Witnesses of the Resurrection

.... After Jesus rose from the dead, He showed Himself alive to many persons by many infallible proofs (Acts 1:3). He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, then to the women who were with her, on the same morning that He arose (Mark 16:9; Matthew 28:9). After this He appeared to two of His disciples on their way to Emmaus, a city near Jerusalem, as they talked of His death three days earlier. And as they spoke He opened their eyes, to show them how the Messianic Prophecy foretold these things (Luke 24:13-32).

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.... On the same day He appeared to the apostles, showing Himself first to Simon Peter, and then to the others later on the same evening. Once again, He traught them and opening their understanding of the ancient prophecies, to show how He'd fulfilled them (Luke 24:33-45). With this information in place, and matched to their own experience in the life they shared with Him, the testimony of the prophets and the witness of the apostles could be fully compared:

.... "Search from the book of the LORD, and read: not one of these shall fail; not one shall lack her mate. For My mouth has commanded it, and His Spirit has gathered them."

(Isaiah 34:16)

.... After this, Jesus appeared to over 500 people at once; then to James, again to the apostles a number of times, and finally to Saul of Tarsus, who would later be known as the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). Thus He appeared, not to all the people, but to special witnesses chosen beforehand by God, who ate and drank in His presence and handled Him with their hands after He had risen from the dead (Acts 10:41).

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.... The fact that Jesus was seen after His resurrection by many witnesses is staggering in its scope. But it sometimes seems that we do not appreciate this element of the gospel as fully as we should, so please try putting yourself in the place of those witnesses in those days:

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.... They had known Jesus in His lifetime and had actually seen Him die on the cross. They saw His broken body taken down and laid in the tomb, and watched as the stone was rolled in place. They knew for certain that He was dead – beyond any doubt dead, as dead as a man could possibly be, having suffered such a horrific death before their very eyes. Yet three days later, this very Person whom they had seen killed, whom they knew to be dead because they had seen the burial of His corpse, stood before them alive again – and He offered them perfect peace (Romans 1:4; Psalm 16:9-11).

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.... Picture yourself among them, trembling and greatly amazed, as this man whom you knew to be dead showed you the nail prints in His hand and feet, and the place where they had pierced His side. As their fingers explored those nail prints, they touched the solid evidence that our sins were forgiven forever; and as they embraced Him and handled Him with their hands, they touched a tangible, living promise that we, too, would be raised again from the dead one day, to enjoy eternal fellowship with God through Him:

.... "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life– the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us – that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."

(I John 1:1-3)

.... When we share the gospel with others, we may not be able to say that Jesus appeared to us personally. We cannot say that we saw Him die, describe how He was laid in the tomb, or recount His ascension into heaven. But here is one thing we can say. That there were people alive at the time who actually saw these things, who left us a record that we might believe in Him. And their writings have been gathered together today in a book called The New Testament.

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.... So if they want to see the testimony of those who actually knew Jesus and were witnesses to His resurrection, they may find it there. Because every writer in this book, except Luke, actually knew Jesus after He was raised from the dead, and saw Him in His glory. And Luke, the only exception, was like a reporter who gathered the eyewitness accounts of the others (Luke 1:1-4):

.... "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."

(John 20:31)

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Daily Bible Reading: Mark 14