Evidence # 3 for the Resurrection: The Transformed Lives of the Disciples

John Stott said, "Perhaps the transformation of the disciples of Jesus is the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection."

I would have to agree. Before Christ rose from the dead the Bible tells us that the disciples were running away scared. After the resurrection they preached with such fervor and boldness that they too would be killed for their belief. These disciples would die gruesome and horrific deaths. Historical documents tell us that these disciples were sawed in half, crucified upside down, beheaded, burned at the stake, fed to the lions, and put in prison for long periods of time. They were told their life would be spared if they would only stop preaching Jesus resurrection. Logic would say if this was a lie, or if they had stolen the body, that one would crack under the immense pressure. But none of them did. Let me give you just a few examples.

First, there was Thomas. Thomas refused to believe Jesus was alive until he saw Jesus. He did not believe in the resurrection. Yet, in the gospel of John chapter 20 we read that Jesus appeared to Thomas and challenged him to feel his wounds. When Thomas sees and feels Jesus wounds he cries out, "My Lord, My God". Jesus didn't correct his proclamation and Thomas went onto die a martyr's death preaching Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead.

Second, there was Peter. Peter was a courageous man who vowed to follow Jesus to death. The night Jesus was arrested, Peter was the one who took up the sword to fight with Jesus. But Jesus corrected him and would not let him fight. He later would deny Jesus three times and run and hide scared for his own life. But after seeing Jesus resurrected body Peter became a bold witness for the resurrection. He was the disciple who preached at Pentecost when 2000 people converted to Christianity. He was arrested several times and eventually crucified upside down for proclaiming Jesus had risen from the dead.

Third, there was James the brother of Jesus. Although not a disciple, he was a skeptic. He despised his brother and that Jesus stood for. But after Jesus rose from the dead, James became a bold witness for Christ. He was convinced his half-brother Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, the second in the Trinity. IN James 1:1 he described himself as a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. He would become the first pastor at the church in Jerusalem.

All these are great examples, and there are plenty more. Even the historian Josephus (not in the Bible, and not a Christian) pointed out that the disciples of Jesus were transformed by preaching Jesus resurrection. The evidence is there. Some will argue that these men were misled because they desperately wanted to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. Now that we are in modern times we can look back and see these people were just uneducated and wanting something to believe in. With all the technology and advances in science that we have today, it is inconceivable to believe a man would rise from the dead.

CS Lewis calls this chronological snobbery. He points out that Jews and Greeks were wise enough to question the validity of a man rising from the dead. Thomas would not believe until he saw Jesus, which is proof that the disciples and people in biblical times were not as naive as we like to make them out to be.

N.T. Wright wrote in his book "Who Was Jesus" that there were many messianic movements or would be Messiahs in the time of Jesus. However he quotes, "in not one single case do we hear the slightest mention of the disappointed followers claiming that their hero had been raised from the dead. They knew better. Resurrection was a private event. Jewish revolutionaries whose leader had been executed by the authorities, and who managed to escape arrest themselves, had two options: give up the revolution, or find another leader. Claiming that the original leader was alive again was simply not an option. Unless, of course, he was."

The reason the disciples claimed that Jesus rose from the dead is because they had seen his risen body!

Tomorrow we will look at the establishment of the Christian church as the fourth evidence of the resurrection.