THE HISTORICAL PLAUSIBILITY OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS

Jesus’s resurrection gives an assured hope to whoever believes in him. Before Jesus

raised Lazarus from the dead, he identified himself as the resurrection. Jesus said, “I am the

resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John

11:25 CSB).1 Jesus was never hesitant or uncertain regarding his resurrection or his believer’s

resurrection. Since death has always been humankind’s enemy, Jesus conquered that enemy by

his resurrection (1 Cor 15:26). Paul affirms, “Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has

brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim 1:10). Consequently, the

resurrected Jesus promised eternal life to whoever believed in him, and believing in Jesus means

believing in his power over death by resurrection. This sermon will discuss one of the most

important texts in the Bible about Jesus’s resurrection as well as his believers’ hope for his

resurrection: 1 Corinthians 15. Here, I will select some verses to show Paul’s perspective of the

resurrection of Jesus. Paul says:

For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: 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 Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he

appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive,

but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all,

as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me… Now if Christ is proclaimed as

raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “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, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. Moreover, we are

found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he

raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the

dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your

faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ

have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied

more than anyone… But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of

those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the

1 CSB translation used here in the entire paper unless another translation is mentioned.

1dead also comes through a man. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be

made alive… So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam

became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the

spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven, so are those

who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also

bear the image of the man of heaven … For this corruptible body must be clothed with

incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. When this

corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with

immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in

victory” (1Cor 3-8, 12-22, 45-49, 53-54).

In this sermon, I will explain the passage from two perspectives: a theological

perspective and an apologetic perspective.

First, the theological perspective of Jesus’s resurrection

in 1 Corinthians 15

I will highlight seven points in Paul’s argument on a textual and contextual level.

First, Paul describes the resurrection of Jesus as the most important of the doctrines he received.

It is obvious that he carefully received what he was about to discuss, and it is obvious that

receiving was an important procedure at that time. Receiving a text or teaching in the Jewish

tradition was an important, sensitive, and controlled procedure. Mark 7:4 says, “There are many

other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and dining

couches.” This text shows the reader that Jews kept what they received from their elders, and

they kept their teachings and applied them to their lifestyle. Also, Paul, as a Jew, commands

Timothy not to pass on his teachings to any type of people. Paul commands Timothy, “What you

have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able

to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2). Timothy ought to pass on Paul’s teachings, which he received

from the apostles and the Lord, to whoever is faithful and has the ability to teach them to others.

Hence, the Christian doctrine was handed down carefully by the apostles who saw the

resurrected Jesus. As I mentioned earlier, Paul describes the resurrection of Jesus as the most

important doctrine, and that doctrine was handed down by eyewitnesses, and Paul was one of

them. Other doctrines in Christianity such as redemption, forgiveness, and sanctification; all of

them are important but Jesus’s resurrection was for the justification of the believers (Rom 4:25).

2Second, one of the crucial statements, which was repeated here twice that Jesus died,

was buried, and resurrected from death, “according to the scriptures” (v 3, 4). Here, I will

examine some of the Old Testament prophecies that focus on the death and resurrection events of

Jesus Christ. The first passage from Psalm 16. The passage says, “Therefore my heart is glad and

my whole being rejoices; my body also rests securely. For you will not abandon me to Sheol;

you will not allow your faithful one to see decay. You reveal the path of life to me; in your

presence is abundant joy; at your right hand are eternal pleasures” (Ps 16:9-11). In this passage,

David mentions that the faithful one (the Christ in the future) was put to rest securely; God will

not leave him in Sheol [the tomb], his body will not decay, he will have a path to life, and he will

be at the right hand of God forever. These elements apply perfectly to Jesus’s death, burial, and

resurrection. Therefore, that faithful one, Jesus, fulfilled these prophecies that were foretold of

him and his power of God. Adam Clarke comments, “Jesus, even on the cross, and breathing out

his soul with his life, saw that his rest in the grave would be very short, just a sufficiency of time

to prove the reality of his death, but not long enough to produce corruption.

”2 Furthermore, Peter

affirms that Psalm 16’s prophecy prophesies about Jesus, the one he saw after his death. Peter, in

his argument on Pentecost, defended his argument with confidence, saying, “Seeing what was to

come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and

his flesh did not experience decay. God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this” (Acts

2:31-32). Accordingly, Peter built his argument on what David prophesied of Jesus and what he

and his fellow disciples witnessed. Another scripture foretold about the resurrection is found in

Hosea. The passage says, “Come, let’s return to the Lord. For he has torn us, and he will heal us;

he has wounded us, and he will bind up our wounds. He will revive us after two days, and on the

third day he will raise us up so we can live in his presence (Hos 6:1-2). This passage is unique

because it tells the reader the number of days of death before the resurrection. The passage talks

about repentance, healing, wounds, revival, and resurrection on the third day. This text ties the

2 Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, (Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 1967), 469.

3resurrection of Jesus to the resurrection of his believers, and this is what Paul repeated many

times in his writings. D. A. Carson asserts, “Where there is reconciliation with God, and his

death on the cross has brought a man or woman into vital union with the living God himself,

death no longer holds all its old threats. Death has not yet been abolished, but it has been stripped

of its power.”3 Thus, Jesus’s followers’ lives are tied to Jesus’s life since his believers are unified

with him as his body parts.

Jesus expresses it in a straightforward manner in the final OT the text I'm utilizing

here. Some of the scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus. They asked him for a sign to tempt him.

Then, Jesus said, “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to

it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three

days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three

nights. The reader should notice the parallel between Jesus’s death and resurrection and Jonah’s

death and resurrection. What is the sign of Jonah? Brant Pitre explains, “If you read the book of

Jonah carefully, you will discover something interesting: the author of the book never claims that

Jonah remained alive for three days and three nights in the fish. Sure, that’s what all the

children’s Bible and movies and sermons say, but not the text itself. In fact, it explicitly says that

Jonah died and went to the real of the dead.”4 Jonah cried out for help from deep inside Sheol,

and God heard his voice. Jonah says, “I sank to the foundations of the mountains, the earth’s

gates shut behind me forever! Then you raised my life from the pit, Lord my God” (Jonah 2:6).

Clearly, the reader understands from the text that Jonah died and came back to life through the

power of God. He died and rose from the dead. The result of Jonah’s ministry was the repentance

of the people of Nineveh and their redemption from God’s wrath. That is what happened with

Jesus. The result of Jesus’s ministry for thousands of years, people believed in him and were

3 D. A. Carson, How Long O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil, (Grand Rapid: Baker, 2006), 114.

4 Brant Pitre, The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Jesus, (New York: Image,

2016), 186.

4redeemed from the wrath of God. When Jesus gave the illustration of Johan, he used it as a sign.

So, that sign, the resurrection of the Son of Man, is a sign of God’s power, redemption, and love.

Third, the OT teaches that a fact must be established by the testimony of two or three

witnesses (Deut 19:15). Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, considered this OT tradition while he was

addressing the resurrection of Jesus. According to 1 Corinthians 15, the testimony of Jesus’s

resurrection has gone beyond two or three witnesses. According to Paul, Jesus rose from the

dead and appeared to Cephas, to the Twelve, to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one

time, to James, to all the apostles, and to him. So, Paul is dealing with Jesus’s resurrection as an

affirmed event that has been witnessed by many people. Also, if this case were taken into the

Jewish court, and the elders heard that huge number of eyewitnesses to the resurrection, that case

would be easy to win. What about if Paul invented the story of the resurrection and Jesus’s

appearance? Well, if Paul invented the story of Jesus’s resurrection, his loss would be much

greater than his gain. Or maybe there is no gain at all (I will discuss that later from the apologetic

perspective). Simply, Paul affirms the testimony of others who witnessed the resurrected Jesus,

and he became one of them when Jesus appeared to him.

Fourth, Paul writes this portion to reply to some teachers who teach that there is no

resurrection of the dead. Paul is responding to that claim and not giving a place for any doubt

since Jesus’s resurrection is a fact to him. He had seen a living person was executed by the

Romans, so to Paul, death can be conquered. In addition, if Jesus conquered death, Jesus could

give life to those who believed in him. Jesus says, “He [God] is not the God of the dead but of

the living, because all are living to him” (Luke 20:38). So, he asked these teachers, “If there is no

resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised (v13). Nevertheless, Jesus rose

from the dead, and his believers will live for eternity.

Fifth, Paul ties three different Christian elements together here in 1 Corinthians 15: the

resurrection of Jesus’s followers, the apostles’ ministry, and the Christian faith. Accordingly, if

Jesus had not risen from the dead, there would have been no resurrection for his followers; Paul

and the other disciple’s ministry is in vain, and the Christian faith is just a lie. When Paul says,

5“If Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain” (v14), he gives the skeptic the

chance to think logically. In a practical way, Paul stimulates the skeptics’ minds to ask

themselves why Paul would spend time, effort, and money on a lie? and even put my life in

danger all the time for many years for a story I created. Could the story of Paul and Jesus’s

appearance to him be such an illusion? (I will discuss that later in the sermon in the hallucination

theory). Paul defends the case that he was a part of it as well as many others who were part of it.

Sixth, Paul says, “If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be

pitied more than anyone” (v 19). As he always does, when he speaks of the resurrection of Jesus,

he points to the future. Jesus’s resurrection comforts believers not only for this current life;

otherwise, believers will be the most miserable people on earth. Hence, believers should not hold

their hope in earthly temporal things, but they should hope for their comfort since they will be

transformed and given a new body; and when he appears, we will be like him because we will

see him as he is (1 John 3:2).

Lastly, in verses 53 and 54, Paul asserts the inevitability of the bodily transformation

of the believers. Verse 53 says, “For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility,

and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.” Verse 54 says, “When this corruptible

body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality.” Verse 53

functions as an essential promise, and verse 54 functions as the essential fulfillment of that

promise. Therefore, there was no way for Paul that the resurrection would not happen. He lived

for that fact, taught that fact, and always hoped for that fact.

In particular, the resurrection of Christ is a guarantee of the believers’ future bodily

resurrection and glorification. This present moral pain is not the believer’s destiny, because

Christ, the “firstfruits” of the resurrection (1 Cor15:20), conquered death. The believers look

forward to their final victory and habitation in their real home, in their real bodies.

5 If Jesus did

5 Scott Christensen, What About Evil? Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory, (New Jersey: P&R, 2020),

413.

6not rise from the dead, the story would be different. Jesus will be like any prophet or any human

being. However, Jesus was not a mere human; rather, he was the all-powerful God who

conquered death, and he would raise his people from the dead.

On the canonical level, 1 Corinthians 15 is unique in God’s plan from the book of

Genesis to the book of Revelation. God gave Adam and Eve dominion over creation and played

as God’s ambassadors on earth. Unfortunately, when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the

Knowledge of Good and Evil, pain, suffering, curse, and death entered the world. However, there

was hope for Adam, Eve, and their descendants because of God’s promise to them. God said, “I

will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He

will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen 3:15). So, there was hope that someone

would come to have victory over the serpent. In 1 Corinthians 15:45-49, Paul is comparing the

first man Adam with the last Adam. Paul called the former a man of dust, and the later was

called the man of heaven. Paul gives an obvious picture of how death entered the world through

the first Adam’s disobedience and how life entered the world through the last Adam’s obedience.

Later in the book of Genesis, Jacob blesses the tribe of Jodah, saying, “The scepter

shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to

Him shall be the obedience of the people” (Gen 49:10 NKJV). Jacob prophesied that someone, a

judge, a lawgiver, Shiloh, would come from the tribe of Judah, and to him shall be the obedience

of the people.

Job says, “But I know that my redeemer lives, and at the end he will stand on the dust.

Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh. I will see him myself; my

eyes will look at him, and not as a stranger” (Job 19:25-27). Here are many points that refer to

the resurrection of Jesus. As it is revealed in the New Testament, Jesus is our redeemer (Gal

3:13, 4:5), it is revealed here in Job that there is a living redeemer. The statement states that

Job’s help is from a living redeemer, who will stand on the dust. That heavenly being will come

to the earth, and when Job dies, Job will see him with his eyes. This prophecy anticipated the

7Messiah to come and redeem his people and remain alive as one of his attributes, which confirms

1 Corinthians 15:47 (the second man is of heaven) about God’s plan being fulfilled.

The prophet Isiah prophesied, saying, “He will swallow up death forever” (Isa 25:8).

Paul referred to this prophecy in 1 Corinthians 15:54. The prophecy shows the power of Jesus

and his resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus defeated the power of death, and death does not

have power over Jesus or his believers.

In God’s plan, in the future, as the reader reads about the living Jesus in the Prophets

and in the gospels, the epistles, he finds the living Jesus in the book of Revelation. When John

saw Jesus, Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was

dead, but -look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades” (Rev 1:

17-18). The phrase “the First and the Last” means that Jesus will never change. Also, God in the

OT says, “I, the Lord, have not changed” (Mal 3:6). In this statement, he declares that he is God.

Then, plainly, Jesus said, “[I am] the Living One. I was dead, but -look—I am alive forever and

ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Since he conquered death, his followers will

overcome death as he did. The phrase “I hold the keys of death and Hades” is a powerful phrase

that illustrates that he has dominion over death. Precisely, that is what Paul describes as saying:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor 15:45). Thus, Christians have no other hope

except in Jesus.

According to the coherent case of Jesus’s resurrection, the reader of the Bible does not

find it complicated to understand that the resurrection was in fact God’s plan from the first

chapters of the OT. Hence, Jesus’s followers depart the earth and know that they will be with the

living Christ for eternity.

Second, the apologetic perspective of Jesus’s

resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15

Christianity stands out as unique religion among the other religions and philosophies

because of the resurrection of Jesus. For instance, Islam does not offer anything more than

urging its believers to spend more effort to please their God by performing good deeds and

8practicing certain rituals. Additionally, the Islamic God in Quraan says, “Turn to Allah in sincere

repentance, so your Lord may absolve you of your sins and admit you into Gardens” (At-Tahrim

8). Therefore, God may (or may not) accept people’s repentance and forgive them. There is no

assurance of forgiveness for a Muslim to enter al Ganah (paradise or the garden). Another

Quranic instance says, “There is none of you who will not pass over it [hell]. This is a decree

your Lord must fulfil” (At-Tahrim 71)6. This verse is confusing even to Muslim interpreters.

Does it mean everyone will go to hell, no matter what their deeds are? Does it mean everyone

must visit hell for a while? Anyway, there is no certainty regarding the believer’s destiny. Unlike

Christianity. Either one believes in Jesus and will be rewarded by eternal life, or one does not

believe in Jesus and will be in hell forever. As I mentioned above, our Christian hope is based on

Jesus’s resurrection, and without Jesus’s resurrection, the Christian faith and every preaching

would be in vain (1 Cor 15:14).

Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, speaks about Jesus’s resurrection according to the books.

Also, he speaks about eyewitnesses to his resurrection. For that reason, I dedicated this section to

examine some eyewitnesses’ understanding of the resurrection of some OT texts and their

reactions after Jesus’s resurrection. Jesus performed many miracles before his twelve disciples.

He healed the lame, restored sight to blinds, liberated those who were possessed by demons, and

raised the dead. Also, he gave his disciples authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every

disease and sickness (Matt 10:1, NIV). During Jesus’s ministry, many people knew Jesus as the

Messiah, the Son of God. Philip preached to Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one

Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the

son of Joseph” (John 1:45). Peter declared, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”

(Matt 16:16). When Jesus let Peter walk on the water and calmed the wind, the disciples

worshiped him and said, “Truly you are the Son of God” (Matt 14:33). They were eyewitnesses

to Jesus’s ministry, his teachings, and his marvelous deeds. As Jews, they knew the Scripture and

6 Translation of Muhammad Mahmud Ghali.

9were so excited to see him rule over Israel. Therefore, they failed to understand God’s agenda for

salvation. Even when Jesus explained it to them, they did not comprehend it. Jesus told them that

he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the Jews, be killed, and rise on

the third day. Peter, the head of the disciples, took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying,

“Never, Lord, this shall never happen to you” (Matt 16:22). Hence, Jesus’s death and

resurrection events were not his disciples desire, nor did they accept the idea of him being killed

and rising on the third day.

After Jesus’s death and resurrection, the disciples knew and understood what Jesus

taught them regarding his death and resurrection; and some of them died for that teaching and

events since they were eyewitnesses to them. For instance, in Peter’s speech to the Jews in Acts

2, subtly, he links between Jesus’s mighty miracles and his resurrection. Peter says, “Fellow

Israelites, 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 deliberate plan 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 on

him” (Acts 2:22-24). Basically, Peter built his argument based on the power of God, who

accredited Jesus with miracles; he is the same God who rose him from the dead. Here, Peter is

preaching that something was against his will, which was Jesus’s death, but after he saw the

resurrected Jesus, he boldly shared his experience with the Jews. He understood these events as

God’s plan and foreknowledge. Furthermore, Peter has the insight to interpret some of the Old

Testament’s prophecies about Jesus’s resurrection. Peter refers to Psalm 16 as a supporting point

in his argument. Psalm 16:10 says, “Because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,

nor will you let your faithful one see decay.” Then Peter gives his stunning statement, saying,

“We are all witnesses of it [Jesus’s death and resurrection].” He did not care about the

consequences of what he said, but he cared more about saying something that he witnessed.

Also, Peter in his second epistle says, “For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we

10told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his

majesty” (2 Pet 1:16). In addition, Jesus’s closest disciples were Peter, James, and John; the

apostle John says, “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… we have seen it and

testify to it… We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard” (1 John 1:1-3). Now, we see a

fundamental change and understanding among two of the closest disciples to Jesus. In the

beginning, the disciples did not accept or understand the idea of Jesus’s death and resurrection,

because they wanted him to free them from the Romans and they wanted to see him as the

earthly king of Israel. However, since they witnessed events that they could not deny, such as

Jesus’s resurrection, these events became facts to them, which made them martyrs for these

events. Jesus’s resurrection was the event that gave them this boldness and bravery. They were

disappointed by Jesus’s death, but everything changed after Jesus’s resurrection. They saw his

authority over death, which was and still is a mystery for every human being. Jesus’ resurrection

gave hope to his believers, which empowered them with the hope of eternal life. Jesus conquered

death with his resurrection. Furthermore, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene on the third day,

and she testified to the disciples (John 20:11-18). Peter and the other disciples found the tomb

empty (John 20:3-8). Jesus appeared to the two disciples of Emmaus (a village seven miles from

Jerusalem) and spoke to them (Luke 24:13-35). On the evening of the same day, Jesus appeared

to his disciples, and he showed them his hands and his side (Mark 16:14, Luke 24:36-42, and

John 20:19-23). Once again, after eight days, Jesus appeared to his disciples, and Thomas was

with them at that time (John 20:26-29). Jesus showed himself to seven of his disciples at the Sea

of Galilee (John 21:1). Paul reports that Jesus appeared to Cephas, the twelve disciples, over five

hundred brethren at once, and James (1 Cor 15:5-7). Jesus appeared to Saul on his way to

Damascus (Acts 9:3-9), and he shared his experience with the Jews (Acts 22:6-11), with King

Agrippa (Acts 26:12-18), and with the Galatians (Gal 1:11-24). In all these events, the reader

notices that Jesus’s resurrection was not a secret event; rather, he made it clear and obvious to his

disciples and to all the others to have a solid faith in him. I have used the Old Testament and

11New Testament as historical texts of people who saw Jesus being handed over and killed by the

Jews and how they understood the OT texts in light of Jesus’s death and resurrection. The same

people saw him alive, and he was with them for over forty days, presenting himself to them with

many convincing proofs (Acts 1:3).

Jesus taught about his death and his resurrection and gave a better understanding of

the Old Testament’s prophecies of him. It seems that no one from the Jewish community in

Jesus’s life expected the Messiah to be killed and resurrected not even Jesus’s disciples.

However, after Jesus’s resurrection, the disciples started defending Jesus’s death and

resurrection. These events became facts for them since they saw the resurrected Jesus. Jesus’s

teaching, and his use of the OT scripture, and his illustration of him being killed and resurrected

made sense to the disciples after Jesus’s resurrection. Jesus said to the Jews, “When you lift up

the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he… as he spoke these words, many believed in

him” (John 8:28 NKJV). Therefore, Jesus gave a clearer understanding of the OT texts and tied

the Jew’s understanding with his death’s events. Once, Jesus was telling his disciples that he will

be delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, insulted, spit upon, killed, and rise on the third day (Luke

18:31-33). Regarding their understanding, Luke comments, “They understood none of these

things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken”

(Luke 18:34). Later, after the resurrection, Paul persecuted the church as a heretic Jewish sect

even though he knew the OT Scripture, but he was like any Jew who wanted the earthly king and

did not understand that Jesus had to pay the penalty for humankind’s sins.

I will be focusing on Paul and his radical change from an extremist Pharisee to one of

the fundamental Christian apostles. First, Jesus and the Pharisees did not get along, which led to

frequent conflicts between the two groups. Tax collectors were despised, and the Jews looked

down on them. When they were mentioned, they were always associated with sinners. Pharisees

despised tax collectors, but Jesus was always against the Pharisees and had a passion for the tax

collectors and sinners. When Jesus taught about repentance, he praised the tax collector and not

the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14). Pharisees always saw themselves as superior to any other Jew; they

12had the power to kick out people from the synagogue if they confessed Jesus (John 9:22, 12:42).

They had a respectable position in Jewish society. Paul was a member of this sect. He declares

that before the Jews, saying, “I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee” (Acts 23:6). And another

time before Agrippa said, “I lived a Pharisee” (Acts 26:5). And said to the Philippians,

“circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the

Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee” (Phil 3:5). Finally, he was educated at the feet of

Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), who was a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people (Acts 5:34).

Now the question is, why would a highly respected person like Paul leave all these privileges and

take the side of Christians who were persecuted and hated by all the Jews? Furthermore, Paul

counted all these privileges as “rubbish” (Phil 3:8). Why would a highly esteemed person who

held lots of Jewish privileges leave all this behind and start his journey of suffering to spread

Christianity? Paul sums up his suffering in ministry to the Corinthians and lists 23 kinds of

suffering that he went through. He said, “In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in

prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus

one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a

night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,

in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the

wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in

sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (2 Cor 11:23-

27). Accordingly, Paul lost all his Jewish privileges, and his life was subject to danger at every

moment as a result of his acceptance of Christianity. The reason for Paul’s passion was his

encounter with the resurrected Jesus. Paul saw Jesus when he was on his way to Damascus. He

was traveling to arrest any Christians that he may have found bound them to Jerusalem.

I was born in the Middle East, and I know how crucial, dangerous, and shameful it is

for a person to convert from one religion to another. Sometimes it costs them their lives. On the

other hand, Paul was not an average Jew, but he was a well-known teacher in a highly esteemed

Jewish sect. In fact, Paul could not deny that he had seen the risen Lord Jesus. He saw him alive.

13That encounter was the foundation for Paul’s argument with the Jews in Acts 22, with Agrippa in

Acts 26, and with the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15. Noteworthy, Paul tells the Philippians that

he gave up his position among his community because of the resurrected Jesus. Paul says, “My

goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection” (Phil 3:10). Then, he had the perfect

understanding of the OT texts about the Messiah’s death and resurrection. Hosea says, “He will

revive us after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up so we can live in his presence”

(Hos 6:2). Paul understood that verse and preached to the Corinthians one of the lengthiest

sermons about the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 saying, “He was buried, that he was raised on

the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:4). In another OT Scripture, Isiah says “He

will swallow up death forever. The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he

will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth” (Isa 25:8). Paul utilized this Scripture and

applied it to believers hope in resurrection based on Jesus’s resurrection which he explained in 1

Corinthians 15. Therefore, Paul considered Jesus’s resurrection as the cornerstone of God’s plan

for humanity, which was told to the reader in the OT, and it was fulfilled in Jesus. Paul

comprehended the resurrection of Jesus as the power of God. Thus, he says, “Who through the

Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead:

Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 1:4). In conclusion, Paul’s unshakable faith was founded on his

experience of seeing the undoubted vision of the risen Jesus.

While we sense the confidence of Paul when he confesses Jesus as a living Lord in 1

Corinthians 15, skeptics do not agree with him. Skeptics have their hypothesis. In this section, I

will examine the stolen body of Jesus hypothesis, the swoon hypothesis, and the Hallucination

hypothesis.

The stolen body hypothesis

The stolen body hypothesis is as old as two millennia. The Jewish leaders knew that

Jesus taught that he would die and rise on the third day, so they asked Pilate to secure Jesus’s

tomb with guards and put a seal on the stone. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the

14body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. When Jesus’s body disappeared,

Matthew reports that when the guards came to the city (Jerusalem), they told the chief priests

everything that had happened. Then, when the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a

plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money telling them, “You are to say, his disciples

came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep. If this report gets to the

governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So, the soldiers took the money and

did as the leaders instructed them (Matt 28:11-15). The stolen body hypothesis proposes that the

disciples stole or moved the body to make it appear that Jesus had been resurrected. This would

again make the disciples fraudsters. However, this accusation is unreasonable for several

reasons. First, Jesus’s disciples did not expect that Jesus would rise from the dead. When

Emmaus disciples met Jesus, they told him, “We were hoping that he was the one who was about

to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21), which means that Jesus disappointed us. Mary Magdalene told

Jesus, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him

away” (John 20:15). On the third day, Mary Magdalene was looking for the corpse of the dead

Jesus. Also, after Jesus’s resurrection, his closest disciples did not believe until they saw the

empty tomb, and Jesus appeared to them. So, there is nothing to motivate the disciples to invent a

story that is not in their desire or knowledge. Second, none of Jesus’s disciples were there during

his trial, crucifixion, and burial. Except for John, who was there, but without any interference at

any stage of Jesus’s passion events. They were afraid of the religious and political leaders.

Hence, it is not convincing that they would confront the Roman soldiers and move the tomb’s

sealed stone to steal Jesus’s body. Third, Jesus’s corps was never found anywhere. There are no

canonical, non-canonical, history books discussing that Jesus’s body was found somewhere.

Therefore, the biblical record of Jesus’s resurrection is believable as the extraordinary plan of

God.

15The swoon hypothesis

The swoon hypothesis claims that Jesus never died on the cross but merely

“swooned.” The unconscious Jesus was later revived in the tomb, where he had been placed to

recover after the crucifixion.7 After his crucifixion, they took Jesus down from the cross, and

placed him in his tomb. Yet somehow, he revived and went to show himself to the disciples to

prove his resurrection. How could it make sense that after three days, Jesus was in a dark, closed,

and sealed the tomb without food or water? It is noteworthy that Jews wrapped the legs, arms,

and face of the corpses with spice-soaked linen strips (which probably somewhat dried and

hardened after three days in the case of Jesus) and with his face wrapped in a cloth. That means,

if Jesus made it alive after being whipped, hung on the cross with nails, and a soldier pierced his

side with a spear; and swooned to the tomb, he would have died from that torture and the way

they buried him. Also, he would need someone else to unwrap him as people did with Lazarus

(John 11:44). Then, he had to roll the one-to-two-ton stone from inside the grave and walk a

significant distance to enter Jerusalem on his feet to his afraid disciples to show himself to them.

Moreover, if Jesus did not expire on the cross, but only swooned, he still would have died

sometime later, that does not make any sense and is not supported by any historians.

The hallucination hypothesis

The hallucination hypothesis proposes that the disciples were in an Altered State of

Consciousness (ASC) when they experienced the appearance of the risen Jesus. When they

experienced Jesus appearing to them in a subjective vision, they judged it as an ontological

appearance of a physical Jesus, although Jesus’ corpse still lay in the grave. The problem is that

this is pure speculation lacking evidence, and appealing to plausibility does not warrant the

conclusion that it is what happened. Gary A. Sibcy is a licensed clinical psychologist with a

Ph.D. in the subject and has a great interest in whether hallucinations can be shared by groups.

7 Bipin Dimri, “Swoon or Substitute? Two Rationalizations of the Resurrection of Jesus,” last modified

August 15, 2022, http://www.historicmysteries.com/jesus-resurrection/.

16He writes, “I have surveyed the professional literature (peer reviewed journals, articles, and

books) written by psychologists, psychiatrists, and other relevant healthcare professionals during

the past two decades and have yet to find a single documented case of a group hallucination.”8

Accordingly, the resurrection hypothesis remains the best explanation of the disappearance of

Jesus’s corps and has been supported by historical biblical and extrabiblical texts.

Extrabiblical texts about the resurrection of Jesus

I have presented many of the biblical evidence and texts assert Jesus’s resurrection. In

this part, I will focus on extrabiblical texts which tell about Jesus’s death and resurrection. These

texts belong to Jewish and non-Jewish historians; and the earliest Christians who lived in the first

century.

Flavius Josephus. Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian who lived around AD 37-100

wrote:

There was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a

doer of wonderful works a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew

over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was Christ; and when

Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross,

those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the

third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things

concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day”

(Antiquities of the Jews 18.63-64).9

This extrabiblical text is extremely important for several reasons. There are multiple

data that are parallel with the biblical records. Firstly, Josephus mentioned Jesus as the miracle

man. Thus, Jesus was not like any rabbi who merely taught new teachings, commented, or

interpreted the OT texts; rather, he was a doer of “wonderful works.” Furthermore, Jesus

performed miracles to reveal his identity as he is the awaiting son of God, and he used his

8 Michael R. Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (Downers Grove,

IL: InterVasity, 2010), 484.

9 “The Antiquities of the Jews, 18.63–18.64.” Lexundria, accessed September 30, 2023,

https://lexundria.com/j_aj/18.63-18.64/wst

17miracles as a tool to have his audience to believe in him (John 5:36, 10:25, 38, 14:11, 15:24).

Secondly, Josephus mentioned that many Jews and Gentiles drew to Jesus, and this aligns with

the biblical record (Matt 15:21-28, Mark 6:44, John 11:45). Thirdly, “He was Christ” Peter

confessed that Jesus was the Christ the Son of the living God (Matt 16:16). Pilate and the Jewish

leader crucified Jesus (Matt 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19). Lastly and the most important,

Josephus says, “He [Jesus] appeared to them alive again the third day.” Some scholars believe

that the earliest Christians altered this part of the text. I think it is a beneficial piece of evidence.

If Josephus wrote this text, that means we have an early document from a Jewish author who

never converted to Christianity that affirms Jesus’s resurrection. If this part is an interpolation

from the earliest Christians, still reflects to the readers that Jesus’s followers believed that Jesus

rose from the dead in a realm that totally opposed them and their thoughts after they executed

their leader Jesus.

Pliny the Younger. Pliny the Younger, who was a governor in Asia Minor, wrote

letters to Emperor Trajan around AD 112 describing Christians worshipping Jesus as a God

reports:

They [Christians] were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light,

when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a

solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery,

never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it

up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food, but

of an ordinary and innocent kind.

”10

Pliny’s letter to Trajan is an important historical piece of literature because it shows a

description of the Christian movement from an outsider’s viewpoint. Also, that letter coheres

with the biblical text in different aspects. I see this parallel with Acts 2 in the first part of the

chapter as well as the last part. Acts 2 starts by showing the reader that Christians met on a fixed

day to worship (Acts 2:1). And the end of the chapter presents the earliest Christians as the

10 Gary R. Habermas, The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ, (Joplin, MO:

Thomas Nilson, 1996), 199.

18faithful group who held all things in common (Acts 2:44-45). Pliny noticed the faithfulness,

honesty, and morality of the earliest Christians, which reflects how Jesus’s gospel had the power

to change people’s hearts and put Jesus’s teaching into action. Also, Pliny says, “[Christians]

resembles to partake of food,” so as the author of Acts says, “They devoted themselves to the

apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). So, as

Jesus’s followers met with Jesus for physical and spiritual food, the earliest Christians met for

physical and spiritual food. Substantially, the early Christians lived life according to the

Christian faith which is based on Jesus’s death and resurrection. All the apostles built their

sermons, teachings, and ministry based on these events. The entire day events of Acts 2 and the

belief of three thousand was built on the death and the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:24).

Tacitus. Tacitus (AD. 56-120) is regarded as the greatest of Roman historians. Tacitus

mentioned Jesus once. He said, “Christ, who, during the reign of Tiberius, had been executed by

procurator Pontius Pilate.”11 This statement supports the biblical warrants and refutes the swoon

hypothesis. This proves that the Roman and the Jewish authorities killed Jesus.

Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius of Antioch (AD. 35-107) from his letter to Smyrna

while he was on his way to Rome to face martyrdom in the first decade of the second century. He

writes, “I know and believe that the resurrection, he [Jesus] was in the flesh … and after his

resurrection he ate with them and drank as a fleshly being.” Here, the reader notices that non-

biblical figures who gave their lives for their Christian faith in the death and the resurrection of

Jesus were on the same pattern of biblical figures such as James and Steven were killed for their

Christian faith. They met with the eyewitness of the resurrected Jesus, and they saw them being

tortured and killed because of their faith in the living Jesus Christ.

Polycarp. Polycarp (AD 69-155) was the bishop of Smyrna. He wrote a letter to the

church of Philippi. His letter repeatedly refers to Jesus’s resurrection such as: “Just as he

11 Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus, 243.

19promised us that he would raise us from the dead, and that if we conduct ourselves worthily of

him we shall also reign with him, if we have faith.”12 Also, Polycarp prayed as he went to the fire

(to be executed), “I bless you because you have counted me worthy of this day and this hour, that

I should have a share in the number of the martyrs, in the cup of our Messiah, for the resurrection

of eternal life of both soul and body in the incorruption of the Holy Spirit.”13 These martyrs died

because they saw Jesus’s resurrection eyewitnesses died for their faith in the living Jesus. They

believed he was alive. They knew that the earliest Christians didn’t give up their lives for a lie.

In conclusion, if someone does not believe in the resurrection of Jesus, he has to

explain historically: 1. How it is that the first disciples and thousands of Jews after them, as well

as countless Gentiles–came to believe in Jesus’ resurrection? 2. How is it that belief in Jesus’s

bodily resurrection swept like wildfire throughout the ancient Jewish synagogues, beginning

from Jerusalem to the end of the earth? 3. Why Peter, Paul, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp and

many more died and bore the persecution for a lie? 4. How normal Christian fishermen overcame

the Jewish and Roman authorities to take Jesus’ corpse to hide it and invent the resurrection

story? Lastly, based on historical and biblical evidence, we consider that the resurrection of Jesus

is a plausible, logical, and historical fact. Therefore, these biblical and extrabiblical evidence of

Jesus’s resurrection makes the reader reads 1 Corinthians 15 as a realistic picture of s real event

took place in history.

12 N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003), 486.

13 Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, 487.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carson, D. A. How Long O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006.

Christensen, Scott. What About Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory. New Jersy: P&R,

2020.

Clarke, Adam. Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible. Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 1967.

Dimri, Bipin. “Swoon or Substitute? Two Rationalizations of the Resurrection of Jesus.” Last

modified August 15, 2022. http://www.historicmysteries.com/jesus-resurrection/.

Habermas, Gary R. The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ. Joplin: Thomas

Nilson, 1996.

Lexundria. “The Antiquities of the Jews, 18.63–18.64.” Accessed September 30, 2023.

https://lexundria.com/j_aj/18.63-18.64/wst

Licona, Michael R. The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downer

Grove: InterVarsity, 2010.

Pitre, Brant. The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ. New York:

Image, 2016.

Wright, N.T. The Resurrection of the Son of God. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003.

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