The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 

 

In this article on “The Resurrection of Jesus Christ”, A Personal Revelation author Eric Fugett, examines the events surrounding the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

If you have read my article on “The Crucifixion of Jesus” then you know that Jesus died on a Wednesday afternoon around 3:00 p.m. on April 5 (Julian date) in 30 AD.  That date corresponds to Nissan 14 on the Jewish calendar, which is the annual date for The Passover.  In case you are not aware, Jewish days begin in the evening and end on the following evening.  So the Passover meal was to be eaten at twilight or at the close of the day on the 14th.  Nissan 15 is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  It is a day on which no work is to be done and is thus considered a special Sabbath (Leviticus 23:6-7, Numbers 28:17-18, and John 19:31). 

 

According to Matthew 27:62, in the Aramaic Peshitta, the Pharisees went to Pilate on the next day after sunset.  This means they went to see Pilate to ask him to place a guard at the tomb on Thursday night or during the day Friday before the weekly Sabbath began Friday evening.  Those who believe that the Pharisees actually went to see Pilate during the Sabbath need to keep in mind that these are the same guys who would not enter Pilate’s palace and who wanted the bodies off the crosses before Passover and the first day of The Feast of Unleavened Bread began (John 18:28-29; 19:31). 

 

It was definitely on Friday, after the special Sabbath had ended, that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome purchased spices at the marketplace, so that they might go and anoint Jesus’ body (Mark 16:1).  If the women did not purchase the spices on Friday, then the question remains as to when they could have purchased them.  After purchasing the spices, the women went home and prepared the spices and perfumes, but they rested on the weekly Sabbath in obedience to the commandment (Luke 23:56).

 

Early on Sunday morning, there was a violent earthquake, which was an angel of the Lord moving away the stone from in front of the tomb (Matthew 28:2).  The angel’s appearance was so bright and blinding that the guards were nearly frightened to death (Matthew 28:3-4).  At some point after this encounter the guards leave, because when the women get to the tomb they are nowhere to be found.  This is evident by the facts that the women do not ask the guards what they have done with the body, and because the guards are not recorded as being present in any of the other gospels (Matthew 28:1-15, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-18).  The guards eventually tell the Pharisees what happened and they create the lie that has been circulated about the disciples stealing his body (Matthew 28:11-15).

 

So, after the weekly Sabbath (on Sunday), while it was still dark (John 20:1), the women mentioned above started out for the tomb, with the spices that they had purchased and prepared on Friday (Luke 24:1).  However, the idea of moving the stone didn’t occur to them until they were nearly at the tomb just after sunrise (Mark 16:3).  When they arrived, they were astonished to find that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance (Mark 16:4, Luke 24:2-3, John 20:1).  They went in and discovered that the tomb was empty (Luke 24:2-3).

 

At this point, I can only surmise that the women split up.  Perhaps each took three to four Apostles to go and find.  Mary Magdalene went to tell Peter, Andrew, James and John (John 20:2) and the other women went to tell the rest of the apostles.  Apparently, she only found Peter and John.  This is perhaps why John tells the entire account from Mary Magdalene’s perspective, and the other gospel writers record that other women were present.  Mary Magdalene never went to the tomb alone, because she tells Peter and John that “we” do not know where they have put him. 

 

Immediately, Peter and John head to the tomb with John outrunning Peter to arrive there first (John 20:3-4). However, John just stands there and Peter, upon arrival, goes right in.  Both see the empty tomb and placement of the cloths, but don’t know what to make of it (John 20:6-9).  Then they leave, but Mary Magdalene and the women, who have also returned to the tomb, stay (Luke 24:4, John 20:11). 

 

Now the women begin to ponder all of the events that have taken place (Luke 24:4).  Mary Magdalene is so distraught that she breaks down and begins crying (John 20:11).  It is then that they see the angels inside the tomb and fall face down before them (Matthew 28:5-6, Mark 16:5, John 20:11-12, Luke 24:4-5).  The angels ask Mary Magdalene why she is crying and she tells them (John 20:13).  The angels invite the women to come and see the place where lay (Matthew 28:5-6, Mark 16:5-6, Luke 24:4-7).  However, only Mary Magdalene originally saw both angels (John 20:12), for when the women went inside the tomb, they were alarmed to see that there was another angel on the right side (Mark 16:5).  While the angels are telling the women about Jesus’ resurrection, Mary Magdalene, still distraught, remained outside.  She turns and sees who she believes to be the gardener and begins a conversation with him (John 20:14-15).  Mary Magdalene finally has someone whom she can ask where they have taken Jesus’ body and does so (John 20:15).  When she realizes that it is Jesus, she cries out, “Rabboni!” which brings the other women running.  They all grab hold of him & he explains everything to them (John 20:16-17, Matthew 28:8-10). 

 

The women, now overcome with joy, race back to tell the apostles that Jesus is alive and wants to meet with them in Galilee (Luke 24:9-11, John 20:18).  If Luke is not recording the same event as John, then Peter went back to the tomb again & it was probably on his way back from there that he saw Jesus (Luke 24:34).  On that same day, we know that Jesus appeared to Cleopas and another disciple while they were on there way to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem.  He also appeared to ten of the apostles later that day, Thomas being the one apostle who was not present (Luke 24:13-49, John 20:19-25).  A week later he appeared to all eleven apostles and removed all doubts from Thomas (John 20:26-29).

 

Jesus apparently made several appearances to over 500 people (John 21:1-24, Acts 1:1-9, 1 Corinthians 15:3-7), especially over the 40 days that began with his resurrection. 

 

Information about The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is just one of the many topics you can read about when you buy my book, "A Personal Revelation."

 

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