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The Resurrection: (Ancient and Apostolic Witness)
By Roger Salter
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
April 10, 2015
For what I received I passed on to you as of the first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born(1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
The witnesses to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus are countless and convincing. They number not only apostles and close disciples but a host of nameless observers of Jesus' ministry, death, and resurrection appearances. The Bible is well stocked with predictions and reports of the risen Messiah and Redeemer. They abound as firm evidence of the crucified One's conquest of the grave. Any investigator persuaded as to the authority and historical accuracy of Holy Scripture will discern massive and multifarious testimony to the fact of the resurrection. It is undoubtedly an essential and major motif of the Old and New Testaments. The cumulative record of the Word of God is undeniably credible. There are so many sources of confirmation that need to be considered soberly. There are so many facts and features of past times that are fully believed on the basis of less information. It is not the veracity of the text that is problematic but the bias of the human mind that subjectively is constrained to counter the truth that is in Jesus.
The faith of the early church was founded upon the proclamation of righteous and reliable attestants. The quality of sincerity is soon sensed in the content of Scripture and the disposition and intent of its various authors. Where critics strive to undermine confidence in Scripture they collide with the temper of the documents before them that clearly manifest a mood of honest relating of reality (e.g. the apostolic authorship of 2nd Peter. Such a letter could never be composed by a spurious writer to any degree. This is where the wise comment of C.E. Graham Swift is highly relevant: "One is tempted to observe that the ultimate expert in these matters is not the theologian or scholar but the saint").
Among the major New Testament witnesses to the resurrection are: Mary, the mother of Jesus, from whom Luke derives colour and content for his gospel. Her profound pondering as a believer and parent supply reminiscences that are integral to our understanding and appreciation of the God-Man. Paul cites the occasion of his conversion (Acts 26:12-19) and his surpassingly great revelations (2 Corinthians 12:7 cf Acts 18 :9-10) as encounters with the glorified Jesus. James (whether son of Zebedee, or even James offspring of Alphaeus, or, most likely, James brother of Jesus - there is no certainty) is selected by Paul as one of the prime viewers of the risen Lord. "Zebedean" James and Joseph's James held equal entitlement to be considered the subject of Paul's identification.
Whomever it was, each had a glimpse of some duration of the Saviour's majesty that pointed to resurrection. The apostle James observed the transfiguration of the Lord with Peter and John (a foretaste of his incorruptible life - Mark 8:31-9:13) ) and then briefly survived to experience Messiah's resurrection presence. The conversion of the brother of the Lord had to be a post-resurrection occurrence, as along with his brothers he failed to believe in Jesus until the events of Easter. Both men would be qualified to witness to the One who arose from the dead and it is rather tempting to link Peter, James, and John as a threefold apostolic declaration of the death-defeating power of the Son of God. The two James's shared insight that would inform others of the joy and benefit of the "Third Day", a biblical term for new and important developments.
The witness of Peter and of John is vital. Combined together they are compelling. Each man was grounded for the expectation and authenticity of the resurrection in the transfiguration when the time came to ruminate upon its significance and reveal it in his ministry. Each man issued statements of verification of the principal act of God performed on earth. Each man, in his testimony, could draw from an apprehension of Jesus in his glorified state, his heavenly status. These man knew Jesus incarnate and ascended. Their spirits were touched by him. The Holy Spirit told of him. They acquired a full comprehension of the Christ, emanating from prophecy, a shared walk with Jesus, and contact with his celestial influences.
Peter conveyed detail concerning Jesus through his friend and colleague Mark. This tradition is unassailable from historical averment and internal evidence found within Mark's account of Jesus' ministry and person. Two cowards came to together in mutual empathy, common forgiveness through Christ, and closeness to the facts. Peter's first hand memoirs of Jesus, and indicators of Peter's own character and flawed behaviour, find inclusion within Mark's vivid writing. The passion and plausibility come from Peter. He humbles himself and elevates Jesus in clue after clue as to his personal contribution to the story of Jesus.
In the book Acts Peter preaches boldly about Jesus. "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold upon him"(Acts 2:22-24). In 1 Peter 1:3 Peter exults, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." In the same chapter Peter speaks of the Spirit of Christ pointing to the predicted sufferings of the Christ and the glories that would follow (v11). John, Peter's fellow worker in the cause of the kingdom, refers in his gospel to Peter's attempt to assuage his dejection by proposing a fishing expedition with the disciples on the Sea of Tiberias. After a whole night's searching the venture for a catch was not successful. Then, surprisingly, the risen Jesus summons his men to the shore and a breakfast he prepared for them (John 21:1-14). After early morning fare for his followers Jesus proceeds to reinstate Peter to his ministry (Peter comments on this interrogation and invitation to renewed service in 2 Peter 1: 14 cf John 21:18-19).
John himself makes it clear that the facts of Easter are true and reliable: "The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe" (John 19:35 cf John 21:24). John had a second intimation of the majesty of the glorified Jesus i.e. transfiguration and vision (Revelation 1:9-20). The certainty of the apostles is donated to us through the legacy of their message. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son. Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete" (1 John 1-4).
