Today I was visited by a Christian who calls himself a “Messianic Jew.” After an hour of study about the resurrection, he got impatient with my lack of faith, and before he left he challenged me to produce the body if I couldn’t believe in Jesus’ resurrection. That’s what inspired me to share with you this topic for discussion.
Now, if we put ourselves together, and then put together whatever we can from reading the NT about the resurrection of Jesus, we will see that he did not resurrect. I would like to bring to your attention some points about that tale. Tale! Yes, and the term is not mine. I am borrowing it from Jesus’ own disciples who went even further by adding the adjective “idle.” Idle tale, they said. (Luke 24:11)
The women had reported the words of the “angel” that Jesus had resurrected. The disciples probably had never heard of such a thing. They had no choice but to discard their report as an idle tale. Now, think: If those who lived daily with Jesus, listening daily to his words, could not believe the report, how can we be expected to, after almost two thousand years of listening to a tale that just won’t get less idle?
When did the disciples ever change their minds about that idle tale? I wonder because about 30 years later, when Paul showed up in Jerusalem preaching that Jesus had resurrected, he almost got killed. Why? Was not the Sect of the Nazarenes
headquartered in Jerusalem? Yes, but that Jesus had resurrected was not in their agenda. The whole thing had been made up by Paul. Yes, all according to his gospel as he himself revealed it to his disciple Timothy. (II Tim. 2:8) Obviously, Paul needed that tale to promote his Cause, which turned out to be Christianity.
The resurrection of Jesus, therefore, can be accepted only and exclusively by faith because there is no evidence to substantiate the event. An empty tomb is no proof of resurrection. And the refusal at the time to produce the body does not diminish from the fact that the body was indeed removed from there. And the guards can never be taken as evidence of anything whatsoever, because they were set at the tomb area only late Saturday morning. The disciple who removed Jesus’ body from that tomb, most probably Joseph of Arimathea, had the whole night of Friday, and all for himself to act without any disturbance. And he did it because he had enough reasons to believe that, by not doing it, even during the hours of that Sabbath, Mary Magdalene would have done it instead, as she herself declared she would. (John 20:15) So, I wish the preachers of the resurrection would at least give Paul the credit that’s due him. (II Tim. 2:8)
Ben:
Lets read more : The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the
mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this
to the apostles,
11 but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not
believe them.
12 * But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and
saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what
had happened.
13 * * Now that very day two of them were going to a village
seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
14 and they were conversing about all the things that had
occurred.
15 And it happened that while they were conversing and
debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
16 * but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk
along?” They stopped, looking downcast.
18 One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, "Are
you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the
things that have taken place there in these days?"
19 And he replied to them, “What sort of things?” They
said to him, "The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all
the people,
20 how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
21 But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem
Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since
this took place.
22 Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
23 and did not find his body; they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that
he was alive.
24 Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found
things just as the women had described, but him they did not
see."
25 And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are! How
****
**