Jesus was not the first person raised from the dead. There were at least two in the Old Testament. Elijah and Elisha both raised one each. Jesus himself raised three, then later Peter raised one and so did Paul. What distinguishes Jesus’ resurrection is that he said he would be raised on the third day and he never died again. Everyone else, as far as we know, died again
U. You just named seven. I didn’t realize the Bible told of them. But do I really have to believe that these people and Jesus were raised from the dead?
B. It makes a terrific difference whether Jesus was raised from the dead. But your question is not original as some in Corinth asked the same question in the first century. They evidently had trouble believing in resurrection after death. Paul answered them in 1st Corinthians 15:12-19
U. But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
Guess this answers my question. If Christ has not been raised, then Christianity is useless.
B. That’s right. That’s why the Bible is so careful in presenting the data for us to evaluate. God didn’t expect us to believe such a difficult concept without providing solid proof.
U. So, what is the proof?
B. Is there any question that Jesus was alive when he was nailed to the cross?
U. No, I’ll concede that. But did he really die or did the ignorant people just think he did. Perhaps Peter or some of the others gave him some drug that just made him look dead.
B. If they did, then they must have been the greatest pharmacists ever because no one has ever been able to duplicate such a drug. If they had, it would be in great demand as a lot of people would love to be thought dead so they could escape the mess they made of their lives and start over again. But there is no such drug.
U. Maybe they just thought he was dead.
B. Let’s look at Jesus just before he died. Read from this version which weaves the four gospels together.
U.From about noon until three o’clock, darkness came over the land. At about three, Jesus cried in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Later, Jesus knew that everything had been accomplished, so to fulfill scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” Someone filled a sponge with vinegar and placed it on a hyssop stem and put it to his mouth. Jesus drank the vinegar and said, “It is finished.”
After again calling in a loud voice, “Father, I commit my spirit into your hands,” Jesus bowed his head and yielded his spirit.
I guess giving up his spirit is the same as dying, but it doesn’t say anyone else knew it. Besides, he called out in a loud voice, don’t dying people’s voice weaken?
B. Usually, but remember what we said last week, Jesus gave up his life. Let’s see what happened right after he died.
U. When the centurion and his soldiers who were watching Jesus saw the earthquake and the other things that happened, they were very afraid and said, “Truly, this was the Son of God, a righteous man.”
Everyone who had come to that place, when they saw what happened, smote their breasts, and left.
There was an earthquake?
B. That’s what it says. What was the reaction of the people to these things?
U. The centurion thought he was the Son of God and everyone else seemed to be upset. Isn’t that what beating their breast signifies? But what they thought doesn’t prove he was dead. Where were his disciples?
B. His friends and disciples were watching all this take place, but they weren’t very close.
U. His friends and many of the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for him were there watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome.
Then they were so far away they couldn’t be sure he was dead. He just looked dead.
B. Let’s look at another witness.
U. Because this was done on the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the crosses on the Sabbath, (for that was a high Sabbath) They therefore requested Pilate to break the victims’ legs so they would die more quickly. The soldiers went and broke the legs of the first thief and then the other who was crucified with him. When they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead so they didn’t break his legs. One of the soldiers had a spear so he pierced his side which made blood and water come out. The one who saw this bears testimony and his testimony is true. He knows what he saw was true and says this so you might believe. These things happened so that the scripture should be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken and another scripture that said, “They shall look on him whom they pierced.”
So the soldiers thought he was dead, were they trained physicians?
B. Probably not, but they were trained soldiers on the burial detail, so they had probably seen many die on the cross. So, he stuck Jesus with the spear to make sure and afterwards he was sure.
U. Possibly.
B. Also, they had their orders, “break the legs of the men so they would die sooner.” If they had any doubts about Jesus being dead, do you think they wouldn’t have broken his legs?
U. That’s a good point. They certainly thought he was dead, but maybe Jesus was just so exhausted he had passed out and couldn’t feel the spear.
B. So let’s look at what happened next. Two men asked for body to bury it. Look at Pilate’s reaction to his being dead so soon.
U. It was evening when Joseph of Arimathaea boldly requested Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. He was a member of the Sanhedrin who waited for the kingdom of God, but, because of his fear of the Jews, he was a secret disciple of Jesus and had not consented to his death. Pilate was surprised that he was already dead, so he summoned the centurion to ask him if Jesus had died. When the centurion assured him that he was dead, Pilate agreed for him to take the body.
We find another who thought he was dead.
B. Another trained soldier who probably had seen several dead men and several severely wounded men. Here are two more people who thought him dead along with their servants who probably carried the body.
U. He went and took down the body of Jesus. Also with him was Nicodemus, who had first come to Jesus at night. They brought about seventy five pounds of a mixture of myrrh and aloes, and taking the body of Jesus, they wound linen cloths along with the spices around him as that was the Jewish custom for burial. Near where he was crucified was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb carved out of the rock where no one had been buried. They laid Jesus in the tomb as it was nearly the end of the Jews’ preparation day, and the tomb was near. They rolled a stone over the tomb’s door.
B. How could they carry the dead body that far, wrap it in cloths, and lay him on a rock surface, and still not think he was dead?
U. Unless they were in on the conspiracy.
B. Here’s another group that certainly weren’t his disciples. They were the group who wanted him killed in the first place.
U. On the morning after the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that that deceiver, while he was still alive, said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Give the command therefore to make the tomb secure until the third day so his disciples cannot come at night, steal his body and tell the people, ‘He is raised from the dead.’ That deception would be worse than the first.”
Pilate told them, “Take these guards, go and make it as secure as you can.”
So they went, and secured the tomb by putting a seal on the stone and posting a guard detail.
They secured the tomb but it doesn’t say they saw Jesus’ body.
B. If you sealed a document in an envelope, why would you do it?
U. To make sure that no one opened the envelope to read the document without my knowing about it.
B. Would you check to make sure the document was in the envelope before you sealed it?
U. Of course, it would be foolish not to.
B. Do you think the Jews and the guards checked to make sure the body was in the tomb before they sealed it?
U. It doesn’t say they did.
B. You don’t think they were foolish people do you?
U. No, they must have checked it.
B. So on the day after he died, they found his body in the tomb and it appeared dead. They probably looked and maybe even poked it a little.
U. Probably. Ok, I concede, there were a lot of people who thought he was dead.
B. Enough to establish it beyond reasonable doubt?
U. Yeah.
B. The Jews thought so too, because they never claimed he wasn’t dead. They knew that everyone would have laughed at such a claim. They all knew crucified men didn’t escape the cross alive.
U. Are you laughing at me?
B. No, you weren’t there. Actually, I think your questions and doubts are good.
U. OK, I’ve conceded that Jesus was actually dead, but that doesn’t prove his disciples didn’t steal his body. Is there any evidence other than the Bible for his being crucified.
B. Again, yes. Here are what four non-believers who lived after Jesus wrote:
· Josephus, a Romano - Jewish historian who lived from 37 to 100 AD, called Jesus a wise teacher who was crucified by Pilate.
· Tacitus, a senator and historian of Rome and lived in 56 to 117 AD, wrote that Christ “suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus.”
· Lucian of Samosata, a satirist who lived 120 -180AD, said the Christians worship a man to this day who was crucified.
· Mara bar Sarapion, a Stoic philosopher from Syria, wrote sometime after 73 AD but during the first century about the execution of "the wise king" of the Jews.
U. All of them said he was crucified, so let’s put that to rest. Jesus died on the cross. But that still doesn’t say he was resurrected and lives now.
B. Exactly. So let’s look at the evidence for that. I have divided the evidence into 5 areas.
1. The tomb is empty
2. The disciples believed it
3. The primary persecutor of Christians changed to be one of the primary teachers of Christianity
4. Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe he was the Christ before he died, but did afterwards.
5. Women were the first to find the tomb empty.
U. You’re the one saying the tomb was empty.
B. The account of the first people to find the empty tomb is this:
U. Very early in the morning of the first day of the week, the women came to the tomb as the day dawned. They discussed among themselves, “Who will roll the stone away from the door of the tomb? It is very large.” When they arrived, they saw that the stone was rolled away. Looking into the tomb, they did not see his body. They were very confused. Then they saw a young man sitting on the right side wearing a long white garment and another whose clothing shined. The women were afraid and bowed their faces toward the ground. The man said, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is raised. Remember what he said to you when he was still in Galilee? ‘The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”
They found the tomb empty, but who rolled the stone away?
B. Read this.
U. When the Sabbath had ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, Salome, and other women bought sweet spices to anoint his body. Before they arrived at the tomb, there was a great earthquake, and the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled back the stone from the tomb’s door, and sat on it. His face was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow; the guards shook in fear of him and became like dead men.
So you’re telling me an angel rolled away the stone?
B. Yes, and the guards saw him do it. It scared them so bad they couldn’t move. Finally, they told the Jewish leaders. Read this.
U. While the women were on their way, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. After they had assembled with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large amount of money with these instructions, “You will say that his disciples came at night and stole the body while you slept. If this comes to the governor’s attention, we will convince him, and make you safe.” So they took the money, and did as they were told, and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
So the Jewish leaders knew what had happened and they came up with a story to explain it away. This does confirm the tomb was empty. Did they accuse the disciples publically of stealing the body?
B. There’s no record of that. Seems they resorted to circulating the rumor. Perhaps they knew they couldn’t sustain such an accusation.
U. Where were the disciples while this was taking place?
B. It appears they were all gathered together, confused about Jesus’ death and probably wondering what they were going to do now. It’s evident they didn’t expect him to rise. When the women returned from the tomb, they didn’t believe them. Peter and John went to the tomb to check out their story. Read this.
U. The women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, told the eleven and the others with them what they had seen. But to the men, their words seemed like nonsense and they didn’t believe them.
Peter and the other disciple ran together to the tomb and the other disciple outran Peter. He bent down, looked in and saw the linen clothes lying there. He didn’t go in, but Peter, when he arrived went into the tomb and also saw the linen clothes and the napkin which had been around Jesus’ head. The napkin was not lying with the linen clothes but was folded and lying by itself. The other disciple then went into the tomb and he saw and believed. As yet, they didn’t understand that scripture had said that he must rise from the dead. The disciples then went to their own home.
They didn’t expect him to rise from the dead? When did they start believing he was resurrected?
B. After Jesus appeared to some men. He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, then to two men walking away from Jerusalem who had heard everything, and then to Peter. Later that night, he appeared to ten of the eleven apostles and the others who were gathered in a room. Then the next Sunday, he appeared to the apostle who had not been there the first time, along with the others.
U. That was doubting Thomas. Was that all who saw him?
B. Paul wrote about that question in 1 Corinthians 5:3 through 8.
U. I first delivered to you everything I had received. How Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures. After that, he was seen by Peter, then by the twelve. Later, he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at one time, of whom the greater part remain unto this day, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James and then by all the apostles. Last of all, I also saw him as one born out of due time.
He appeared to a lot of people. Why didn’t he appear to the Jewish leaders so they could see him and believe.
B. I don’t know if they would have believed even then. They had seen Lazarus resurrected from the dead and didn’t believe. They had witnessed either first or second hand many miracles that he did and they didn’t believe.
U. If they saw those things why didn’t they believe?
B. I can’t be for certain why, but this is what they said.
U. The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Sanhedrin and said, “What shall we do? This man does many miracles. If we let him alone, everyone will believe on him, and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.” …From that day forward, they worked together to find a way to put him to death.
They didn’t believe because they would lose their place? They were more concerned about that than the truth?
B. As the old saying goes, “power corrupts.”
To be continued.
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