How
to Know God Exists Series
The Resurrection Part 4 -
The Changed Lives Of The Disciples
In our studies of the
resurrection of Jesus, we've shown how the resurrection accounts
must be considered as written documentation of an historical
event. Many skeptics of Christianity will argue against these
premises vehemently, because to admit them would mean that Jesus
was who He claimed to be - the only Son of the living God.
This month, I'd like to examine a
proof for the resurrection that most skeptics won't deny - at
least initially. That is, how the lives of Jesus' followers were
radically and completely changed after the resurrection event.
The disciples faced some of the most unspeakable tortures and
persecutions because they believed Jesus was resurrected and
they would not admit otherwise.
Now, many people undergo a change
in lifestyle when they adopt a new belief system, but that's not
really what I'm talking about. In order to more clearly
demonstrate the uniqueness of the disciples' transformation,
we'll examine three prominent figures of the early church:
Peter, James the brother of Jesus, and the apostle Paul.
Peter
Peter is one of the most
well-known of Jesus' early followers. All four gospels show him
to be a man who was impulsive; one who would react to a
situation first and analyze it later. Sometimes he benefited
from this, as when he proclaimed Jesus as the Christ in Matthew
16. Other times it was to his detriment, as when he denied the
Lord three times.
However, throughout all the
accounts we see Peter as completely human, and because of that
we can relate to him so well. So, what happened to Peter that
changed him from the person who fled with the other disciples at
Jesus' capture (ref. Matt 26:56)to the strong believer we read
about in the book of Acts? One who would not give up his faith
in the face of beatings, jail and even an excruciating death?
Peter's shortcomings are clearly
documented throughout the Scripture. Is it reasonable to
believe, then, that he would admit to a falsified resurrection
when faced with repeated punishment? He would, unless the
resurrection accounts were true and Peter could not deny them
because he knew them to be true. He says as much in Acts 5 when
he explains why he continues to preach Jesus raised from the
dead:
"We must obey God rather than men."
James
Some critics may object at this
point and say that Peter still had a vested interest in wanting
to believe the resurrection to be true. After all, he had spent
three years under Jesus' teachings and was either not ready to
give that up or was in denial. However, when we look at James,
the Lord's brother, we find an entirely different scenario.
James didn't follow Jesus
throughout his years of ministry. John 7:6 tells us that James
did not believe in Jesus. As J.P. Moreland writes "What
could cause a Jew to believe his own brother was the very Son of
God and be willing to die for such a belief? It certainly was
not a set of lovely teachings from a carpenter from Nazareth.
Only the appearance of Jesus to James (1 Cor. 15:7) can explain
such a transformation."1
Paul
Even more amazing than James'
conversion is that of Saul of Tarsus. Paul was a
well-schooled Pharisee, not easily given in to fables. He was
also so wholly devoted to Jewish law that he sought out
Christians to persecute them. He became so good at it the Bible
says he "laid waste the church (Acts 8:3)".
So how can anyone explain his
complete and immediate reversal? What, other than the real
appearance of Jesus to him, would be so convincing that he would
abandon a lifetime of convictions and join the very group he
hated most? In summarizing Lloyd Littleton, Josh Mc Dowell
writes "If Paul's twenty five years of suffering and
service for Christ were a reality, then his conversion was true,
for everything he did began with that sudden change. And if his
conversion was true, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, for
everything Paul was and did he attributed to the sight of the
risen Christ."2
When examining the lives of not
just these three, but all the eyewitnesses of Christ's
resurrection, we find that the situation is the same. Not one
person exposes Jesus' being raised as a fraud. They all
truly believe they saw Jesus and every one is willing to die
because of that belief. There is no explanation for such a
steadfast faith among such a divergent group other than Jesus
really did rise from the dead and show Himself to his disciples,
to James, and finally to Paul.
Next month, we'll talk about the
last point in our resurrection series - the stone that was
rolled away from the tomb. If you're enjoying these features,
would you write and tell us? Until next month, God bless.
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