27 Apr. 1 Corinthians 15:1-9

27 Apr. Jesus appears to Peter, James & Paul

"Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember the Good News I brought to you. You received this Good News and continue strong in it. And you are being saved by it if you continue believing what I told you..."

"I passed on to you what I received, of which this was most important: that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say; that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day as the Scriptures say; and that he was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles."

"After that, Jesus was seen by more than 500 of the believers at the same time. Many of them are still living today, but some have died."

"Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all he was seen by me - as by a person not born at the normal time. All the other apostles are greater than I, because I persecuted the church of God."

          (Paul's First Letter to the Christians in Corinth 15:1-9)

 

 

The resurrection appearances of Jesus to his disciples, when he rose from the dead after his crucifixion, are not confined to the gospel accounts of Matthew (28:1-30), Mark (16:1-20), Luke (24:1-53) and John (20:1-21:25).

Luke, in the 'Acts of the Apostles', begins his account of the disciples' activities after Jesus's resurrection by telling his readers that, "he showed himself to them and proved in many ways that he was alive. The apostles saw Jesus during the 40 days after he was raised from the dead, and he spoke to them about the kingdom of God." (Acts 1:3)

He continues, "Once when he was eating with them, he told them not to leave Jerusalem. He said, 'Wait here to receive the promise from the Father which I told you about. John baptised people with water, but in a few days you will be baptised ['filled to overflowing'] with the Holy Spirit.'" (Acts 1:4-5)

In Acts 9:1-9, Luke records that Jesus appeared to Saul (Paul) five years later (in 35AD) on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus in Syria. Paul refers to this resurrection appearance in several of his letters to the young churches, and tells us that Jesus also appeared to Peter and James (the early leaders of the Christian church) (see Acts 2:14-42 & Acts 12:1-17).

In his first letter to the Christians in Corinth, Paul writes that Jesus appeared to Peter, the twelve and “more than 500 of the believers at the same time” (1 Corinthians 15:6). He appeared to James, to “all the apostles” (1 Corinthians 15:7), and finally to Paul himself – on the road to Damascus. (1 Corinthians 15:8)

And the 'evidence' for Jesus's resurrection from the dead is not confined to 'Christian' texts such as the New Testament. The 1st century Jewish historian Josephus, writing for a Roman audience in his 'Antiquities of the Jews' in 93 or 94AD, reflects the Biblical account of Jesus’s death and his resurrection appearances:

"Now around this time Jesus lived. He was a wise man, if it’s lawful to say he was a man, for he did wondrous deeds and taught those who were pleased to hear the truth. He attracted many Jews and many Gentiles. He was the Christ."

"And when Pilate, encouraged by the leaders of our community, sentenced him to death on the cross, his original followers who loved him didn’t desert him because he appeared alive to them three days later."

"This was exactly as the holy prophets had predicted along with ten thousand other wonderful things about him. And the people called Christians, who get their name from him, are still not extinct today."

The photo shows a mosaic of Jesus giving a threefold (Trinitarian) blessing at the Church of Hagia Sophia ('Holy Wisdom') in Istanbul (see Luke 24:50).

You can read more about Jesus's resurrection appearances @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/6-jesuss-last-journey-to…/.

Powered by Church Edit