Who were the witnesses of the Resurrection?
The apostle John
The witnesses who testified to and recorded the resurrection of Christ from death were “…the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:2-3). These apostles were chosen by Christ at the beginning of his ministry; and in Luke 6:12-16 they are named.
The apostle John writes, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)” (1 John 1:1-2).
He wrote this towards the end of the first century and therefore after the ascension of Jesus to heaven, so he wasn’t just writing about the incarnation of Jesus but also his death, resurrection and ascension.
His statements are supremely important because by this time a heretical group known as the Docetists was around; they claimed that Jesus was not a real human body but merely a phantom in human form; i.e. he only appeared to be human (Greek dokeo ‘I appear’). The earliest known witness to them is said to be found in the pseudepigraphal “Gospel of Peter”, around 150 CE.
There were also early Jewish Christian groups called Ebionites and Nazarenes, reportedly under the Adoptionist umbrella, who believed that Jesus was just a man and that at his baptism the Christ came on him. And because God cannot die, when Jesus was being crucified, the Christ ascended and left him to die. The earliest witness to them is by Justin Martyr, around 160 CE, so it is most likely that they existed well before this time, and therefore while the apostle John was still alive.
However, other sources say they weren’t gnostic but Jews and the first Christians; as such, they believed that Jesus was Messiah and a prophet, but not God. Their existence continued until Muhammad, at which time they became Muslim because the theology hardly differed from their own. A Turkish Muslim scholar, Mustafa Akyol discusses them in his fascinating book, “The Muslim Jesus”. And biblical scholar, James Tabor, has much to say about them in print and on podcasts.
So, at this seminal period of the beginnings of the Church when various groups were trying to understand who and what Jesus was, John’s first epistle is particularly appropriate when he says that he and the disciples had heard Jesus speak, and had touched and handled him with their hands. And he warns: “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world” (1 Jn 4:2-3). John’s testimony of a physical Jesus, one who could be seen, touched, and handled, thus seems to be directed against these Docetists and Ebionites and other gnostic or Jewish Christian groups.
The apostle Paul
Equally important although earlier, the apostle Paul wrote concerning the physical nature of Jesus and his resurrection: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). Paul here includes the unnamed apostles i.e. Matthew, John, and Jude, as well as Peter and James, and himself. All these wrote the New Testament gospels and epistles between them. There was also a large number of other people who saw the resurrected Jesus (1 Cor 15:6), but none of them wrote any scripture.
The women
All four gospels tell us that certain of the women of his circle of family, friends, and followers were the first to see the resurrected Jesus. “…the women also, which came with him from Galilee”, among whom was Mary Magdalene, Salome, Mary the mother of James and the other women with them Luke 23:55-24:12).
Implications of Jesus’ Resurrection
Proves deity of Jesus Christ
The New Testament is the written testimonies of those who saw the risen Jesus Christ. They had been with Jesus every day for three years. They had witnessed his miracles, heard his teaching, heard his astonishing claims of deity by calling himself the Son of Man and the Son of God; and they had watched him die a brutal death, seen his burial, and for forty days had seen and spoken and eaten with him after he rose from death. And then they saw him miraculously ascend into heaven, followed by the statement of two angels that he would be returning to earth at a future date. If this is not worthy of being recorded, what is? If ever anything written needed to be taken seriously and investigated, the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is that thing.
So Paul tells us that Christ, by his resurrection, has proved his claim to be God (Rom 1:1-4); and consequently he, Paul, was sent by God to bring all people to faith and obedience to God. Jesus didn’t just die and rise from death to show us the biggest party trick of all time; he came to bring us to right and loving relationship with God from whom we are all estranged and with whom we are all at enmity. Jesus’ death was for us, and in our place.
“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name” (Rom 1:1-5).
Heralds the coming Judgment
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).
Fulfils prophecy
The prophet Isaiah foretold the death, burial and resurrection of Christ in his great prophecy of the coming of Jesus to fulfil the Father’s plan to save his people. Part of the prophecy says “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressor” (Isa 53:11-12).
So Jesus’ dying and rising from death demonstrates that Jesus is who he claimed to be; therefore, he has both power and authority as God to forgive us our sins, and to make the way clear to God by taking away the sin that separates us from him and prevents us from approaching him. In this sense therefore is the bible a religious text; it makes a stupendous claim, gives overwhelming evidence for it, and as a result, makes a demand on us to serve God from whom we have been separated.
Reconciles sinners to God
In the bible, God makes demands of every person who has ever lived or who will ever live. Having provided witnesses to the stupendous events surrounding Jesus Christ, God expects a response from us. Mark begins his gospel with the call to repentance and obedience to God: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mk 1:15). John writes: “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (Jn 20:30-31).
Paul exhorts, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor 5:17-21).
References
Ebionites & Nazarenes: Tracking the Original Followers of Jesus – TaborBlog
Butz, Jeffrey J., “The Brother of Jesus”, Kindle edition
Akyol, Mustafa, “The Islamic Jesus”, Kindle edition
Scripture taken from King James Bible