Examining the Evidence
The central plank of the Christian faith is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Which makes it all the more surprising that the actual written evidence in the New Testament, unlike that for the crucifixion, is quite meagre. Here I want to do is take a hard look at what is the evidence of the New Testament.
THE EARLIEST WITNESSES
Mark 16.1-8. This is the earliest gospel account. I think written about 50-55, because it was used by Luke and I think Luke was written about 60. The problem for Christians however is that the earliest documents break off at verse 8. The women come to the tomb, find that the stone has been rolled away, and encounter a young man in white who tells them that Jesus has been raised. They run away because they were afraid.
However, the actual last words of the gospel are “ephobontou gar” – “they were afraid for”. Now no one writing in Greek would have ended a paragraph let alone a book with the small word “gar”. It is the nearest to a line of dots …., saying “to be continued”. Its an invitation to look for further evidence.
1 Corinthians 15.3-8 Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth in 55-6, and lays out the evidence: “I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day, and that he appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me.”
A few things are worth noting. Paul does not mention any of the experiences of the women, which are central to the gospel accounts. Perhaps because under Jewish law they were not competent legal witnesses. Luke also mentions the appearance to Peter in passing. The gospels report Jesus appearing to the Twelve, but not to James (Jesus’ brother), nor to over 500 at one time.
Angels and women
In assessing the reliability of the evidence of the other gospels, it is helpful to look at how they report on the angels and the women. (Angel is simple the Greek word for messenger, but in the right context it implied a messenger from God).
Mark 16.5: They saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side…
John 20.12 Mary Magdalene saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and the other at the feet.. (Note this was after her first visit to the tomb, after which she had brought Peter and John to look).
Luke 24.4 Suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood before them (before Peter’s visit to the tomb).
Matthew 28.2-3 Suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning , and his clothing white as snow.
You can see how the story got elaborated over time. I do not believe the earthquake. Nor by the same token the Jewish guards.
And what about the women. Who exactly was there?
Mark Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome
John Mary Magdalene
Luke Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna and the other women
Matthew Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
I presume that the James referred to (actually Jacob) was James son of Alphaeus, one of the Twelve. John is writing a biography not a chronicle so he only mentions the key person in the story, Mary Magdalene. Whether either or both Joanna and Salome were there, we can be sure that three or four women went to the tomb at dawn, including the two Marys.
OTHER EVENTS
Peter (with John) run to the tomb: Luke 24.12, John 20.3-10
and go away puzzled
Mary Magdalene meets Jesus: 
John 20.11-18, (+ Matthew 28.9-10)
Peter meets Jesus: Luke 24.34, 1 Corinthians 15.5
Jesus meets Cleopas and companion: Luke 24.13-35
Jesus meets the 11 disciples: Luke 24.24-36-48, John 20.19-23, 1 Corinthians 15.5
Jesus meets Thomas with the 11 John 20.26-29
Jesus meets 7 disciples in Galilee John 21.1-14
Jesus meets disciples in Galilee Matthew 28.16-20; 1 Corinthians 15.6?
Jesus appeared alive over 40 days Acts 1.
Summary
The best authenticated appearance of Jesus risen from the grave are:
Appearance to Mary Magdalene – assuming John’s trustworthiness. In that culture they were not likely to invent a story with a women in a central role. Indeed, Luke says that when the apostles heard of the women’s experiences, “these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” (Luke 24.11)
Appearance to Peter – mentioned in passing by Luke and Paul.
Appearance to the Eleven – story in John and Luke + 1 Corinthians 15. Not in Matthew
There are other one-off accounts which nevertheless have the ring of truth: the meeting with Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus; the appearance to Thomas with the other disciples a week after Easter; the meeting by the Sea of Galilee, on the only beach there is there; the ascension. We are told there were many other appearances but nothing is said about them.
WHAT CHANGED PETER, AND THE REST?
Before Jesus’ resurrection, when Jesus was being tried before the sanhedrin, Peter was so frightened he said three times that he did not know Jesus. (Mark 14.66-71) Just a few months later he stood in front of the same Sanhedrin, ignored all their threats of prison and worse and said he would continue to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.
(Acts 5.29-32)
Something pretty amazing must have happened between these two confrontations.
What do you think it could have been?
SOME PUZZLES
But there are some puzzles remaining.
1 Mark, Luke and Matthew all say that Jesus would meet his disciples in Galilee. Yet almost all the appearance take place around Jerusalem. One possible explanation is given by the Jewish rabbi Pinchas Lapide in his book “The Resurrection of Jesus”. “Galil” means “district”. So Galilee was originally “g’lil hagoyim” – “district of the Gentiles”, (Isaiah 9.1) because after the annexation by Assyria in the 8th century BCE it was populated by Gentile people. So “g’lil Yerushalyim” could mean the district around Jerusalem. I am not entirely persuaded by this. The mysterious young man at Mark 16.7 seems clear: “Go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” But Luke places all Jesus’ appearances in Jerusalem. Did the Twelve go back to Galilee as in John 21and return six weeks later before the feast of Pentecost?
2 Why don’t we hear more about the meeting with over 500 disciples in one go? It must have ben a big meeting, on a hilltop somewhere. Galilee? Mount of Olives?
3 How physical was Jesus ‘ body? Did it change over time? “Don’t hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.” Jesus could walk through doors and eat fish. What might a “spiritual body” be like? (1 Corinthians 15.44) And where does the Ascension fit in? (Acts 1.9-11) And the appearance to Saul of Tarsus? (Acts 9.3, 22.6-11)
4 Why did his friends find it hard to recognise him? Mary Magdalen, Cleopas and his companion, the disciples who went fishing? Does intense spiritual experience make even us look different?
A FINAL QUOTE
In his book “Jesus the Jew” (1973), the distinguished Jewish scholar Geza Vermes ends his first chapter as follows:
“In the end, when every argument has been considered and weighed, the only conclusion acceptable to the historian must be that the opinions of the orthodox, the liberal sympathiser and the critical agnostic alike – and even perhaps of the disciples themselves – are simply interpretations of the one disconcerting fact: namely that the women who set out to pay their last respects to Jesus found, to their consternation, not a body, but an empty tomb.” (p.41)
NEXT MONTH
At 7pm Monday 10th June there will be a St Cuthbert’s Talk on what is perhaps the missing piece of the jigsaw:
HOLY SPIRIT
Who, What, Why and When?